After I played a set of songs for the month during September I thought I’d try that again now. I’m guessing that most of these will probably be unfamiliar to you, but don’t let that stop you diving in and enjoying them: there are some good tunes here. October is the first month of autumn, which as John Keats told us is the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” I think this set matches that well.

I’m starting with one that I expect no one to know. Go on, prove me wrong:

As the audio clip showed, that was Green River Ordinance with Last October. I have played them before, but not this song. They are from Fort Worth, Texas, and their name refers to Green River Ordinances, laws which prohibited door-to-door sales unless the house’s owner gave permission to do so. They formed in 2003 and have to date released just four albums, two of which were self-released, and the most recent of which was in 2016. Last October was a track on their second album, Out Of My Hands, which was released in February 2009 and made #10 in the US Heatseekers chart. A couple of singles from it achieved moderate chart success, and the album was well-reviewed, compared by some to bands like Matchbox Twenty – I can hear that too. They later made the album a free download from their Facebook page: I got it free at the time from the now defunct Noisetrade site, which was a great source of new music. After early promise and a tour supporting Bon Jovi they have rather faded out of the limelight, which seems a shame to me. If anyone reading this is from Texas I’d be grateful for an update!

On to more familiar ground with my next choice. I’m guessing you will have heard of this outfit:

That was the title track of U2’s second album October, released in October 1981, which reached #11 in the UK and #104 in the US. it isn’t one of their best known or best regarded albums, which I’ve always felt was a shame, as it has some good songs on it. This is one I’ve always liked, and that live performance from a couple of years later highlights its power.

I have played this next one before, a couple of years ago, and I think it’s gorgeous:

Rosie Thomas, with October. I first found this one in an Apple Music search, and it is so lovely that I’m playing it again. As female singer-songwriters are right up my street I went in search of information about Rosie Thomas before adding her to my collection. She is American, from Michigan, was born in 1978, and October was a track on her debut album When We Were Small, which came out in January 2002. Wikipedia doesn’t give any chart details for her, but on the strength of this song I have listened to more of her music, and much of it is lovely like this. She made seven albums up to 2012 and three EPs, the most recent of which was released in 2022 after a ten year hiatus. She has had health issues which have got in her way a bit, and also has another career as a stand-up comedian with an alter ego of ‘Sheila Saputo.’ She’s interesting, I think.

Alternating the unknown with the known, here’s another chap of whom you may be aware, who seems to have found himself a new band:

James Taylor originally released October Road as the title track of his fifteenth album in August 2002. It reached #4 in the US but only made #39 here in the UK, which feels poor on our part. The album has sold more than a million copies in the US and has been certified Platinum there. James and the (then Dixie) Chicks have collaborated a couple of times. They first played together in 2002 for the CMT Crossroads series and then again for the Vote For Change Tour in 2004, a set of politically themed concert dates across the US, from which I think this performance is taken. They go well together, don’t they.

Back to the (probably) obscure again for this one:

That was girl in red (as she styles herself) with October Passed Me By. Her soubriquet is the performing name of Marie Ulven Ringheim, a 27 yo singer-songwriter from Norway. As the song may have told you, she is gay and reflects this in her songwriting. This one was co-written with Aaron Dessner who, amongst the many strings to his bow, has been a member of the band The National and was a collaborator with Taylor Swift on the two folk-based albums she released in 2020, folklore and evermore. There seems to be a common absence of capital letters here! October Passed Me By was released as a single in October 2022 and reached #28 in New Zealand, and #45 in the US Rock chart. girl in red’s debut album was if i could make it go quiet, released in April 2021, getting to #2 in Norway, #7 in both the UK and the Netherlands, and #67 in the US. She has since released a second album, I’m Doing It Again Baby! which came out in April 2024, peaking at #14 in Norway and #37 in the UK. She has more than 2.7m YouTube subscribers with some phenomenal viewing figures, including 1.6m for this one, and opened some of the shows for Taylor Swift on her The Eras tour, so maybe she isn’t that obscure after all! I think she is interesting, and I like much of what I have heard by her.

I’m going for six songs again this week, and am closing with another familiar name:

Mumford & Sons released October Skies on Delta, their fourth album, in November 2018. The album was a huge success, reaching #1 in the US, Canada, The Netherlands and Sweden, and #2 in the UK – held off the top by Michael Bublé. Well done, British record-buying public! You may have noticed the link in the video description to National Geographic. The album is full of soaring, anthemic choruses, which were felt to be the perfect accompaniment to stunning nature footage from National Geographic. The band explained in a statement at the time “While we were recording and mixing Delta, we watched a lot of films on silent including some pretty epic wildlife films by National Geographic, like a vision-track to our soundtrack.” As a result, the band partnered with National Geographic to create films to accompany the music, several of which were released online. A National Geographic spokesperson explained, “By pairing the work of some of the world’s most talented filmmakers and photographers with the sounds of these award-winning musicians, we hope to give people an even greater appreciation and understanding of the planet and the importance of protecting it.” I think it worked well: the album as a whole has a reflective, intimate feel to it, and I love this song and video.

That’s it for today’s music. As usual I’ll be sharing this again at Esme’s Senior Salon Pit Stop, but not with Cathy, who is taking a short break. The four Ms link up is working with other participants, though, and I’ll be sharing it at Alana’s place, here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this rather different set, and may even have found something new to like. I’ll see you again soon, and hope that you are well and happy. Take care 😊