2013 NFL Predictions

I have never claimed to be an expert on NFL football.  But this is how I see the upcoming NFL season playing out.  Check back in February to see how I did ...

NFC East
1.  Washington Redskins
2.  Philadelphia Eagles
3.  Dallas Cowboys
4.  New York Giants

When I make these predictions, I never assume injuries to anyone.  Injuries are so random in the NFL, that it doesn't make sense to say things like, "I think RGIII could injure himself again".  Yes, he could, and so could any other QB, or any other player at any position for that matter.  I think the Redskins have enough playmakers on the offensive side of the ball to take this division.  I am intrigued with how the Eagles will look in Chip Kelly's offense, but I'm not ready to appoint them as the team to beat yet.  Dallas will continue to show flashes of brilliance, but will also continue to be a circus.  It's a shame that I have the Giants taking last, as they are co-hosting the Super Bowl this year with the Jets, and we all know the Jets will stink.



NFC North
1.  Green Bay Packers
2.  Chicago Bears
3.  Minnesota Vikings
4.  Detroit Lions

The Packers didn't really do enough in the offseason on the defensive side of the ball to show me that they can go deep in the playoffs, but I still think they are the class of the division.  The Bears, just like the Eagles, will be interesting to see on offense, with a whole new scheme coming in.  The Vikings will be one dimensional on offense, and the Lions will be playing from behind a lot.



NFC South
1.  New Orleans Saints
2.  Atlanta Falcons
3.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4.  Carolina Panthers

Drew Brees gets his coach back.  That can't be good for NFC South defenses.  The Falcons, and I 've been saying this for a few years now, don't have that it factor to make a deep run.  They are a nice team, but that's about it.  Tampa Bay and Carolina won't be relevant in 2013.



NFC West
1.  Seattle Seahawks
2.  Arizona Cardinals
3.  San Francisco 49ers
4.  St Louis Rams

This is a fascinating division.  The Seahawks are strong up and down the roster, great balance, they hit hard.  I'm shocking the world by saying the Cardinals will finish ahead of the Niners.  Bruce Arians is the reigning NFL Coach of the Year, and I think he'll have these guys ready for the season.  We've seen the Super Bowl loser from the previous season take a step back a lot in the past, and I think that's what we see here.  Kaepernick's sample size was too small from 2012 to assume he'll be as great as he was.  Gore's getting up there, they have some injuries on the offensive side of the ball.  I have the Rams taking last, but they are a good team.  There's a chance that all 4 teams in this division play .500 ball or better.



NFC Playoff Predictions

Wild Card Games
Green Bay Packers over Chicago Bears
Washington Redskins over Atlanta Falcons

Divisional Playoff Games
New Orleans Saints over Washington Redskins
Seattle Seahawks over Green Bay Packers

NFC Championship Game
Seattle Seahawks over New Orleans Saints







AFC East
1.  New England Patriots
2.  Miami Dolphins
3.  Buffalo Bills
4.  New York Jets

This is a weak division, maybe the weakest in the whole league.  I don't think the Patriots will be great this season.  They may end up being benefactors of getting 6 games against the Dolphins, Bills and Jets.  The Jets are my pick as the worst team in the league this year.



AFC North
1.  Cincinnati Bengals
2.  Cleveland Browns
3.  Baltimore Ravens
4.  Pittsburgh Steelers

This is another fascinating division.  To me, and I'm not just saying this as a Browns fan, but it feels like there will be a shift in power in the AFC North soon.  The Bengals seem ready to take a step forward and claim this division.  Yes, yes, I'm taking the Browns for 2nd place, but they could very easily take 4th.  The Ravens won't be the same team they were last year.  They are missing a lot of on the field leadership from last year's Super Bowl winning squad.  The Steelers seem old to me.  They are well coached, and they've been a model franchise, so again, they could end up being 1st or 2nd in this division as well.  Should be a fun season to follow the AFC North.



AFC South
1.  Houston Texans
2.  Indianapolis Colts
3.  Tennessee Titans
4.  Jacksonville Jaguars

If I could put money down on one division prediction I'm making, 1 through 4, it would be this one.  I think Houston is by far the class of this division.  The Colts will be solid.  The Titans will be irrelevant, and the Jaguars will be awful.



AFC West
1.  Denver Broncos
2.  Kansas City Chiefs
3.  San Diego Chargers
4.  Oakland Raiders

The Broncos, despite losing some key pieces this offseason on the defensive side of the ball, will simply outscore every other team in this division.  The Chiefs will be improved with a new coach and QB, and because of the lack of depth in the AFC, will sneak in as a #6 seed.  The Chargers made some changes to their coaching staff, but didn't really do much to improve the roster.  The Raiders are, well, the Raiders and will take 4th because they can't take 5th.



AFC Playoff Predictions

Wild Card Games
New England Patriots over Kansas City Chiefs
Indianapolis Colts over Cincinnati Bengals

Divisional Playoff Games
Houston Texans over Indianapolis Colts
Denver Broncos over New England Patriots

AFC Championship Game
Houston Texans over Denver Broncos



Super Bowl Prediction

Seattle Seahawks 27 Houston Texans 23

newgazzi Vol 07

So if you're a loyal newgazzi reader, you are aware that we did things a little bit different this month.  For the past six months, I would spend the preceding four weeks collecting new music, then spring all the tracks on you at once.  Some of you liked that, but a lot of you couldn't wait each month.  So this month, I decided to feature one new song a day, every Monday through Friday, for three weeks, and then work on creating what I thought was the best sequence for the newgazzi playlist. I'm really excited about this volume.  Macyn Taylor was generous with her time in our short interview.  Sam Morrow is someone I will be rooting for in life and in his music for a long time.  Quite the gentleman when we chatted briefly.  Jay Nash and Young Summer also had nice things to say, and I thank everyone else that had kind words for what I did, and a special thank you to Joe Wolfe-Mazeres for his kind plug on his blog, Ear to the Ground.

Then there is The Melodic.   It turns out, I will be seeing The Melodic play this upcoming Wednesday in Chicago, then I will be driving them to Cleveland for their next show.  I look forward to the adventure, and definitely look for pictures of us from the road next weekend !  

Like I said, I really like this volume.  Some fun, poppy songs to chew on.  Some great singer/songwriter material.  A little bit of rock, a little bit of roll.  A visit from my favorite artist and DID I MENTION THAT I'M DRIVING THE MELODIC TO CLEVELAND?? 

Please join me for the next 58 minutes for some great music.  The last track is dedicated to my love, Amber.

01.  "Fred Astaire" by San Cisco (from the LP San Cisco)

02.  "Work Around It" by Them Swoops (from the Glimmers EP)

03.  "Wander" by Jay Nash (from the LP Letters From the Lost)

04.  "On My Way" by The Melodic (from the On My Way EP)

05.  "Wild Child" by Brett Dennen (from the LP Smoke and Mirrors)

06.  "Walk Us Uptown" by Elvis Costello & The Roots (from the LP Wise Up Ghost)

07.  "You Can't Be Told" by Valerie June (from the LP Valerie June)

08.  "Fairlane" by The Dirty Guv'nahs (from the LP Somewhere Between These Southern Skies)

09.  "Mobius Streak" by Hiatus Kaiyote (from the LP Tawk Tomahawk)

10.  "Don't Reach Too Far" by Ethan Johns (from the LP If Not Now Then When?)

11.  "Fever Dream" by Young Summer (from the Fever Dream EP)

12.  "Lament" by Grey Reverend (from the Everlasting EP)

13.  "Vincent" by Macyn Taylor (from the LP Macyn Taylor)

14.  "War" by Sam Morrow (from the True North EP)

15.  "All of Me" by John Legend (from the LP Love in the Future)

A Few Thoughts About Sound City

I saw Dave Grohl's Sound City documentary last night for the first time, and here are a few random thoughts ...

• Between this and the Foo Fighters' Back and Forth film, I could listen to Butch Vig talk about recording on tape all day.   
• I wish I was friends with Pat Smear.
• While I was aware that Nevermind and Wildflowers were recorded at Sound City, I was not aware that Pinkerton and Momofuku were recorded there, too.
• I think I need to pick up that Buckingham Nicks record on vinyl, and pretend that I've owned it for years.
• I had no idea that Neil Geraldo played guitar on Jessie's Girl. 
• It is interesting that despite all the great advancements in technology, it seems that the older records (which were recorded on tape) sound better than the ones recorded these days. 

This is definitely worth seeing.  Dave Grohl has become quite the ambassador for rock n roll, and watching him record with the various artists is very cool.  The soundtrack is great, as well.

Watch a trailer here ...

The last newgazzi track of August belongs to ...

Brett Dennen !  Brett was featured on Paste a couple of times in 2007, and today's newgazzi track is called "Wild Child".  His new album, Smoke and Mirrors comes out on October 22nd, and Brett will start a tour on August 29th in New York.  On that tour, he will be playing Lincoln Hall in Chicago on Nov 5th and the Majestic Theatre in Madison on Nov 8th.  To read more about Brett, and see where else he's playing on his upcoming tour, check out his website here ...

This is a recent performance of "Wild Child" ...  Official Brett Dennen Website

Introducing ... Valerie June !!

Today's newgazzi track of the day is "You Can't Be Told" by Valerie June, from the LP Pushin' Against a Stone.  This song has a timeless feel to it, and has been playing on repeat in my household for  the past few days.  The rest of the record sounds great.  Jimbo Mathus (he of the Squirrel Nut Zippers) plays on it, and it was co-produced by Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas.  I definitely recommend picking it up ...

To learn more about Valerie June, visit her website here ... Official Website of Valerie June

Today's newgazzi track : All of Me by John Legend

Just a nice, simple love song.  No gimmicks needed, here.  Just piano and vocals ...

Introducing ... Young Summer !!

This may not be an introduction, as it looks as if Young Summer has been getting some national exposure, and was recently listed on Paste's "Best of 2013 (so far) playlist.  But this song is new to me, and could be new to some of you.  The song is called "Fever Dream" ...

Introducing ... Jay Nash !!

Today's newgazzi track of the day is called "Wander" by Jay Nash.  This is the opening track from his latest album, Letters from the Lost, which came out in May.  I discovered Jay a few months back on NoiseTrade, and I know I've said this a million times, but I'll say it again ... the beauty about a website like NoiseTrade is that the site connects artists to fans who are looking for new music.  Often times, you are hearing music from artists you may not have heard of, and if you like it, they now have a new fan for life.  That's the case with Jay Nash.  He was featured on the NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape, and of the 65 songs that were included, this is one of 6 or 7 that I keep coming back to.  I bought the album shortly afterwards, and it has been in heavy rotation ever since ...

Take a moment to visit Jay's website to learn more about him, where you can see him play this summer, and hear more of his great music ...  Official Website of Jay Nash

Ear to the Ground

Hey, newgazzi readers ... I found another cool music blog recently.  The author's name is Joe Wolfe-Mazeres, and the name of the blog is "Ear to the Ground".  Rather than have me explain what he's got going on, I asked Joe to explain ...

"Hey Joey - thanks for reaching out!  I've visited your blog, and I like it. I haven't had a chance to dig into the playlists... but I will!  As for Ear to the Ground, I work in downtown Nashville, and I have about a ten or fifteen minute walk to get to my office. So, I listen to music on my walk and I put my MP3 player on Shuffle. A long, long time ago - before the blog even - I started posting my morning shuffle on Facebook. Friends started responding.  So fast-forward, I started writing the blog with no plan at all but since I was already in the habit of posting a "shuffle", I continued.  It usually ended up being three or four songs. - I would write about the music, post links etc.  At the time, I didn't have a good way to listen to my MP3 collection in the car, but I later acquired that ability. So, my morning shuffle increased to ten-twelve songs. I tried writing about all the songs, but I just didn't have the time. So, I made the songs from my drive the Pre-Shuffle and the songs from my walk the Shuffle. So - I would list the songs in the pre-shuffle and go into more detail for the Shuffle - it's purely random as to which list the songs appear.  At the suggestion of a reader, I started creating a YouTube playlist to (a much as possible) match the songs from the morning's list.  As for music - I seek out music wherever I can find it. Noisetrade has become a big source, I get music from a couple of different promoters, dig into my music collection. I also get music directly from bands.  In the past, I've done a few interviews, reviews and other stories, but lately time has been my enemy and the morning music is about all I can do."

I think this is a great idea, and a lot of fun to read.  About two years ago, I experimented with an idea called "Fugazzi Shuffle" for friends and followers on Facebook ... On the last Friday of each month, I would hit shuffle on the iPod, and then talk about the first 10 songs that played (but this only last about 4 months).

Check out Joe's blog here ...  Ear to the Ground

Introducing ... The Melodic !!

Today's newgazzi track is from a band from England called The Melodic, and it's called "On My Way", from their debut EP of the say name that came out in June.  I've been enjoying it for some time now.  They are currently in the states touring through mid September, and will be in Chicago on August 28th for all my Milwaukee music fans looking for a show later this month.  And since my daughter will be with her mom in Tennessee that week, I will make every effort to make the show.

Check out their website here Official Website of The Melodic to learn more about the band, and where to find them this summer.

And try not to love this song ...

Introducing ... Ethan Johns !!

Ethan Johns really doesn't need an introduction.  He's best know for producing and engineering great albums by such artists as Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne, Whiskeytown and Ben Kweller.  He's also worked with Rufus Wainwright, Tom Jones, Kaiser Chiefs and a bunch more talented folks.  His solo debut album came out in the UK in November, and just dropped in the U.S. last week.  Today's newgazzi track is a song called "Don't Reach Too Far" from that album, If Not Now Then When?

I love this song, because it's dripping with that late 70's Steve Nieve / Elvis Costello swag that I've grown to love ...

Introducing ... Grey Reverend !!

L.D. Brown has an interesting story.  Take the time to read the bio on his website, and check out his new EP, "Everlasting".  This is an older version of "Lament" ...




Official Website of Grey Reverend

Introducing ... The Dirty Guv'nahs !!

The Dirty Guv'nahs are giving away their latest album, Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies, for free.  You might think, "Well if they are any good, why would they give their record away for free?"  Let me answer that for you.  It turns out, I had never heard of The Dirty Guv'nahs before this past weekend.  When I saw they were offering a full length album for free, I downloaded it, LOVED IT, and now, they have a new life long fan, who will buy their records the day they come out.  So they come out ahead in the end.  They've been compared to The Black Crowes, and even toured with them recently.  They'll be in Chicago this weekend if anyone is looking to hear some good, live rock n roll music.  And don't forget to check back on Friday, August 23rd to hear all of the August newgazzi artists on the 7th volume of the newgazzi playlist ...

Download Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies here (but always tip!) ...

The Dirty Guv'nahs are on NoiseTrade!

The newgazzi track of the day is called "Fairlane", and their video can be seen here ...

Introducing ... Macyn Taylor !!

There is nothing more exciting (at least for me, anyway) than seeing a musician for the first time, knowing very little about them coming into it, and leaving the show with the feeling that you've been blown away by their talent, and the knowledge that they are going to be favorites of yours for a long, long time.  All I knew about Macyn Taylor heading into her performance on the night of July 13th was that Emily Forst said she was amazing, and that she was the 2013 WAMI recipient of the Folk/Celtic Artist of the Year.  And since Emily Forst is amazing, I figured she had a good radar for amazing.
Boy was she right !  I was in awe of her guitar playing that night.  I mean, between her set and Emily's, I had to walk away for a few minutes to figure out what my contribution to life was.  I mean, that morning, I know I ate a pop tart for breakfast.  I'm pretty sure I monkeyed around on my fantasy baseball website for a few minutes.  But Macyn Taylor surely has found her calling.  I knew immediately that Macyn would be featured on newgazzi in August.

I really enjoy writing about local artists.  On the first volume of newgazzi, back in February, it was a joy to feature three friends (Gary Banach, Emily Forst and James Tristan Redding).  In March, I drove 90 miles to see Nataly Dawn play a show in Madison, and had the pleasure to hear Anna Vogelzang perform to open the show.  Same deal, I knew driving home that night she would be featured in April.  And Anna was featured as both the opening and closing tracks that month.  In June, Anna introduced me to a friend named Dietrich Gosser, and I enjoyed him enough to feature him at the end of June.  But truth be told, they were not featured because we were friends.  They were featured because they are very good at what they do.  Really good, and the same with Macyn.  I may be a nice guy, but I if I don't think you're great, or that my readers would enjoy your music, I'm not going to take the time.  After all, I'm no critic.  I just want to celebrate what I love to listen to.

I reached out to Macyn recently, and spent a good amount of time with her album this past weekend.  Macyn was asked if she'd like to participate in the latest installment of "Daddy and Gracie Each Have One Question", and she was very happy to oblige ...

How do you deal with pre-show nerves or jitters?

"I've been performing since I was seven. I started out in retirement homes and the older audiences were very forgiving and encouraging. Nerves have never really bothered me before I play a show."

I like to listen to records with my Daddy.  Which records did you like to listen to with your Daddy when you were a kid?

 "My dad used to listen to a lot of music with me when I was younger. I would say most of my music influence came from him. We would listen to records by Mississippi John Hurt, The Carter Family, John Prine, Bob Dylan, and Blind Blake just to name a few."

Macyn is playing a bunch of shows in Wisconsin this summer.  Read more about Macyn and where you can see her by checking out her website ....  Macyn Taylor's Official Website

And check out today's newgazzi track of the day.  It's called "Vincent", and can also be heard on her album, which I recommend picking up.  I chose this song because I remember Julio Iglesias covering this, and he was my Grandma's favorite singer ...

I'm Gonna Break Your Hip

Blurred Lines

OK, I am probably the last person on earth to hear this song.  I've never even taken the time to listen to any of Robin Thicke's music.  This is pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty ..... good.  Here are three versions of the song, all worth checking out ...

Aren't People the Funniest ?

No Introduction Needed

The main purpose of newgazzi is to introduce you to new music.  For the most part, it's new artists, or new stuff from lesser known artists that I think are great.  Or sometimes, it's something so good, that it really doesn't matter if they are new, or need a push with exposure.

Growing up, my sister and I thought Elvis Costello was "the biggest nerd" on MTV.  As I became a young adult, the days of judging musicians by what they looked like were long gone, and I really started to let my ears decide what I liked.  I slowly became a fan in the late 90's.  I had a greatest hits double disc set, and the first album I bought was a collaborative recording with Burt Bacharach.  It was right around the time they had a quick cameo in Austin Powers 2 (which I thought was very cool).  I even remember, the first song I ever downloaded on napster was "Less Than Zero".  Then I started to slowly collect the older records.  Fast forward to 2013, and I would probably say that Elvis Costello has become my favorite recording artist.  When I heard about a new album recorded with The Roots, I circled the date on the calendar (sept 17), and started to tap my foot.  By the way, as great as The Roots are (on Fallon, on the Jay-Z Unplugged), I don't own a proper album of theirs.  Any suggestions?

The album is still six and a half weeks away, but here's the video for the first single, "Walk Us Uptown" ...

Takes 1 and 11 of our Family Guy "Cover"

Just Because

For no particular reason at all, here is a triple scoop of Michael McDonald.  Respect the hair / beard combo .... The first video is a slightly more uptempo version of "What A Fool Believes" from The Tonight Show in 1985.  The second video is "Sweet Freedom".  As a kid, my friend Sean and I would reenact the Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal parts.  We also did the same thing for "Say Say Say".  The final video was made by JD Ryznar, it's basically just a video he made of him and his domestic partner lyp syncing to "On My Own".  He has an uncanny resemblance to Michael McDonald, and played him on Yacht Rock.  Enjoy the cheese !!