I have been a fan of Spotify since it was some far off Swedish musical myth in 2008. Almost 10 years later and it seems more and more that streaming music seems to be the way of the future these days. Despite Neil Young’s criticism of sound quality and my roughly 1/2 cent that I get from royalties from each play on my albums, it’s still my primary source of listening to music. Tidal, Neil Young’s Pono, and Apple Music are all getting in on a piece of the pie, making everyone up their game. The other day I got the following notification from one of my favorite artists, Jason Isbell.
“With Something More Than Free coming out next Friday, July 17, here are some of Jason’s favorite songs created in his hometown of Muscle Shoals, AL. Listen to the singles “24 Frames” and “Something More Than Free” on Spotify now.
What’s better than having every song at your fingertips and being able to share them instantly with whomever you want?…. Having your favorite artists share their favorite songs with you! Listening to this playlist you realize why everyone from The Rolling Stones to Etta James wanted to record at Muscle Shoals. For those of you who think that Muscle Shoals is some type of clam, do yourself a favor and watch the 2013 documentary of the same name. There certainly was magic in those walls and equipment.
In addition to the well known classics, “Still Crazy After All These Years”, “Wild Horses”, “Hey Jude” (featuring Duane Allman on guitar)…. Isbell included some deeper cuts that I hadn’t heard before (selections from Percy Sledge and Aretha Franklin). And you can’t leave out “I’ll Take You There” by the Staple Singers. From the first note, that songs plasters a smile across my face that doesn’t leave for 3 minutes. Every instrument and part is full of feeling and in the right place. I listened to Jason Isbell’s album last week on NPR’s first listen and I ensure you he is in the right place too. Keep an eye out for this album that drops tomorrow, July 17 and this triple threat guitar player/singer/songwriter. Looks like he’s playing a new festival in Piedmont Park on October 18th in Atlanta. Might want to put that one on the calendar.