Texas Flood – Steve Ray Vaughan
Before he was inspiring iconic artists like John Mayer, Gary Clark Jr., and Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan was watching his brother practice the guitar. Jimmie Vaughan (3 ½ years older than Stevie) started playing in high school and says that Stevie, “would watch me learn… If I did something, he would do it.” When Jimmie went off touring with his own band and Stevie was stuck at home, he became determined to catch up to his brother. He practiced incessantly, joined bands and started playing in Dallas nightclubs. He followed Jimmie down to Austin, TX after dropping out of school and started a new band called Double Trouble. This band would go on to be signed to Epic Records through John Hammond (who also discovered Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen). In his book Mastery, Robert Greene writes that, “childhood attractions are hard to put into words and are more like sensations—deep wonder, sensual pleasure, power, and heightened awareness.” These attractions come from “somewhere deeper” and are “reflections of your own unique chemistry.” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s interest in his brother’s guitar playing reflected something deep within him that he recognized and cultivated. When asked in interviews after becoming a famous artist who his biggest inspiration was, his response was always, “my brother.” This is one of my favorite SRV songs and displays a lot of his talent. His mastery of guitar and the blues is on full display.

I Am Becoming – Drew Cline
The drive from Dallas, TX to Nashville, TN takes around 10 hours but it was always one of my favorite road trips as a kid. I didn’t get excited because of the scenes outside of the window or even because of the $5 that I knew my Aunt Lori would promise my brothers and I if we stopped fighting. I got excited because we’d be staying with my Aunt and Uncle, and Uncle Drew was an artist. My brothers and I would sleep in the studio he had on the top floor of their house in Franklin, TN and I would sit there amongst the hum of the equipment and dream. Drew was the first one to show me how to record, to teach me the value of repeating a chorus in a song, and to show me that being a recording artist was a real job. Last week, we were all staying at their house and spending time with my Aunt as she’s going through a really hard battle with cancer. She wanted us to play music for everyone, and Drew played this song, which is one of my favorites of his. It’s a down-tempo, soulful, anthemic cry that speaks to the human condition of struggle and redemption.

Thursday Afternoon – Brian Eno
Someone commented on my video about Brian Eno last week and mentioned this album and it’s been on repeat. It’s just a single hour long ambient track and it’s great for falling asleep or meditating or focusing. I feel like I owe “isaacepstein8971” something for the hours of enjoyment I’ve gotten out of it…

Listen to the playlist with all of these songs

Hope you listen to great music this week!
Dawson