Well, there's no more denying it, spring is officially here.  Which means it's time to share with you all what I was listening to this winter.  And let me tell you, it's quite the list!!  I tried to narrow it down, but the truth is I really listened the heck out of this playlist and they all deserve recognition!  Go check some new things out and enjoy!



1. Full Steam - David Grey featuring Annie Lennox (Draw the Line)
2. Trouble - Lindsey Buckingham (Law and Order)
3. Big Jet Plane - Angus and Julia Stone (Down the Way)
4. Rockabye (Farewell Lonesome Dove) - King Wilkie (Low Country Suite)
5. Zombie - The Cranberries 
6. Everybody Hurts - REM
7. Anyone Else - Puracane
8. And The Boys - Angus and Julia Stone (Down The Way)
9. I Wish She Wouldn't Treat You That Way - The Judds 
10. Yellow Brick Road - Angus and Julia Stone (Down The Way)
11. I'm Not Yours - Angus and Julia Stone (Down The Way)
12. Prayer of St. Francis - Sarah McLachlan (Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff)
13. Vox - Sarah McLachlan
14. Crested Hens - Cafe Musique (The Dancer)
15. Steaming - Sarah McLachlan
16. Nothing But The Wheel - Patty Loveless (Classics)
17. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams - Les Paul & Mary Ford
18. Unworthy - Cheryl Wheeler (Sylvia Hotel)
19. James and the Gang - Joan Baez (Recently)
20. Tears For You - The Judds 
21. Nothin' To Lose - Trisha Yearwood (Greatest Hits)
22. Wild Horses [live] - Indigo Girls (yes, covering the Rolling Stones)

Kicking off the banjo cover project has me thinking of some of my favorite cover songs.  Here is one of them - Bette Midler performing the Beatles classic, In My Life.  No one can do it like the Divine Miss M.  What are some of your favorite covers?

Thanks to my friend Sarah for introducing me to the music of Karen Dalton.  Wow, some REALLY neat things here. Do you ever think about how many great musicians and singers are out there that you have yet to discover, just when you think there can't possibly be any more....

Inspired by my cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire," hitting over 1000 views on Youtube, I've decided to launch the "Banjo Cover Project." The goal: Each month I will cover a different song on the banjo, determined solely by you, the fans! Watch for a poll to appear on the webpage late February, but right now I'm taking submissions on my facebook page (which you should become a fan of if you haven't already!). If you don't do facebook, but would really like to suggest a song, send it to me via the "contact" link!

 A good reminder.

The Summer Day

Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Short but sweet!

1. Rose Laurens - Africa (French version!)
2. Mary Chapin Carpenter - I Take My Changes (Come On Come On)
3. Joni Mitchell - All I Want  (Blue)
4. Stevie Nicks - Sable on Blond (The Wild Heart)
5. Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken
6. Joni Mitchell - Urge for Going
7. Figgis on Figgis - the entire album!
8. Neil Young - Natural Beauty (Harvest Moon)
9. Angus and Julia - Yellow Brick Road
10. Queen - I Want to Break Free
11. Eddie Vetter - Society

Fall is here, music listening is transitioning to something new.  But the summer flew by with being in Montana and music camps.  And of course great music!

Best find of the summer was Peggy Lee's version of "Close Your Eyes."  You MUST hear it.  Thanks to Cyd Smith for introducting me to this song.

Coty's Summer Favorites

1. Close Your Eyes - Peggy Lee
2. Oh To Be In Love - Kate Bush (The Kick Inside)
2. Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush ( The Kick Inside)
3. James And The Cold Gun - Kate Bush (The Kick Inside)
4. Time - The London Philharmonic Orchestra (Us And Them: Pink Floyd)
5. Without Words - Vishten (Vishten Live)
6.The Dreaming Fields - Trisha Yearwood (Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love)
7. My Baby Cares For Me - Nina Simone (The Solid Gold Collection)
8.One For My Baby - Frank Sinatra <--p.s. Bette Midler's version is EXCELLENT
9. Your Protector - Fleet Foxes (Ragged Wood)
10. All the Right Reasons - The Jayhawks (This is Americana)
11. Pull Me In - Caryn K (The Way We Get By)
12. Awake - Caryn K (Pitch Black Mile)
13. Serenade - Caryn K (Pitch Black Mile)
14. Border - Caryn K (Pitch Black Mile)
15. When The World Stopped - Caryn K (The Way We Get By)

 Summer is officially here, so it's high time I posted my spring playlists.  I'm doing things a little differently this time as spring seemed to be the time for me to listen heavily to a few specific albums.  So what I've done is split the favorites into two lists.  The first is the official "spring playlist" which are the tracks off of my favorite albums for the spring that really stood out.  The second is my "spring songs of note."  These are songs that came up on my ipod or itunes that I wanted to remember or listen to again (and again!)
So here you go!


 Albums:

Adele: "21"   - specific songs:   Rolling in the Deep
                                                       Turning Tables
                                                       Someone Like You
                                                        I'll Be Waiting

Stevie Nicks: "In Your Dreams"   - specific songs:    New Orleans                                                         
                                                                Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)
                                                                                           Soldier's Angel
                                                                                           Everybody Loves You

Kristin Allen-Zito: "The Atlas"     -specific songs:  Utah
                                                                                      Pushups

Neil Young: "Harvest Moon"       -specific songs: Unknown Legend
                                                                                       Harvest Moon
                                                                                       Natural Beauty

SPRING SONGS OF NOTE:

1. "Truth of the Heart" - Melissa Etheridge (Breakdown)
2.  "Your Protector" - Fleet Foxes (Ragged Wood Country)
3. No One Hurts Up Here - Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson (Rattlin' Bones Country)
4. Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan  (The Best of Bob Dylan)
5. Golden Slumbers / The End - K.D. Lang (Recollection)
6. Down By The River - Indigo Girls (1200 Curfews)
7. The Blackest Crow - Laurie Lewis (Birdsong)
8. Sleeping Angel - Stevie Nicks (Enchanted)
9. New Beginning - Tracy Chapman (New Beginning)
10. I Don't Know Nothin' About Love - Mary Gauthier (Dixie Kitchen)
11. My Sweet Love Ain't Around - Jo Miller & Laura Love (Sing Bluegrass and Old-Time Country)
12. Hovhaness: Sonata For Harp & Guitar, Op. 374, - Yolanda Kondanassis
13. All The Way to Heaven - Melissa Etheridge (Your Little Secret)
14. Amari Szi, Amari - Luminescent Orchestrii (Putumayo: Gypsy Groove)
15. Aurora - Andrews Sisters (Capitol Collectors Series)
16. Pretty Polly - Pearl Hicks (On the Threshold of a Dream)
17. Walking Cane - Steve Baughman (The Almost Whisky Waltz)
18. Slip of the Tongue - Mary Gauthier (Drag Queens in Limousines)
19. You're All I Wanna Do - Mary Gauthier (Dixie Kitchen)
20. Sister - Indigo Girls (Come on Now Social)
21. Your Day Will Come - Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson (Rattlin' Bones Country)
22. I Am Stretched On Your Grave - Sinead O'Connor (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got)
23. I Need To Wake Up - Melissa Etheridge (Greatest Hits - The Road Less Traveled)
24. Laramie - Amy Ray (Stag)
25. Chinese Cafe - Joni Mitchell (Travelogue)
26. Sharks Don't Sleep - Dave Moore (These Times We're Living In)
27. Never Yours - Tracy Chapman (Where You Live)
28. Demeter's Lost Daughter - Cosy Sheridan (The Pomegranate Seed)
29. Missing - Everybody But The Girl (Random Songs)
30. Listen My Son (Ireland/India) - The Unseen Guest (Putumayo: Blues)
31. Boulder to Birmingham - Emmylou Harris (Portraits)
32. Long Long Time - Linda Ronstadt (Very Best of)
33. Heaven Ain't Ready For You Yet - Emmylou Harris (Portraits)
34. Gulf Coast Highway - Emmylou Harris (Portraits)
35. Outbound Plane - Suzy Boguss (Aces)
36. Someday Soon - Suzy Boguss (Aces)