Canadian musician Luke Doucet has given us his “Top 10 Songs To Feed Insomnia With”, which features tunes by The Band, Willie Nelson, The Rolling Stones and more. Luke is currently gearing up for a tour in support of his upcoming release, Steel City Trawler (out September 21 via Six Shooter Records) that will take him across the US and the UK. He’ll be stopping in Los Angeles on September 7th for a gig at Hotel Cafe. Check out Luke’s complete tour dates and his mixtape after the jump.
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San Diego sibling band The Smart Brothers have given us another mixtape! This one features their “Top 10 Summer Jams” and includes tunes by Del Shannon, The Stanley Brothers, Led Zeppelin and more. Though the season is quickly coming to an end, this mix will help you hold on to that special feel good summer feeling just a little bit longer. If you missed it, check out the first mix the band made for us back in 2009: The Smart Brother’s “Top 10 Songs We Wish We Had Written”. These boys sure do know how to put a mighty fine mixtape together!
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New Jersey group The Roadside Graves have given us their “Top 5 Songs About Suicide”. This down and out mix, which you can check out after the jump, features tunes by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and more. If you missed it, be sure to listen to the first mix the band made for us back in 2009: The Roadside Grave’s “Top 10 Folk and Country Songs For Lying On Your Back On A Hardwood Floor“.
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For the latest edition of our Twang Series, we pay tribute to the great Nick Drake. The mix features covers of Drake-penned tunes by Lucinda Williams, Elton John, Iron & Wine and more. Who should we feature next in our Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
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The fine folks at LA Record asked me to put together a Beach Boys-inspired mixtape for them in honor of our Beach Boys Tribute and Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund Benefit that took place last Saturday at HM-157. Head on over to LA Record.com and listen to my “Top 10 Tunes That The Beach Boys Covered.” If you missed my other LA Record mixes, check out “Oh Yes, Los Angeles”, “Big Freak” and my “Neil Young Tribute Mixtape.” Thanks LA Record!
Pete Oberg, an audio archivist for the music site Wolfgang’s Concert Vault, has given us a mixtape. I am very pleased to present his mix entitled “Expected Synchronicity.” For those who are unfamiliar with The Concert Vault, it’s a site that contains thousands of live performances and interviews from the 1960s through today from the likes of The Band, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen and more. All you have to do is sign up for a free account and then all of the concerts in the Concert Vault are yours to stream online. Some of the concerts are even available for free download, while others are available to download for a small price (though streaming is always free). Check out Pete’s mix, which includes a couple of tracks from the archive and various other recorded material from the likes of Ralph Stanley, Justin Townes Earle, Moby Grape and more, after the jump.
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Columbus, Ohio-band The Black Swans have given us a mixtape entitled “Side A from the Black Swans Ford Taurus Wagon.” The mix features tunes by Michael Hurley, Tony Joe White and more. The band just released their latest record, Words Are Stupid, in April (via St. Ives/ Secretly Canadian). You can check out a video of their tune “Language Tenor” from the record and their mixtape after the jump.
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Los Angeles’ own Truth and Salvage Co have given us their “Top Ten Songs To Dump Your Girlfriend To.” The mix features tunes by Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Al Green, Jeff Buckley and more. The band is currently in the midst of a summer tour in support of their Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes)-produced self-titled debut release (out now via Silver Arrow/Megaforce). If you are hitting up the festival circuit this summer, be sure to check them out at Tennessee’s Bonnaro Festival and California’s High Sierra Music Fest. Their complete tour dates, the mixtape and a Truth & Salvage Co. track are after the jump.
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Los Angeles’ own Morgan Nagler, aka the frontwoman for The Whispertown 2000 and a solo artist who performs under the name Whispertown (Morgan Meyn), has given us a mixtape! The mix features Morgan’s “Top 10 Songs That Make You Feel Like You’re Driving” and includes tunes by Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams and Benji Hughes among others. And did I mention that she was also the first signing to Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch’s label Acony? Not a bad pair to have in your corner. Morgan is playing tomorrow night, Tuesday, June 1st at the Bootleg Theater alongside Swedish sisters First Aid Kit and Oklahoma’s Samantha Crain. Ticket are $15 in advance (buy them here) and the show is highly, highly recommended! She’ll also be singing a couple of tunes at our Beach Boys Tribute on June 19th at HM-157. Check out her mixtape and a Whispertown 2000 track after the jump.
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Todd Roeth is a man of many talents. In addition to holding the title of Creative Director for the live music search engine website Gigbot, he’s also a photographer whose work has appeared many a-time on When You Awake. I actually met Todd and the Gigbot crew down in Austin, Texas at this year’s SXSW, but it wasn’t until I came home and looked at his site that I realized I was already a huge fan of his photography. Not to mention that the list of band’s he has worked with reads like a When You Awake Dream Festival Lineup: Avett Brothers, Langhorne Slim, Megafaun, Ha Ha Tonka, Fruit Bats, Joe Pug, Samantha Crain and so on. So naturally, I had to ask this man of impeccable music taste for a mixtape and I am very pleased to present Roeth’s “Ice Cube Got Nothin’ On This: Murder Ballads From The 30’s-60’s” (aka our grandma’s gangster rap). The mix features tunes by Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Leadbelly and more. The mix and a handful of his photos are after the jump. To check out more of his work, click here
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