Weekly Playlist (1/30/2025)

Photo Courtesy of Official Replacements’ Instagram

Bryce Russell | Art & Entertainment Editor

“Indiana” – Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek

Adrianne Lenker, best known as the primary singer and songwriter of indie folk band Big Thief, released the album a-sides along with fellow Big Thief guitar player Buck Meek in 2014. This song, “Indiana,” is my favorite off the album. Featuring Lenker’s now signature soft singing and acoustic guitar playing, it is a must listen for any Big Thief or indie folk fan. Being released two years before Big Thief’s debut album, it’s a fantastic glimpse at a songwriter on the verge of a legendary breakthrough that would influence indie music and folk music for the next decade.

“Easy Wind” – The Grateful Dead

“Easy Wind” was released on the Grateful Dead’s 1970 album Working Man’s Dead. A departure from their last few albums of tripped out psychedelic rock, Working Man’s Dead had a more bluesy and Americana feel to it. The bluesiest number on the album is “Easy Wind,” sung by Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, who would eventually be the first Grateful Dead member to die at the age of 27 in March of 1973. Whenever the Grateful Dead plays the blues, Pigpen brought an authentic feel to the music. After 1973, the band was never able to play the blues quite the same.

“Solid Air” – John Martyn

The title track from John Martyn’s 1973 album, “Solid Air” was written for fellow British folk singer Nick Drake. Drake, struggling with depression and substance abuse after the commercial failure of the only three albums he would ever release, was retreating further away from his friends. His friend, brilliant fingerstyle guitar player John Martyn, wrote this song for him. The song had an acoustic jazz feel to it, with a creeping bass line and soulful saxophone. Sadly, just over a year later, Nick Drake would pass away from a drug overdose. Now, Drake’s three unsuccessful albums are considered some of the best folk music of not just the 1970s, but all time.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – Vanilla Fudge

This cover of the Supremes’ song of the same name is Vanilla Fudge’s most popular song. Vanilla Fudge was known for their heavy, psychedelic arrangements of pop songs from the 1960s, and is considered one of the bridges between psychedelic rock and what would become heavy metal.

“Bad Penny” – Rory Gallagher

Irish musician Rory Gallagher is widely considered one of the greatest blues guitar players of all time. Considered by guitarists like Eric Clapton and Brian May of Queen as a major influence, Gallagher never achieved the levels of fame as those artists, but his virtuosic guitar playing has lasted long after his death in 1997.

“Answering Machine” – The Replacements

Starting out as a straight up punk band in the late 70s and early 80s, by 1984 Minneapolis band The Replacements would begin paving the way for what would eventually become known as alternative rock. Along with bands like R.E.M. and fellow Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, the Replacements would blend the angst and anti-establishment sound of punk with melodic songwriting to create some of the most influential music of the 1980s. “Answering Machine” comes off of what is (arguably) considered their best album, Let It Be, and features rhythm guitar player and singer Paul Westerberg’s brilliant lyrics about heartache and long-distance relationships.