Jack White "High Ball Stepper"

I think it's a pretty clear sign that people are obsessed with everything you do, when the music listening population goes crazy because you've leaked an instrumental from your next album.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Allman Brothers Band "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed"

I always think of Grampa Tim when I hear this song.

Famously, Dickie Betts of the Allman Brothers wrote this instrumental in a Macon, Georgia graveyard that he liked to hang out in.

The fact that the songs is an instrumental leaves Elizabeth Reed's story untold, and lets us wonder.

Grampa Tim has spent many an hour, I'm sure, pondering such unknowable questions.

On top of being a carpenter, shop keeper, bartender, reluctant soldier, sketcher, clam digger, bird house builder, art installer, roofer, and handyman, he is also a stone carver.

He's been hired to carve massive sinks and fireplaces for luxury homes.

And he'll do simple marker carving, like the slate-address-marker we have at our front door.

A few years ago, he was hired by the Brewster Cemetery Association to fix and restore over 300 gravestones in town.  (Read about it in a Cape Codder article)

That job lasted ages, and gave Tim a lot of time to ponder just who those people were, what their life might have been like, and what their story had been.

But, despite his many talents, I don't think he wrote a song about it.


Throughout the holiday season, I'm writing stories about some of the family and friends who are making and selling art and such.  When you think about dropping $50 at Amazon or Walmart, consider how much farther that money will go, how much better for the broader economy it would be, if you spent your cash with a small business owner.

While I don't know that your Mom would appreciate a Gravestone as a Christmas present, and you may not be interested in a massive, marble carved fireplace, take a look a Tim's site.  There may be some more modest carving or stone bench or piece of rustic furniture or abstract art that would appeal to you.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Booker T Jones "Representing Memphis"

Go ahead and listen to the song first, and as your listening, try to guess which Grammy category Booker T Jones is nominated in.

The song is "Representing Memphis" from Booker T's album "The Road From Memphis." This track features vocals by Sharon Jones and Matt Berninger of The National.


Hear the song on Youtube.

So, what category do you think this is in?

Hmm, well there's no "Soul" category.

Nope, nothing in the R&B field.

The Grammys don't really single out individual instruments, so no "Best Piano/Keyboard" or anything.

Stumped?

Here it is: This album is nominated for "Best Pop Instrumental Album."

Huh?

Yes, you may have noticed that there were some vocalists on this track, seemingly disqualifying it as an instrumental.

But there are some fun and funny rules in the Grammy world, and for "Instrumental Albums" the rules state that only "at least 51% playing time of newly recorded pop instrumental tracks." So even with a few tracks featuring vocalists, Booker T's mostly instrumental album qualifies in the category.

Tonight on The Hot Seat, I'll be doing an hour of weird, fun and offbeat nominees for this year's Grammys (which will be handed on out Sunday). Tune in tonight at 9 ET to hear from Tina Fey, Weird Al, Steve Martin and others. And go to mvyradio.com this Sunday, as we Live comment on the Grammys, on Twitter.