LETTERS FROM THE ROAD: Pete Droge

This week, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD features the legendary Pete Droge (OMG!)... we are MASSIVE fans here at Outlandos. Hopefully you will be, too.

Incidentally, for a refresher, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD is our guest post series where we invite musicians we are utterly nuts about to take over and write whatever they like. Three rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music, and the weirder the better. Fun stuff!

What I love about this post from Pete (and I hope I don't embarrass him too much) is that number one, he was a tad skittish, as a lot of folks are about publishing a blog, if blogging isn't your usual thing, perfectly human reaction (and its nice to know our idols are human). It's great though is that none of it has to be perfect, it just has to be genuine for me --- and for you --- to dig it. And Pete's got genuine in spades, as you can read below. But what's more is, this idea of his is quite smart... if you're going to dive into an iconic catalog, chronologically doesn't always make sense. This would make a good book actually, a guide to the best order in which to sift through iconic catalogs. You up for that Pete?

Thanks for letting me twist your arm to do this one!

Dear Music Fan Who Is Not up to Speed on JJ Cale, Leonard Cohen or Gram Parsons,

I find that where you enter an artist's catalog can make a huge difference on how they connect with you. Case in point, my friend who thought, "I really should check out this Bob Dylan cat that so many hipsters are into... hmm where to begin? How about his first album?" Seeing as Bob is so adored for his writing and his first record consists of mostly covers this is probably not the best place to enter his body of work (If you have not heard his version of Man of Constant Sorrow go get it right now... George Clooney, eat your heart out). I digress. I have many times served as mid wife in the birthing of a newborn Dylan fan. I am always shocked, outraged and ultimately jealous of anyone who is naive to all things Bob. Generally speaking, with Bob, I would point the newbie towards Bringing It All Back Home. Side One is Bob 101. Opens with Subterranean Homesick Blues, need I say more? Side Two, Bob 201. Opens with Mr. Tambourine Man and closes with It's All over Now, Baby Blue, and in between those two, Gates of Eden and It's Alright Ma, (I'm Only Bleeding). After that, I would point them to more records from the 60s like Highway 61, Times They Are a Changin', and Blonde on Blonde before sending them out to other eras (Oh Mercy, Time Out Of Mind, Infidel, Planet Waves, Blood on the Tracks, Basement Tapes and so on).

Enough on Bob. I'm sure you are all up to speed already. Let's get to some folks that some of you may not be into.

JJ Cale. I remember the first time I heard JJ Cale... or John as his friends call him... yes, that's right, the name John Cale was taken (ok musical hipsters, John Cale was a member of what seminal ban? Anyone... anyone? Yes, THE seminal band of all seminal bands, the Velvet Underground. Very good). I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, the first time I heard JJ Cale. In my Datsun 210, on the once great rock station KISW (Seattle's Best Rock). I know this song, but holy shit --- this is way swampier than Clapton's version, I thought. It was of course the original version of Cocaine that Eric had the big hit with [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.