In another universe, Judy Henske stuck with rock, and became that universe’s Janis Joplin, only with more range. This song starts off as a sleepy blues tune, then, at about the 0:55 minute mark, it wakes up and slaps you in the face. Incredibly, the song was conceived, written, and recorded in a little over an hour.

Opening to the movie, Inside Man – - -  (Chaiyya Chaiyya, by A.R. Rahman). Unfortunately, the aspect ratio is screwed up.

Or, if you prefer, the original dance masterpiece from the Bollywood movie, Dil Se (which is the one I like best).

This is probably the best song to come out of Bollywood ever. In fact, they will probably never beat it.

[Posted by Dave Krueger]

Commenter johnl suggested breaking up the seriousness by observing the regular Friday music tradition (although this might not be quite what he had in mind).

Familiar to fans of the game Grand Theft Auto and people from Russia.

Or, if you prefer, the live version on stage.

[Posted by Dave Krueger]

Here’s another one from the “Songs From My Couch” session we did with Nashville band the Cold Stares. I admire anyone with the guts to rhyme “John Lee Hooker” with “short-order cooker.”

Thanks again to Mark Crozier and Dave Johnson for their excellent sound and video work.

So as I mentioned previously, the Nashville band the Cold Stares did a “Songs From My Couch” session a couple months ago. I’m going to wait to post the interview and all four songs until I move over to AOL/Huffington Post. But here’s a sneak peak at the video for “Jesus Brother James”. Thanks to Mark Crozier and Dave Johnson for the great sound and video work. Thanks to my couch, as usual.

Be sure to catch the music video debut of Daisy the rock ‘n’ roll wonder dog at around the 1:50 mark.

I figure we’ll do a little gospel this week, given the holiday weekend. This song is one of my favorites. The problem is picking a favorite version of it. Greg Allman has a great version. So do the Staple Singers. As do June Carter Cash, Willie Nelson, and Loretta Lynn. Even the late Sen. Robert Byrd left behind a great recording of “Circle”. He sings and plays fiddle (really!).

But it’s hard to go wrong with the version below, which features Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris, Roy Acuff, Ricky Skaggs, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and quite a few others you’ve probably heard of.

I forgot to put up a five-star Friday post last week. So here’s some Tax Day blues for you. The song is “Governor”. The band is Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise.

I somehow missed this when it actually happened. But it’s fantastic. Lou Reed and the Blind Boys of Alabama do the VU’s “Jesus” on Letterman. Thanks to reader Brenda Kelly for the suggestion.

Cold Stares at the Hard Rock. A little love for the drummers.

Here’s a shot from a Cold Stares concert a few weeks ago.

Here’s another shot from the Jim Lauderdale show at Nashville’s Station Inn.

Jim Lauderdale at the Station Inn, Nashville.

So in December, I introduced you to a great local band called the Cold Stares.

Last month, they came to my apartment for a “Songs From My Couch” session. I’m planning to post the four songs they did from that session with video at Nashville Byline next month after I move to Huffington Post.

But in the meantime, I thought I’d give you legacy Agitator readers a little preview gift. The guys played three originals and one cover. All four songs are fantastic. But here’s the cover, a really badass, acoustic take on “Whipping Post”, the great Allman Brothers song. Thanks to Mark Crozier for the amazing sound work. (Pipe this through some decent speakers or headphones to fully appreciate it.) Thanks to the Cold Stares for playing in my living room. And thanks to my couch, for some excellent couching. If you like this, there’s more to come.

The Oak Ridge Boys cover the White Stripes.

“Low Rising” by Swell Season.

Here’s Fleetwood Mac doing  a live performance of “Oh Well”.

A nugget for you rock ‘n’ roll trivia buffs:  The amount of cocaine that went into the making of this video could fill three VW buses.

“A Girl in Port,” by Okkervill River.

• Happy National Pancake Day! This is my second favorite holiday—after March 14th, of course.
• No Depression readers interview Agitator favorite Hayes Carll.
• Wired jumps on board with the “the people who are making your iPhone are killing themselves” hysteria.
• Amazing photo of Christchurch, New Zealand moments after last week’s earthquake.
• Iran sees a Jewish conspiracy in . . . London’s 2012 Olympics logo.
• Lawyer wants to sue town for racketeering for falsely threatening license suspensions if citizens don’t pay automated speeding tickets.

I really like the new Amos Lee album. It has a free, ambient vibe. There are also two excellent duets, one with Willie Nelson, the other with Lucinda Williams. One of my favorite cuts below. Agitator readers might also want to check out this little libertarian anthem Lee wrote and recorded.

Forgot to put one up last week, so here’s a Nashville special Sunday version. Last night, I went to Nashville Hootenanny, an informal lineup of up and coming artists run and streamed live on the web by music producer David Malloy. I’ll have a longer write-up on the Nashville blog next week, but this month’s show was all teenagers. And wow, these kids were good. Here’s one of the crowd favorites from last night, a throwback trio called The Least of Your Worries. The song below is an original recording from another Hootenanny event last fall. Also check out their killer cover of “Me and Mrs. Jones”.

From the description:

Also known as Michael Silverman, That 1 Guy is a Berkeley, Calif.-based, classically trained string bassist. After performing with some of the nation’s top progressive jazz ensembles throughout the 1990s, Silverman created an instrument out of wire and iron pipes that could serve his ever-expanding musical techniques. Think “gutbucket” bass with a lot more firepower. The result is an astonishing solo act. That 1 Guy’s influences include Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Dr. Seuss, Rube Goldberg and Stanley Kubrick.

Today’s Five-Star Friday post is over at my Nashville Byline blog, where I’ve posted video of Nashville singer, songwriter, and poet Tom House playing a few songs from my couch. I also did an interview with House, which you can read at the link.

I’m hoping this “Songs From My Couch” idea will become a “thing”. That would be pretty great. Already have a couple more artists who have expressed interest, so keep watching.

As for House, I love his line about waking up in the morning to see what the whiskey fairy left him. Of course Tom’s whiskey fairy leaves acclaimed poetry and evocative song lyrics. Mine just leaves headaches and the consequences of bad decisions. Maybe there’s more than one.

Went to a Gram Parsons tribute over the weekend. Photos, music, and an argument for why Parsons should be in both the country and rock halls of fame . . . all over at Nashville Byline.

The Onion has put up a nice appreciation of Layne Staley and the great 90s grunge band Alice in Chains. Their EP Jar of Flies is one of the most hauntingly beautiful albums I own. Here’s the gorgeous and appropriately solemn cut, “Don’t Follow.”

Here’s an incredible Nashville band I saw a couple weeks ago. Not sure this video fully does them justice. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bigger sound from a two-piece band, and that would include both the White Stripes and the Black Keys.

The band is the Cold Stares. The song is “Brother James”.