12/30/23 What’s Left In The Bucket

There are a lot of winter-ish songs that just don’t seem to fit from December 1 through the 25th. The Week Between is a great time to get to those. Let it be known, these are not castaway tunes – they just don’t fit elsewhere.

I’ll start with The White Buffalo and his amazing song, Winter Act 2. (The White Buffalo returns with a New Year’s Eve tune tomorrow).

The White Buffalo is singer/songwriter Jake Smith. You may have heard his music from the TV series Sons of Anarchy, including his cover of House of the Rising Sun in the season four finale of the program.

The White Buffalo’s most recent album is Year of the Dark Horse, a tremendous record.

This is the experience awaiting you on the new album Year of the Dark Horse. Full of self-reflective moments that inspire introspection and personal evaluation, it’s a mostly conceptualized album arguing that the winter is the opportune time for renewal by extricating oneself from the grip of mundane moments and restrictive vices. Meanwhile, the music rises to meet the challenge that the inspired writing presents, whatever genre or mix of genres you choose to label it.

review by savingcountrymusic.com

It’s not for everyone. But man. It’s good.

The White Buffalo Linktree

The White Buffalo – Winter Act 2

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Next up is another from Fountains of Wayne, a band I’ve featured on December 4, 2015 and on December 28, 2020 on a Remembering Those Who Passed post featuring the band’s founding member Adam Schlesinger.

Valley Winter Song is a great tune from a wildly underappreciated band.

Hey Sweet Annie Don’t take it so bad You know the summer’s coming soon Though the interstate is choking under salt and dirty sand And it seems the sun is hiding from the moon

lyrics Valley Winter Song – Fountains of Wayne

Fountainsofwayne.com

Fountains of Wayne – Valley Winter Song

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Last and certainly not least tonight Snow Days from the Minnesota band, Trip Shakespeare. One of the members of this band is Dan Wilson. He’s the guy who wrote/performed the band Semisonic’s #1 hit, Closing Time — and a guy who I featured on 12/7/21 (he writes great Christmas music too).

It’s a wonderful, bluesy, kinda show tune about a snowstorm — and lucky Mrs. Braintree who gets a slow day on a snow day. A brilliant tune.

It’s coming down
Snow lays on the chainfields
There’s a blessing on the ground
It’s coming down
If your lanes are crammed with children
There’s a blessing on your town
On a lucky Monday, Mrs. Braintree
All your lanes are waxen silver
And the stores are loot for vagabonds
It’s coming down
Go home! Go home and take a snow day, Mrs. Braintree!

Lyrics Snow Days by Trip Shakespeare

I work at a radio station. I guarantee I will play this song the next time it snows.

Dan Wilson Linktree

Trip Shakespeare – Snow Days

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Please check out my playlist. You can play it year round — and you just might not hear the same song twice