Introducing: yk Records Holiday Sampler 2024

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yewknee.com

An internet waystation.

👋 Hi, I'm Michael Eades; a long time Internet dweller, design dabbler, dangerously amateur developer, online social experimenter and frequent curator.

Currently working as VP of Product at Smarter Apps. I also keep the lights on at a boutique record label called yk records, a podcast network called We Own This Town and a t-shirt shop called Nashville Galaxy. Previously, I built things for Vimeo OTT, VHX, KNI and Spongebath Records.

This site is an archive of ephemera I find entertaining; tweets, videos, random links, galleries of images.

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find me elsewhere

contact

Reach out via threads or good ole email if you have anything to discuss. I do my best to reply in a timely manner.

for the record: "yewknee" is a nonsensical word with no literal meaning but a unsurprisingly nerdy etymology. It is pronounced, "yoo • knee."

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ongoing projects

yk Records →
started in 2009 as a conduit for music that friends had no plans on releasing. now it's a full fledged boutique label focused on releasing quality music from a variety of styles. you know, like a label does. Here's a sampler on Soundcloud and a different one on Spotify. Options.

We Own This Town →
Originally a Nashville area music blog, this site has grown into a full blown podcast network as of 2018. It's an attempt to bring together creative folks about a variety of interesting topics.

I host this show all about Nashville local music outside the expectations of the city. I'm biased but all the shows are good.

Nashville Galaxy →
An online t-shirt shop featuring beloved and defunct Nashville area businesses. Very niche audience on this one but I tend to think niche is good.

some noteworthy other things

Chris Gaines: The Podcast →
published along with co-host Ashley Spurgeon; a limited series podcast that takes an absurdly researched deep dive into the time that Garth Brooks took on a fictional personality named Chris Gaines.

Garth Brooks Chris Gaines Countdown →
to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the time Garth Brooks took on the fictional personality Chris Gaines and appeared on Saturday Night Live in character, I GIF'ed the entire episode. It's a lot of GIFs; please use them.

Whiskerino →
a social network built around communal beard growing for four months. yes, it was as weird as it sounds but equally fascinating and enjoyable.

Moustache May →
an offshoot of the beard growing contest mentioned above. equal amounts of oddball fun but only a month long.

Summer Mix Series →
before all music was streaming everywhere, Internet music fans would swap zip files of music. it was truly a strange and wonderful time.

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Introducing: yk Records Holiday Sampler 2024

Way back in January, Tower Defense told me they'd written a Christmas song and suggested it might be a cool idea to try to put together a yk Records sampler from other bands on the label. I put the word out and today, almost a year later, I am happy to announce the yk Records Holiday Sampler 2024.

It's twenty tracks of original and classic holiday songs that will be available on December 6th. We're announcing it today to try and build some awareness because the undertaking is actually a fundraising effort for CASA Nashville, a non-profit that helps foster kids have safe environments to live in. Paying for music in 2024 feels a bit antiquated but if you know that money is going to a great cause, maybe you'll be more inclined to participate!

Right now, none of the songs are available to stream or hear. However, if you support the compilation before December 6th, I will ensure you get access to two tracks early. So, go support the release!

The musicians did all the hard work creating and recording the songs but I tasked myself with creating promo images for each artist on the sampler in a "Rankin/Bass" kind of way. I'm obviously biased but I think they turned out great: