Amplify: A Mixtape for an Anxious American

Songs for unsettled souls

Making a mixtape is one of my favorite things to do. I’ve made some to mark the seasons, some to celebrate special occasions, and some I have cobbled together to explore a particular mood. Amplify: A Mixtape for an Anxious American definitely falls into the latter category. The songs here are not political anthems, protest songs, or patriotic tunes; nor are they secular hymns. I chose each one with my current mood in mind — a mood which may match yours.

As you listen, you will hear notes of heartbreak and tenderness, longing and loss. Weary, melancholy, pensive, and defiant notes. Wistfully hopeful dusty folksy strains of Americana. A lyrical respite for unsettled souls.

These songs are a subset of a much larger playlist “Folk Rocking Down the Highway” that I have curated for the better part of a decade. 38 hours and 46 minutes! 610 songs!

Not to worry, this one has just 50 - one for each United States of Mind.

Click here to listen on Spotify. Or click on each song to listen on YouTube. In no particular order:

1. Wild Old Dog, Patty Griffin

2. Boxcar, Shovels & Rope

3. Hold On, The Gospel Whiskey Runners

4. Blood and Bones, Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters, Amythist Kiah

5. Turtle Dove, Ranky Tanky

6. American Tune, Crooked Still

7. A Reason to Believe, Ian & Sylvia

8. Making Pies, Patty Griffin

9. Under the Gun, Lucy Wainwright Roche

10. Wind, Joseph

11. Whistle Down the Wind, Joan Baez

12. Evening, Wilderness of Manitoba

13. Learning to Lose, Margo Price, Willie Nelson

14. Mercy Now, Mary Gauthier

15. Safe, Shook Twins

16. We Rise, Rhiannon Giddens

17. Standard White Jesus, Holly Near

18. Early Morning Rain, Gordon Lightfoot

19. Build Me Up from Bone, Sarah Jarosz

20. The Time I’ve Wasted, Lori McKenna

21. Diamonds and Rust, Judy Collins and Joan Baez

22. Take It Down, The Wailin’ Jennys

23. Blowin’ In the Wind, Odessa

24. Wade in the Water, Patty Griffin

25. Angel from Montgomery, Buddy Miller, Lone Bellow, Brandi Carlisle

26. Everyone But Me, Roseanne Cash

27. Awake My Soul, Mumford and Sons

28. Let It Breathe, Water Liars

29. Railroad, Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn

30. My Town, Kate & Ann McGarrigle

31. House of Mercy, Sarah Jarosz

32. Falling Water, Maggie Rogers

33. If I Needed You, Lyle Lovett

34. River, Bishop Briggs

35. My Oh My, Leonard Cohen

36. To Be Alone, Hozier

37. Deeper Well, Emmy Lou Harris

38. Silver Whistle, Joan Shelley

39. Sixteen Tons, Della Mae, Avril Smith, Alison Brown

40. On the Road to Find Out, Yusuf/Cat Stevens

41. The Tower, Alana Henderson

42. Blue Healer, Bird talker

43. I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry, Hurray for the Riff Raff

44. I Am A Ghost, The Gospel Whiskey Runners

45. Here Come’s the Sun, Richie Havens

46. There Was A Time, Watchhouse

47. After Many Miles, The Ghost of Paul River

48. Only Living Boy in New York, Simon & Garfunkel

49. Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright, Craig Cardiff

50. Long Journey Home, Elvis Costello & The Chieftains

Enjoy!