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Summer Mix 2020

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This year's summer mix spans 51 years with 20 tracks from 1969 to 2020, and touches every decade in between. This year's mix was inspired by film noir and more recent genre (or neo-noir) films with steamy Florida locations like  Body Heat (1981) , Night Moves (1975) , Wild Things (1998) , and Blood and Wine (1996) . I also included snippets of the "Main Title" from the Body Heat soundtrack, along with a few climatic sound effects. So Caught Up - The Teskey Brothers - (2019) Turn It on Again (Live) - Genesis - (1982) Don't Owe You a Thang (Live) - Gary Clark Jr. - (2014) Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing - Stevie Wonder - (1973) I Got The... - Joss Stone - (2012) Straight On - Heart - (1978) Bittersweet (Live) - Big Head Todd & The Monsters - (1998) 3AM - Matchbox Twenty - (1996) One Way Out (Live) - The Allman Brothers Band - (1971) Sumthin' Sumthin' - Maxwell - (1996) In the Evening - Led Zeppelin - (1979) Use Somebody - Kings ...

Summer Mix 2019

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This year's summer mix spans 56 years with 25 tracks from 1963 to 2019, and touches every decade in between. This year was all about the funk, old and new, and I was ready to put together a playlist of nothing but funk/R&B. But, then I thought... what I like most about mixes is the change up. So hopefully things aren't too watered down, but I think there's a good blend of tunes, and even a nod to the 50th anniversary of the "summer of love" with two tracks from 1969. Although I have to admit that was just a coincidence and not planned. Something I did plan was using the Jason Mraz and Michael Franti tracks back to back. I've wanted to include them in a summer mix since they came out, but never had the right blend 'til now. It was also good to include one of my all-time favorite Dave Matthews' tracks "Captain." Something about that song always reminds me of summer. Not as many new songs as I would have liked, and especially thi...

Summer Mix 2018

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This year's summer mix spans 51 years with 22 tracks from 1967 to 2018, and touches every decade in between. This year's mix really didn't come together until I got back to changing up styles and adding more rock tunes to off set the many similar-sounding smoother songs, or so-called "chugga chugga" tunes mentioned in my 2015 post . For me, the more the mix changes up, the more I want to listen again and holds my interest. Not sure if I've mentioned anything about my choice for the cover photo in the past, but this year's is a recent favorite of mine. It's a spot on the Lehigh River only accessible via a bike/run/walk trail. Hope you enjoy this year's mix - Salud ! New Love - Amos Lee (2016) Wish I Knew You - The Revivalists (2015) What Is And What Should Never Be - Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes (2000) Got To Give It Up, Pt. 1 (Edit) - Marvin Gaye (1977) A Little Honey - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (2018) Oogum ...

Summer Mix 2017

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This year's summer mix spans 48 years over 28 tracks from 1969 to 2017, and touches all decades in between. A few months ago I heard "FM" by Steely Dan for the first time in years. Almost immediately I knew I had to include it in the mix, but I also used the track to build the rest of the mix around. It has this blend of jazz, blues, rock, soul and R&B that I wanted to use throughout the mix. Next, I wanted a track at or near the end that was a little unexpected, but still felt right, like the country track by The Band Perry, which closed out the 2013 summer mix . Once I had those, then it was a matter of finding the right blend of new and old tracks to compliment each other and mesh the styles mentioned above, but this year I did it with a slight twist. In March, when I saw Tedeschi Trucks Band in Nashville , I noticed that the setlist on 3/3 was put together with not just one song leading up to the next, but sometimes two and three songs leading the way...

Tech Rant: SEO Debunked

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There's no mystery or hocus pocus to get a top search result, but know that you're really looking for a good content editor who will gear your site for SEO. SEO or search-engine optimization is the strategy to increase your website traffic by obtaining a high-ranking search result on the top search engines. To have your site appear in the top three to five results, let alone number one for a given search term on the first page of search results is a much-coveted spot. To gain a top search result, it's about page content and title tags. Come up with a list of key search terms/phrases for your site. Place them in your homepage HTML title tag (Ex. "Buy Tires, Brake Service - Bubba's Tire Shop"). Then in your homepage content, write informative text that incorporates these key terms/phrases throughout the page. Do the same for your sub-landing pages and content pages, and give them their own unique and relevant title tags. Another big help is to have the f...

Winter's Eve 2017

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This year's Winter's Eve Mix includes new and old favorites, and pairs well with a "cool" winter's night. The opening track ( Blue In Green ) by the Bill Evans Trio, a cover of the Miles Davis classic, is rumored to have been written by Bill Evans, who played on the quintessential jazz masterpiece "Kind of Blue". Regardless of who penned it, I love this track and especially like this somewhat brighter version than the one Davis recorded. The next track ( Wasting Time ) by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats is one of my favorites right now, and I even have it near the beginning of my run playlist. More notable tracks: ( Delta Lady and Space Captain ) honor the recent passing of  Leon Russell , and a couple others ( State of Love and Trust and Where The Streets Have No Name ) commemorate their album's 25th and 30th anniversaries respectively. Other timely inclusions: ( It Makes No Difference ) prompted by the current tour celebrating t...

Summer Mix 2016

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While this year's summer mix spans 60 years, nearly half of the songs are from 2015-16, and with a few exceptions fall primarily within the rock and/or blues genres. Rock isn't dead, you just need to know where to look. Some of the older tracks have been long-time summer favorites that had yet to make it onto a mix, like "Arc of a Diver" by Steve Winwood and "Thunder And Lightning" by Phil Collins. Both of these and a few others have been synonymous with summer since first listen. There are also some extended mellow sections that give the mix a nice ebb and flow throughout. Initially I was going to include the new Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dark Necessities" and Eric Clapton's "Catch the Blues", but felt their tone didn't mesh with the other tracks. - Salud! Summer Mix 2016 Midnight Sun (intro) - Jackie Gleason (1963) Waiting on Your Love - Eric Krasno (2016) Soundcheck - Catfish and the Bottlemen (2016) Message In A B...