This could easily have been just a tribute to Maryland's 'Charm City', Baltimore, but I've managed to find a few tracks that mention other places in the so-called 'Old Line' state. I hope you enjoy them; let me know what you think and please suggest more in the comments below.
MP3: The Jayhawks - Baltimore Sun
Followers of my State Songs series will know that The Jayhawks can always be relied on for place name songs. This is probably my top tune from their album Blue Earth.
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MP3: REM - Don't Go Back To Rockville (live)
One of my favourite REM songs. Mike Mills wrote it as a plea to his girlfriend who planned to move back to her home town in Maryland. This version is from a 1981 gig at Tyrone's in Athens, GA - three years before the more countryfied studio version surfaced on Reckoning.
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MP3: Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers - Streets of Baltimore
You're probably more familiar with Gram Parsons' version from his solo debut GP but this is the original. I first heard it last year thanks to Setting the Woods on Fire's brilliant Gram Parsons Originals collection.
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MP3: Gavin Friday - Baltimore Whores
This is from Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery project. The lyrics are not for those with a sensitive disposition and were apparently edited out of most sea shanty collections.
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MP3: Erica Wheeler - Maryland County Road
Erica Wheeler is a Maryland native whom I know next to nothing about. This pleasant acoustic live track is a fine addition to the Songs Mourning the Passing of Small Town America canon.
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MP3: The Avett Brothers - Girl from Annapolis
WNCW DJ Martin Anderson introduced me to the Avett Brothers when I asked for some local music recommendations during our trip to North Carolina a few years ago. This is from a live set recorded on their home turf at MerleFest in 2006.
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We stay on the East Coast with our next state - Massachusetts. If you have any favourites you think I should include, do let me know.
Neighbouring States
State Soongs #8: Delaware - Perry Como, Dolly Parton, The Duhks
State Songs #9: District of Columbia - Magnetic Fields, The Staple Singers, Leadbelly, George Clinton & Parliament
The Journey So Far
State Songs - links to every post on this musical road trip
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