I haven’t been able to get to a Fab Five Friday for a while, but Sarah has to work early tomorrow, so I have a late night to myself here in Quarantine2020. And that is actually the theme of this week’s Fab Five Friday, I wanted to feature some quarantstreams from some artist pinned up in their abodes and posting some live, acoustic stuff since they can’t be the road. Some are doing single songs, including some covers. Others are doing mini sessions, and others are doing full blown concerts.

BJ Barham–I Saw A Tiger

Leading off this week, we have BJ Barham’s cover of everyone’s obsession this week, Tiger King. Last week, BJ did live PPV streams of most of the American Aquarium studio albums. I ponied up for Burn.Flicker. Die. I wanted to do the same for the Things Change album on Sunday, but decided to watch a movie with my wife. This week, BJ has been posting covers, including this Joe Exotic cover, as featured in the #1 show on Netflix right now. I resisted watching the show until this video actually. If it is good enough for BJ, it’s good enough for me.

“The murder, the mullets, the new level of redneckery…all great reasons to watch, but what blew my mind was the music videos this guy recorded,” BJ wrote on the instagram post. The cover we needed, indeed.

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This is not the cover many of you want right now, but I can assure you it’s the cover you need. If you’re anything like us (and 75% of my timeline) you haven’t been able to look away from the absolute train wreck that is “The Tiger King” on @netflix. The murder, the mullets, the new level of redneckery…all great reasons to watch, but what blew my mind was the music videos this guy recorded. If you haven’t watched it, I HIGHLY recommend you take the time to do so. I woke up with this fucking chorus in my head so I decided to chart it out and give it a go. This is the only take that I didn’t make myself laugh, so I considered it the “best” take. I hope everyone is staying safe out there. Maybe this can help pass a little time. 🐅🐅

A post shared by BJ Barham (@americanaquarium) on Mar 25, 2020 at 6:36am PDT

Ryan Bingham–Hard Times

The texas troubadour has about a dozen or so Stay Home Cantina Sessions he has been doing lately. This is still my favorite Bingham tune yet. Now if we can just get him to not record vertical. I’ve seen Bingham live several times, both solo acoustic and with full band. It is amazing how different those versions are, and how they are both great.

Amanda Shires–I So Lounging

Hands down, my favorite celebrity couple follow is Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell. Their twitter interaction is what the uncool kids call #relationshipgoals. Over on Amanda’s Youtube page, they have been doing daily half-hour(ish) videos, playing some of her stuff, some of his. Plus, lots of Zeke. This one has an Amanda song, Highwomen and Panch and Lefty. They play something different every day. All are worth going back and watching.

Alex Williams–Live Show

Alex Williams hosted a whole 46-minute concert on his page Thursday night. Alex is a new breed of country music, growing up just outside of Indianapolis before relocating to Nashville via Belmont University.

Ben Nation and Dylan Wolfe–Live

This is a two-hour live set from southern Illinois boys. They do quite a few covers, taking requests live, as well as some originals. A fair amount of it is bro country, but they occasionally throw in some Childers (leads off the set) and such. It’s nice to see some local boys trying to make it. The video had 52,000 views and 500-plus shares. Not bad, boys. Not Bad.

Bonus: Garrett Biggs–Momma Didn’t Raise No

Normally, I feature five songs here. But, we have a bonus video this week, highlighting some more local talent. Garrett Biggs is not local. I’m not even a big fan of this song. It’s the type of country where 80 percent of the “similar artists” list also feature a guy in a jean jacket and backwards ball cap. But, FCHS student Abbi White is featured in the video, and that is cool as hell. White, the daughter of Rick and Sarah, plays the female lead opposite the young male lead in this video. And after watching this, if you liked the song, there is a writer’s roundtable type video as well.

We’ll be back with five more next week. Until then, remember the immortal words…
“Songs are really just interesting things to be doing with the air.” Tom Waits