Music

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Coming soon

• Vocal Singing
• Harmonica
• Ukulele
• Trumpet
• Software
• Music Theory

Some of my favorite musicians & bands

This is a list of bands and musicians that I listen to regularly or that I’ve been a fan of in the past. Most of them are available for listening to via Bandcamp, Spotify or Youtube, and over time I plan to add some links and other resources on them.

This list is sorted A-Z. The word “the” is skipped.

Key for icons:

• Jewish artists and folks who sing a lot about Jewish themes, including some who may not be Jewish (i.e. Woody Guthrie) 🕎
• Musicians from Oklahoma are marked with:
• Musicians  who are part of the LGBTQ community (that I know about), bands with out LGBTQ members are marked with:

• A
  •  Acapella
    • I remember the days in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when it was seen as mildly edgy in the Churches of Christ (the religious tradition I was then a part of) in Oklahoma to like the group, because while Acapella was truly all-acapella, they made use of “vocal percussion” in which singers imitated the sounds of musical instruments, and that was a step-to-far in the conservative elements of the COC’s. Today, of course, this dispute seems silly, maybe even quaint.
  • Ani DiFranco 
    •  I was introduced to Ani back in the early 2000’s in Austin by a friend. I’ve been a fan ever since.
  • Antiflag
    • Their song “Die for the Government” was the theme song of sorts for a direct action that I had the privilege to witness at Fort Hood, Texas at 4 am on August 23, 2010. Here are a few videos about that protest: Video #1 , Video #2
    • I have learned that in 2023 the band disbanded due to the lead singer (Justin Sane) being accused of multiple counts of sexual assault. 
  • Anohni and the Johnsons (formerly known as Antony and the Johnsons)
    •  I was introduced to this band by a friend, I think around the time that the I am a bird album came out. Painfully beautiful music, so much longing and heart.
  • Asleep at the Wheel
  • Asylum Street Spankers
  • Atlanta Sedition Orchestra
    • Hear them on youtube
  • Austin Lounge Lizards
• B
  • Ballydowse
    • Hear them on bandcamp or on Spotify.
  • Barbara Dane
    • I’m especially a fan of her album, FTA! Songs of the GI Resistance
  • Barenaked Ladies
  • Be Good Tanyas
  • Belle & Sebastian
  • The Beatles (including their solo work)
  • Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys
  • Billy Bragg
    • Youtube
  • Billy Joel
  • Bob Dylan
  • Bob Marley
  • Brandi Carlisle 
  • Brave Saint Saturn
  • Bruce Hornsby
  • The Brunettes
  • Buena Fe
  • Buffalo Fitz
  • Bush Wiebe and the Mennonite Blues Experiment
    • Youtube
• C
  • Cake
  • Calibre 50
  • Carter Sampson 
  • Chabad Religion🕎
    • Youtube
  • The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks)
  • Chris Thile
  • Clem Snide
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
  • Cross Canadian Ragweed
  • The Crossing
• D
  • Dale Nikkel
  • Dave Carter   & Tracy Grammar
  • David Bowie 
  • Daniel Kahn
  • David Rovics
  • Debbie Friedman 🕎
  • The Decemberists
  • Defiance, Ohio
  • Derek Webb
  • The Dillards
  • Dispatch
    • Especially their song “The General” (one of my favorite anti-war songs of all time)
  • DJ Matt Werner
  • Dolly Parton
  • Don McLean
  • Dropkick Murphys
  • Duncan Sheik
• E
  • Echoing Green
  • Ein Prat Fountainheads🕎
    • I don’t think they are active anymore, but for a good stretch they made a lot of great music videos for Youtube.
  • Eliana Light 🕎
  • Electric Light Orchestra
  • The Electrics
  • Elton John
• F
  • Fin de Mundo
  • Five Iron Frenzy
  • Flobots
  • Fully Automated Kosher Luxury Space Kibbutz🕎
• G
  • Geoff Berner 🕎
  • The Gin Blossoms
  • Godspeed you Black Emperor
  • The Grateful Dead
  • The Great Divide
  • Green Day
  • Guster
• H
  • Havalina Rail Co.
  • Hiphop Shabbat🕎
• I
  • Incredible String Band
  • Indigo Girls 
  • Iron Butterfly
  • Iron and Wine
• J
  • Jabee
  • Jars of Clay
    • I especially loved their “Flood” album back in the day.
  • Jax
    • Especially her song “Victoria’s Secret”
  • Jennifer Knapp
  • John Denver
    • I grew up listening to his songs and still love them.
  • Johnny Cash
  • Joy Electric
  • Julieta Venegas
• K
  • K’naan
  • Key Tov Orchestra 🕎
  • Kimya Dawson 
  • The Klezmatics
    • I love so much of their music, especially their recreation of songs originally written by Woody Guthrie. But I also adore their song “Apikorsim” (heretics).
• L
  • Lavender Country 
  • Lily Allen
  • Louie Armstrong
• M
  • The Macacabeats🕎
  • Madison Greene
    • I was such a fan of this band back in the day (I’ll have to dig up the reviews I did of some of their albums and concerts that I wrote for a Christian music magazine back in the day), I think primarily from hearing them at the Cornerstone Festival. Their music really touched me in deep ways. They described themselves as “aggressive acoustic” but also had a world music kind of vibe. Unfortunately, most of their music is no longer available online but I’m hoping to reach out to the band and ask for their permission to get their music out there again. In the meantime, you can find a few of their tracks on the music page of their old website (still accessible on Archive.org) but you can also find some of their concerts on Youtube.
    • One of the band members. Erin Zindle (with her band The Ragbirds) is still around and is making some excellent music. Melissa Blair (who sung and did vocals for their early albums, and sister of the lead singer) sadly passed away a few years ago.
  • The Magnetic Fields
  • Matisyahu🕎
  • Me Without You
  • The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  • The Misbehavin’ Maidens
  • Modern Māori Quartet
  • MxPx
    • A band that was very present in my late teens and early 20’s. In those days they were a “Christian Punk” band, but they were also really good musically (not at all like the famous line from King of the Hill about Christian Rock). Thankfully they have aged well, still solid musically but also thankfully not identifying today as a Christian band.
• N 
  • Nefesh Mountain🕎
  • Nick Drake
  • Nickel Creek
  • Nissim Black🕎
  • Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
  • New Pornographers
  • Nina Simone
  • No Doubt
• O
  • Owl City
• P
  • Panic! at the disco 
  • Pedro the Lion (David Bashan)
  • Pep Squad
  • Phish
  • Postal Service
  • The Psalters
  • Puffy Ami Yumi
  • Pure Prairie League
• Q
  • Queen 
• R
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • Red Dirt Rangers
  • Riot Folk Collective
  • Rotfront 🕎 
    • Favorite music videos of theirs include Sovietoblaster, and Gay, Gypsy and Jew
  • Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
  • Ryan Harvey
• S
  • Save Ferris
  • Seth Martin and the Menders
  • Sierra Hull
  • Simon & Garfunkel
  • Six 13🕎
  • Schmeckel 🕎
  • Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
  • Socalled🕎
  • South Austin Jug Band
  • Starflyer 59
  • Steve Earle
  • Sudden Rush
  • Sufjan Stevens 
• T
  • They Might be Giants
  • Trampled by Turtles
  • Traveling Wilburys
  • Tuba Skinny
    • Lots of good videos of them on Youtube, playing mostly on the street in New Orleans.
• U
  • Ulali
  • Urban Hillbilly Quartet (Erik Brandt)
• V
  • Vigilantes of Love (Bill Mallonee)
  • Vince Guaraldi Trio
• W
  • The Wailin’ Jennys
    Weezer
  • Weird Al Yankovitch
  • Wilco
  • Willi Carlisle
    •  Youtube
  • Willie Nelson
  • Willy Mason
  • Woody Guthrie 🕎
• X
• Y
  • Yidcore
  • Younder Mountain String Band
• Z