1. ‣Jeff and Vida. I still can’t believe they came and played a house concert on our back deck.
   

1. ‣Nathan Bell, an unbelievably talented guy who still deserves Nashville, and who still deserves to get out of Nashville.
   

1. ‣Jessica Williams, gorgeous jazz piano. I can’t say enough good things about her work. Ms. William’s take on the Bemsha Swing is so witty and smart!
   
   

2. ‣Kings of Convenience: What historian-activist wouldn’t love “Misread”? But there’s so much else to love on their albums.
   
   

3. ‣Antony and the Johnsons: Try I Am A Bird Now.
   
   

4. ‣Iain Morland: Iain’s a work-friend, and I wrote my last major work listening to his “Heliography”...over and over. Meditative and progressive at the same time.
   
   

5. ‣Hem...a little sappy, but I really love it, especially when I’m out walking.
   
   

6. ‣Midlake, specifically “The Trials of Van Occupanther.” I can’t explain why. I just know I got hooked on track 3 and had to be surgically removed from my iPod. (“Give me a day full of honest work, and a roof that never leaks, and I’ll be satisfied....”)
   
   

7. ‣Fountains of Wayne, particularly “Welcome Interstate Managers.” (I spent a summer singing “Valley Winter Song.” And I got my seven-year-old singing “Bright Future in Sales.” Don’t tell my mother.)
   
   

8. ‣Guggenheim Grotto. I wrote my Guggenheim Fellowship application while listening to their music over and over again for good luck, so when I was awarded a Guggenheim, I wrote and told the band. They wrote back (!) that they were so pleased.
   

Music you should know (and might not)