The Substack Jukebox 🎶🎵🎶

You love music as much as I do! Settle back with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Audra Mae, and Wolfgang Van Halen... turn it up!

The Substack Jukebox 4/13/2026

Discover new artists, new versions of your favorites, and learn a little backstory on the work. Send us what you love and we’ll try to share them here! Thanks for listening!

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“Music is the shorthand of emotion.” — Leo Tolstoy

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Subscriber Tess reminded me of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Many of us know the story of the tragic helicopter crash that claimed his life on August 27, 1990. He was only thirty five. He struggled with alcohol and drugs, as did his father who died exactly four years before he did. So sad.

Anyway, Tess has ‘Riviera Paradise’ on her “porch playlist” and it is divine. Let’s listen.

Did you watch Sons of Anarchy? If you did, then you heard Audra Mae! From Oklahoma City, she’s the great-great niece of Judy Garland… a little trivia for you! A terrific songwriter with a gutsy, strong voice, she covers Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’ here and it will give you goosebumps!

Any Van Halen fans out there? I knew there would be! I have been a fan forever… the Van Hagar (aka Sammy) camp for me. So here is Wolfgang Van Halen, the only child of Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen. Wolfie wrote a gorgeous tribute to his dad called ‘Distance’. The beauty of this song is the heartfelt lyrics supported by the touching family video. You can feel the love between father and son. The ending brought tears to my eyes.

Wolfie is his own man now and emerging as a tremendous artist. Wolfie has named his band is Mammoth, which is the name of the first band his dad Eddie and uncle Alex formed before Van Halen. Wolfie has big shoes to fill. His dad was arguably one of the best guitarists ever. And damn it, Eddie died on October 6, 2020 at 65 years old… booze, drugs, cigarettes, and a helluva life took its toll. Listen to ‘Distance’. 🥹

And… in case you missed last week, here it is:

Finally… we’re all in need of stress relief these days. Music does it for me. Science tells us that music is a powerful way to help us reduce stress. Read this article from the Cleveland Clinic. Music can lower your blood pressure, reduce your heart rate, improve your creativity… it’s ALL GOOD!!

I hope you heard something to add to your playlist. Send us your music so we can share new work!

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Come back on Friday for Photo Friday! 📸

And my sincere thanks for being part of this community. 💙

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