Spare Change Radio

03/27/2026

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03/14/2026

02/11/2026

Happy Birthday to Joe Ely

Joe, Lee Miles Buchanan, and I began this song before Joe left us on December 15, 2025. We had always planned to release it on Joe’s birthday.

Joe sings “Tennessee Is Not the State I’m In,” a brilliant song by Butch Hancock, whom he admired deeply. Joe recorded his vocals and guitar in Austin years ago, with Lee Miles later adding his creative and engineering touch. Jim Wilson recently completed the mastering.

We share this today to honor Joe and his love for making music. — Sharon Ely

Listen now: https://30tgrs.ffm.to/notthestateimin

Rack'em Records
Thirty Tigers

12/28/2025

TODAY AT BIG EASY. BENEFIT FOR BARRY SEELEN

12/24/2025

Joe Ely has died at 78.

One of the most influential musicians in the early days of alt-country, Ely was a prime mover in Americana music since the days before it was called Americana. A fixture of Austin's progressive country scene of the 1970s and 80s, he drew inspiration from Texas, where he was raised, and from the open road.

To celebrate his life and artistry, we're sharing a feature from ND founder Peter Blackstock published this past February on Ely's final album, "Love and Freedom." The No Depression team sends condolences to the Ely family.

https://nodepression.org/joe-ely-digs-into-his-archives-for-songs-of-love-and-freedom

12/24/2025

“We invite you to read this incredible story of his friendship with Joe Strummer and The Clash, a tale of lightning bugs in South Texas fields, mariachi bands in Mexican border towns, and two kindred spirits who found common ground in poetry, rockabilly, and a shared love of the open road.” - Oxford American

Read here: https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-87-winter-2014/texas-calling

Photo by Tracy Anne Hart