The Marinade's Favorite Records of 2023 | Part I

Welcome to The Marinade’s Favorite Records of 2023! It has always struck me as a little strange that media outlets start to release their year-end lists as early as November. I don’t say that to be contrarian, or even critical, it just strikes me as incongruent with how I think about these things. One of my favorite records from 2022, Adeem the Artist’s White Trash Revelry was not realeased until December, and these things need time to digest.

Thus, it has been my practice to wait until the end of 2023 or first of 2024 to start compiling my list. I chose the adjective favorite because it’s a little biased. Some of my friends and favorite artists made the cut. This is not a journalistic exercise, it’s a celebration of the records that meant the most to me during what was by far the toughest year of my life.

These albums are presented in no particular order except that the three in this post were by far the most influential and important to me.

They are companions and comforts- go-tos during the good and not-so-good of turbulent year.

Enjoy the list and jump in the comments with your thoughts! Thank you for another amazing year of The Marinade!

Love,

JE

Van Plating - Orange Blossom Child

This record is close to home. For the most part, the work I do is intentionally subjective. I lose myself in records regardless of their perspective. With Van Plating albums, the immersion leaves me up to my neck in the swamp that is this place we both call home. 

Van Plating is one of the best people I know and I love her dearly. She is also one of the best songwriters in a genre full of brilliant artists.

Her brand of Americana, which she calls Orange Blossom Country, is always fresh and exciting. This record deftly touches on the reproductive rights of women, enduring and laughing at the entitled misogyny of the music industry, Gen X nostalgia, and so much more. Despite the broad swath of themes, Orange Blossom Child is a cohesive masterwork that steps up her already incredible catalog.  

Jason Isbell - Weathervanes

Marinade Media is full of exaltations of this man and his work. Jason Isbell is America’s greatest songwriter and each album is better than the last.

That point finds itself under frequent debate among Isbell’s super fans. I contend there is a case to be made that all of his other near perfect records have a misstep. “Super 8” is a good song but it sticks out like a sore thumb on his otherwise perfect breakthrough Southeastern. “Anxiety” borders on Dr. Suess triteness at times on the Grammy winning The Nashville Sound. 

Weathervanes contains no arguable missteps. It is full of songs that could each be my favorite of the year. Take “Volunteer,” which has flown under the radar. Find one song from any other artist that rivals this tune.

Pony Bradshaw - North Georgia Rounder

If Jason Isbell did not exist this would probably be my favorite record of the year. Pony Bradshaw’s sense of place and ability to transport the listener is rivaled by very few writers. I have been listening to this record since November of 2022 when it was first pitched to me for coverage.

As is custom, I burned a CD and listened to it on my morning commute, while on my way to a job I hated, and when going to the store. It was there all year and then some as I navigated the mundane as well as the complicated and heavy aspects of my life.

North Georgia Rounder does not need space to grow on you. Its brilliance is apparent from the first listen. But, if you are open, it will give and give. 

Gasparilla Music Festival 2022 | Photos by Jenn Ross Photography

Jason's Journal | Gasparilla Music Festival Day 3

Amy Ray

Jason Earle and Jenn Ross are covering Gasparilla Music Festival 2022. This is the fourth installment of Jason’s Journal which chronicles the experiences in and around the festival. To read about the lead-up to the festival, click here. For the Day 1 journal click here. Day two can be found here.

All photos by Jenn Ross Photography

Van Plating texts with an invitation to brunch right about the time my body reaches the end of its sleeping-in allowance. I am a tick tired but the trundle bed in our FearBnB treated me okay. Nine hours of sleep in a strange bed after a busy day on my feet is sufficient so long as I drink enough water and eat well.

I make sure to take advantage of any opportunity to hang with Van. She is a bright light and a good friend. I come away with each interaction a better person. She must be feeling on top of the world after yesterday’s performance.

Finding brunch in Tampa is more complicated than I remember it being years ago. Not sure if that is a function of things in town changing or me not paying as much attention to brunch spots. 

Van is on the case and of course she finds a hip place in Ybor City. I hung out in Ybor for many years before Jason Isbell wrote “Traveling Alone” or Craig Finn referenced the legendary neighborhood twice on one Hold Steady album. Still, the lyrics get stuck in my head every time I visit and they shape my memories of those times.

Sitting at this table with Van, Emily Smith, Jenn Ross, and Noan Partly, I feel enormous gratitude. I get to break bread and exchange ideas with impressive folks before we head to Gasparilla Music Festival (GMF.) 

Sunday is my favorite of Gasparilla Music Festival’s now three days. A hallmark of GMF is the lack of scheduling conflicts. Sunday is even easier than Friday and Saturday.

Amy Ray is the first must-see for us today. I have been a casual Indigo Girls fan over the years but have yet to dive in the way diehard fans swear one should. Leading up to GMF I started spending more time with their work and Amy’s solo records. There is so much to love about this set. Amy Ray is grateful for the crowd. A mix of folks who look like Amy Ray clones and middle aged men are up front hanging on every word.

Her band is on fire! It is just after 2:00 in the afternoon but the Amy Ray Band is bringing headliner energy. I had sort of figured this would be a good warm up set for me. Maybe have a few minutes to finish and publish my day two recap. Not gonna happen. She launches into “Laramie,” a tune that takes the energy up and in a different direction. I am excited to get to the merch table and buy some physical copies. 

There were few physical copies at the merch tables all weekend this year. I’m not sure why that’s the case. Lots of shirts, a few hats, almost no CDs or records. The only disappointment of the weekend.

The Legendary Mavis Staples

Kenzie Wheeler is mid-set in Kiley Gardens. Radio country sound. Not really my thing but a good example of GMF’s commitment to a diverse lineup. I think my time will be best spent hydrating and getting ready for the legend Mavis Staples! The first time I saw America’s queen was at a legendary Magnolia Fest (Mavis, Willie, Prine, Kristofferson, Stephen Marley, DBT) at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in 2013.

All of the obvious things you would expect from this moment are true. Mavis is full of light and love. She is revered by peers, fans, and folks who have never heard her name alike. The hive makes its way to the main stage well ahead of her set.

What I should have expected but did not consider until this moment halfway through her set is how Mavis keeps folks smiling while addressing the gravity of the moment. She is making statements about war, social justice, and women’s rights- all while keeping heads popping and smiles stretching. 

Mavis is an American pop culture hero. A person whose accomplishments are and continue to be unassailable. Thankfully, she tells us she “Ain’t done yet.” 

Mavis Staples Forever

I don’t envy anyone who has to follow an icon. Neal Francis seems up to the task in Kiley Gardens. Aaron Lee Tasjan tweeted about him yesterday so I knew I needed to prioritize his set. The songs are layered, haunting bits of world-building. World-building through texture is my first impression. 

These moments are the essence of Gasparilla Music Festival and I love them. Neal Francis does not make music that would normally seek out but his work is well within my passion wheelhouse. Without GMF I would have seen that tweet from Aaron, wrote it down to revisit, and then not thought about Neal Francis again until someone else mentioned him down the line. 

Instead he is in my deep dive queue right after I spend a couple of weeks with Amy Ray. 

This being Sunday, and me missing my partner and our pups, I am ready to get home. Allman Betts Band is up next. I don’t know that Jenn or I have much left but I also want to get at least a little taste of the band. 

My uncle turned me onto The Allman Brothers when I was about thirteen. It sounded cooler than anything I had ever heard. Felt like the country music I grew up on but untethered from the same structure. 

Jenn is shooting the first three and then we are heading out. I wish I could stick it out longer. Pinegrove and Trombone Shorty are up next. I would love to see all three sets. It’s just not in the cards at the moment. One lesson I learned a few years ago is to celebrate what you get to see and do not sweat what you miss. 

Allman Betts Band

I got to see great music and great friends at one of my favorite festivals. Cheers to Gasparilla Music Festival. Thank you for having us.

Finally, thank you to my good friend and collaborator, Jenn Ross. I am grateful for you.

Allman Betts Band Huddle

Jenn and Jason

Jason's Journal | Gasparilla Music Festival Day 2

Van Plating

Jason Earle and Jenn Ross are covering Gasparilla Music Festival 2022. This is the second installment of Jason’s Journal which chronicles the experiences in and around the festival. To read about the lead-up to the festival, click here. For the Day 1 journal click here.

All photos by Jenn Ross Photography

I did not sleep well last night. In hindsight, yesterday’s journal went a little easy on this AirBnB host. Dude said his “Don’t Say AirBnB” rule was for our “safety.” It’s not as if I expected someone to burst through the door and take us away at any moment, but I do not like being in places I’m not welcome. Also, are we technically trespassing? 

Gasparilla Music Festival (GMF) used to start a bit early in the day. The start time being pushed back a tick is nice. I am all about an 11:00 am set at a camping festival, but if I have to find parking or a ride to the venue give me more like 2:00. Which is what we are looking at today. Everything is lining up in favor of a great day. Plus, my buddy Van Plating is making her GMF debut this afternoon! Kick me out if you wanna, BnB police. Ain’t a thing to kill my vibe. 

Van is playing the amphitheater, which is a special experience. It is hot and packed. She has her band with her and they are blowing through a scorching set. This is my third or fourth time seeing her and by far my favorite set. She looks like she is feeling pure bliss and the crowd is giving back the energy.

Jenn Ross is capturing stunning photos of Van and her band. It is about 15,000 degrees in the Florida sun but folks undeterred from rocking step-for-step with Van Plating.

Van Plating

Have Gun Will Travel begins at the end of Van’s set - the first of three Marinade guests who are playing GMF today. Have Gun is a bunch of pros. Well respected by fellow musicians and loved by fans. Lots of folks are mouthing along to every word. The heat is starting to impose its will. Gotta keep in mind that in an hour or two things will be perfect.

There is a blissful spot in the day on Saturday at GMF. The Spark, let’s call it. Folks have discovered a new favorite band early on and are gearing up for the headliners. We are in that pocket right now. Cha Wa has just played to a joyful crowd, many of whom look like they are not quite sure how this unique sound is supposed to move their bodies. Margo Price is about to take the GMF stage for the first time in seven years. Smiles and hugs abound.

Cha Wa

Margo’s ascent from playing a noon slot to earning an early evening draw has been a long time coming. In recent years, when artists play Florida they understandably make a political statement or two. Margo has never been one to shy away from speaking her mind about important issues. Right now is no exception. And, because you know Margo is going to do it her way, the choice to take a stance about women’s rights by covering Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” is a powerful one. 

Margo Price

I would be fine if this was it for today, but GMF’s spark is burning into a flame and Band of Horses is up next. Band of Horses is the kind of artist I enjoy when they come on a station but I do not own copies of any of their music. 

One song in and it seems that is going to change. These are great songs. They led with “Great Salt Lake,” which I would have considered their best known tune until hearing the rest of the set. “Is There a Ghost,” “Funeral,” the list goes on throughout the evening. 

It has been a great night but I am done. Jenn still wants to get some shots of The Revivalists so I’ll wait in this pizza line and hydrate before we head back to our home for the night.

The walk back to our ScareBnB is another delight. We are pretty tired but it’s always helpful to debrief and enjoy a glass of gas station wine after a day like today. We are near exhausted but content on the sixth floor balcony. It’s not quite an hour shy of midnight. Several folks are still awake and moving about in the sister building across the street. Windows are open in many of the apartments.

There’s a pup out sniffing the air and making me nervous for his safety. A guy playing video games. And…someone watching anal porn on his huge projector screen. He’s cycling through some options. Is it okay that we are spectators in his quest? Should we look away? Can we look away?

Do I want this angle or that angle? That won’t do. Yes, there’s the winner. Two minutes after settling on the right plot my man flips to an NBA game. Keep living your best life, buddy. It’s late. I gotta get to sleep.

Review Under Two: Van Plating's The Way Down

Photo by Bethany Blanton

Review Under Two is a segment of The Marinade with Jason Earle podcast where host Jason Earle reviews a work he finds inspiring in under two minutes.

Our Review Under Two for Episode 98 with singer-songwriter Jeremie Albino focuses on Van Plating’s record The Way Down.

Van Plating’s forthcoming record The Way Down is a top self bourbon served neat on the back deck at twilight. Its complexities are immediately apparent but still best enjoyed with slow, rapt attention and an awareness of their context.

Plating spent her 20s playing and singing in indie rock bands. When her band Pemberley broke up she decided to take some time off from touring and making records. Then life happened and a little time off turned into years.

Once the need to create, the pang that pushes one to make beautiful things, enters the system it never leaves. Like a blood flute quietly doing its work, the need to make art will rear its head even decades after the bug first arrives. 

Photo by Bethany Blanton

Plating’s 2019 self-titled record was the first manifestation of the creative bug pushing itself from the cocoon. The Way Down (set for release on 11/19/21) is where the butterfly takes flight. A decade of reflection and growth baked into a collection of songs that celebrates the person Plating has become and is becoming. 

So often we think of creative change in terms of rebound or redemption. An artist who overcame addiction or was left for dead by the industry. In the case of Van Plating’s The Way Down, the change is not a return from oblivion. It is a leap back into a life that was always there percolating just below the surface of a “normal” existence.

The spiritual centerpoint of the record is the final track “Oxygen.” It is a song about the loss and recovery of love. Its imagery is stark and powerful, with the ocean setting the stage for an examination of what it means to lose something essential and recover it through perseverance. 

“Whose side are you on? My wings are made to soar.”

“Oxygen” is the second song on the record to mention wings- the appearance of which nods both to Van Plating’s complicated relationship with the church and her determination to rise above the noise. Who should make art? How and when should it be made? Throughout The Way Down Plating decides the answers to those questions on her terms. 

“Oxygen” is a fitting closer to the record. With little more than three chords and an acoustic guitar, Plating makes apparent that while she may have had a hard time breathing at points in her life, on this record the creative airways are clear.