Christmas for Kate

Click image for playlist ...

Every year, for many years now, I've prepared a "Xmas for Kate" CD of tunes to remind us of the year that has past, events we've been to and places we've been. You can find these playlists on my iTunes and YouTube channels (click on the image for the 2024 YouTube playlist).

Kate's car has a CD player, our Honda CRV does not. The portable CD player I have for my computer, which I use to create the CD for Kate, failed recently and was replaced.  I'm not sure how long we'll continue with physical media like CD's. What was once the state of the art is now dated and obsolete.

This year we did get to do some travels. We returned to Austin for our winter long stay; we hadn't been back since 2020 when the pandemic hit. A lot has changed in Austin. In the spring/early summer we were back in Australia; Kate had a conference in Fremantle, we visited with friends in Brisbane and had a short say on Lady Elliot Island. In the early fall we drove out to New Brunswick to visit with our neice Paula. And then there was the US election in November, Christmas in December.

What follows is an annotation of the music selected on this year's playlist.

1. "Amarillo Highway (For Dave Hickey)", from "Lubbock (On Everything)", by Terry Allen (1979). In Austin we saw David Rameriz do a swaggering version of this song at a Moody Theatre event. I really liked the expression "I don't wear no Stetson, But I'm willin' to bet son, That I'm as big a Texan as you are!"
2. "No Tom Petty", from "Invisible Mary - Single", by Kimmie Rhodes (2024). We saw Kimmie at a house concert and then at the Saxon Pub in Austin. " ...we're livin' in a world with no Tom Petty, the world was bad enough already".
3. "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", from "Songs Of Kristofferson", by Kris Kristofferson (1988). Original release 1969/70. The world got even worse, Kris died in September.
4. "Dollar Bill Bar", from "Trail Of Flowers", by Sierra Ferrell (2024). Hot album and artist on the Americana charts. A bar tale.
5. "Old Familiar Drunken Feeling", from "El Viejo", by Corb Lund (2024). Another hot Americana artist, this time Canadian. And another hard drinkin' bar tale, this time with a THC twist.
6. "I'm Waiting for the Man", from "The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed", by Keith Richards (2024). When hard drinkin' leads to very hard livin'. I really liked Lou Reed's work in the 1970's, Keith Richards survived that hard livin'.
7. "The Painkillers Ain’t Workin’", from "In The Throes", by Buddy & Julie Miller (2023). This appeared on last year's CD and I'm sorry to say they're still not workin'.
8. "Sleeping On The Blacktop", from "Imaginary Appalachia", by Colter Wall (2015). Another hot Canadian on the Americana charts. I recognized this tune in a TV series we were watching. We saw him at Waterloo Records a few years ago.
9. "I Already Know", from "Someday, Maybe Sooner", by Barbara Nesbitt (2020). An Austin singer we've seen several times. The song is a woman "done wrong" and planning on revenge: "She [momma] hated being married, knows where all the bodies are buried, And thinks you'll fit right in."
10. "Down Home Girl", from "Give the People What They Want", by Rainbow Girls (2019). Paula sang this one for us on her deck in the woods. A very funny love song.
11. "Right Back to It (feat. MJ Lenderman)", from "Tigers Blood", by Waxahatchee/Kathryn Crutchfield (2024). Another hot Americana artist. I love the voice and melody, but haven't figured out the story.
12. "Sun in an Empty Room", from "Reunion Tour", by Weakerthans (2007). A nice tune Kate likes; it's used in a podcast she listens to. A Canadian band from Winnipeg — Kate's home town.
13. "California Stars", from "Mermaid Avenue", by Billy Bragg & Wilco (1998). I keep bumping into this lovely tune. Lyrics are by Woody Guthrie; there was no music with the lyrics. An invention by Bragg and Wilco that works very well.
14. "Dumb Things", from "Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South, Volumes 1 & 2", by Paul Kelly (1987). Paul Kelly is an Australian institution and, like him, we've done some dumb things.
15. "What If You Were a Refugee", from "What If You Were a Refugee - Single", by Lynn Miles (2015). There's a lot of folks blaming immigration for our woes, they need to have some empathy and imagine themselves as refugees.
16. "The Lunatics (Have Taken over the Asylum)", from "The Fun Boy Three (Extended Version)", by Fun Boy Three (1981). How true! On November 6, 2024 the "Don" from Mara-Lardo is elected president of the USA — we are surely in for some "interesting times".
17. "Grateful for Christmas", from "KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories)", by Hayes Carll (2011). We like Hayes Carll, he's grown on us. We did get to see him a few years ago at Waterloo Records.
18. "She Left Me For Jesus", from "Trouble In Mind", by Hayes Carll (2007). Another Hayes Carll. The premise, that his girl friend left him for Jesus, and he thinks Jesus is some guy: "If I ever find Jesus, I'll kick his ass!" I wonder how Steve Earle feels about Allison Moorer leaving him?
19. "When I'm Dead", from "Voices", by Eric Bogle (2016). Another great Australian singer. We saw him while we were in Brisbane and feel particularly blessed. This is just a funny song, but makes you think — no one gets out of this game alive.

These songs span our life with the earliest being by Kris around 1969. There are quite a few about/by heroes who are no longer around; some are obvious, like Tom Petty, Kris Kristofferson, and Lou Reed; others are subtle like Terry Hall (1959-2022) of Fun Boy Three and others long gone like Woody Guthrie (1912-1967). So I guess the outro song by Eric Bogle fits pretty well. When the story ends, we can plan for it, we can laugh about it.