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The 16 Songs Project
March 2026
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Welcome back to The 16 Songs Project.
I love March.
Basketball's on TV. Sun stays out a bit longer. The weather is somewhere between unpredictable, half decent, and disastrous-but-cozy.
This does not make for the easiest vibe to hit with 16 Songs, but we gave it our best go.
Here's your 16 Songs for March 2026.
16 Songs - March 2026 | The Playlist
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"Mary Singletary" - Deer Tick
One more thing about March I forgot to mention: St. Patrick's Day. And while this song does not wave its Irish flag and pour you a pint (we'll get to that later), it is a rocking jam about a Catholic altar boy's guilt, featuring a half drunk priest named Father Sullivan, so yeah, it checks the box.
It's also the lead single off the forthcoming album from Deer Tick, one of my favorite bands. Deer Tick's most popular moment is now over a decade ago, yet their last two albums are both worth your time. I'm excited for the next one.
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"Nobody But You" - The Sheepdogs
The Sheepdogs have been cranking out easy listen' but hard rock' music for about 20 years now. Nothing on a Sheepdogs record is going to blow your mind. These Canadian boys found their lane and they stick to it. That lane's a fun time, reminiscent of CCR and The Allman Brothers.
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"Ever-Loving Mind" - Breakfield
I didn't know Breakfield until recently, but that makes sense because the band just changed its name.
Used to be A Boy Named Banjo. Decided to change it.
Well, they did. Which is good because "A Boy Named Banjo" is a pretty bad band name, especially for a band that sounds like Breakfield.
"A Boy Name Banjo" is what ChatGPT would name an Avett Brothers cover band.
"A Boy Named Banjo" is the long-lost passion project that Billy Bob Thornton can't get greenlit.
"A Boy Named Banjo" is the improv-troupe at a Christian arts college.
"A Boy Named Banjo" is what Marcus Mumford would name his children's book.
Breakfield is none of those things. Breakfield is pretty good - as a band. As a band name, it's still not great. The music is good though.
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"The Rescuer" - Sadler Vaden
Last month's list featured Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, unlikely to have been a new listen for anyone.
I'm not sure how many of you have taken the next step and found some of the side and solo projects of the members of the 400 Unit. This was my first foray into guitarist Sadler Vaden's solo work and I had a fun time. Very 90's movie montage vibes here.
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"Elderberry Wine" - Wednesday
Speaking of the 1990s, if this song came out in the late 90s, it would have exploded. Your mom's CD player would have run this bad boy ragged with play after play. The needle drop in a season two episode of Dawson's Creek would have been iconic.
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"Don't Break My Heart" - El Dorado
El Dorado is the backing band of country-western heavy hitter Tyler Childers, but with Childers sitting on the sidelines. I have a lot of questions about how something like that comes together and even more questions about naming said side project, given that they are usually credited as The Food Stamps when backing Childers.
I am sorry that most of this month's commentary is about the names of the bands. I did not mention it when talking about Wednesday (good band name).
What do you want me to say? "Yeehaw, this little ditty's a rootin' tootin' fun time!"
You don't want that. Nobody wants that, even if it's true.
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"Good at Lying" - Jillette Johnson (feat: Langhorne Slim)
We jump from one of my artist's backing bands to one of my guys singing background as a feature. Really fun song. A foot tapper for any reasonable music enjoying human being.
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"Stranger" - Ken Pomeroy
I've resisted the urge to love Ken Pomeroy's music for the last few years.
Some of you, based on the song provided, might think its because the music is intensely sad. Her most recent album literally has a song just called "Dogs Die".
Some of you, on the other hand, are asking, "Wait, Ken Pomeroy makes music? And is a woman?"
That's because you, like me, are more aware of the other Ken Pomeroy. That Ken is a man who does not make music, but is the godfather of the college basketball analytics movement. Kenpom dot com, things of that nature.
I can not tell you how confusing it was for me and the algorithms of my brain and internet presence that college basketball Ken Pomeroy has been joined in the public consciousness by Americana musician Ken Pomeroy.
The college basketball fan in me was shocked. The music fan in me was confused. The digital marketing professional in me was disgusted! The search engine optimization of that name is NOT strong, Music Ken.
Perhaps it was the KenPom infecting my brain amid March Madness, but I finally gave Ken Pomeroy's music a fair shake and, damn, she can write a haunting tune.
"The wind keeps on hitting me, like my mother used to.
Unlike her, I feel like it doesn't want to."
That could even make the computers behind the other KenPom cry.
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"A Friend Like You" - The Milk Carton Kids
I do like this song and how it fits at this point in the playlist, yet this entry is also partially an excuse to show you this clip of this band performing and discussing their newfound insistence on including the banjo in their music:
I recommend sticking with that until the real punchline at the end. And hey, I'm digging the banjo music.
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"Reichenbach Falls" - Racing Mount Pleasant
I mean no disrespect to the good young folks of Racing Mount Pleasant, but I'm starting to accept that I'll fall in love with just about any song with a catchy horn section. Boy, does this sleepy-yet-dancey tune fit that bill.
Happy to report after checking in with some more of Racing Mount Pleasant's work: the horns are not a one off. Look at their Wikipedia photo:
Now, here's the other thing about Racing Mount Pleasant: They also recently changed their name. For their debut album (which includes this song), this band was called Kingfisher. In 2025, they returned as Racing Mount Pleasant. Definitely a worse name but there is a pretty popular Irish indie band called Kingfishr, so maybe this band learned the search engine lessons that Musician Ken Pomeroy has not.
This band, according to Wikipedia, also includes three "visual artists" and I don't even really know what that means. I'd like to know how evenly money is being split amongst the group and hope the horns players are getting their fair share because that's the juice for me.
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"Thermal Fuse" - Ovven
Ok, I think that's enough sleepy folk music for this month. Let's kick things up a notch and stay there the rest of the way.
Ovven (with two v's, not a typo) put out an album of grungy alt-country. It's good music. It's a fun name for a former appliance repairman named Owen. Your Google search will auto-correct and assume you're buying an oven. Persevere through that search engine issue and find more of Ovven's jams.
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"Barbara" - Enzo Carella
Welcome to the biggest curveball of the month.
How did I find this boppy Italian disco song? I do not remember. I do remember why I found it though.
I do a lot of writing, in my personal and professional life. I've learned I can't listen to songs with lyrics while trying to write words myself. Well, that's not true. I recently learned I can write while listening to non-English words.
Enter Italo Disco bops. Hell yeah.
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"It Was Worth It" - Sam Burchfield & Tophouse
Happy little song. Billed not as one artist featuring the other but a true collaboration. I'm not sure I can think of another example of that. I'm sure you're thinking of five examples right now. Go ahead, tell me about them.
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"St. Patrick's Day Forever" - Sean Tobin
Yeah, this is the dumb beer slugger we needed for St. Patrick's Day.
An f-bomb filled, COVID-lamenting (in a good way), Paddy's Day country bumper.
"If Guinness makes you stronger, I'm the strongest man alive."
That should be slapped on bar signs, tee shirts, and tattoos all over the world.
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"Still the Same" - Bob Seger
Yes, there is a general attempt on my part here to get you to listen to new or unheralded music. Usually, that's going to mean songs that were recently released or at least released this decade or century.
But let's talk about Bob Seger.
No one really talks about Bob Seger. No one my age, at least. I get that he does not have the depth, longevity, or heights to compete with a Springsteen or Petty. I get that. But if you can cultivate a life where more people you know like, respect, and listen to Bob Seger than Billy Joel, you're on the right track.
Enter Boston-based goofball Brian Daly who has dedicated a series of videos on his social media channels (@wickedfast on Instagram) to answering a simple question about his local watering holes: "Is it a bar, or is it a Seger Bar?"
It's a pretty simple formula. Daly goes into a bar, orders a drink, and asks the bartender if they could put on some Bob Seger. This is made better by his accent ("How about a little Bowb Seggah?"), but it supports my general theory. Obviously, there are dive bars and bartenders of a certain age who oblige (A Certified Seger Bar), but as many or more where the bartender looks at him very confused, has never heard of Seger, or shoos him away to the TouchTunes machine in the corner.
Bob Seger rules. Find the people and places in your life that understand that.
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"Free Fallin'" - Tom Petty
Yeah, I know. Really thinking outside the box here, yet there's a good reason this one is hitting for me this month. Petty is one of my three or four favorite artists of all time, though "Free Fallin'" is not one of my...(counting on fingers, consulting spreadsheet) fifteen favorite Tom Petty songs.
But it is my daughter's favorite.
I did not know my wife had been singing the first verse to our four-year old as a lullaby recently, so I was taken aback when the little one started singing it, nailing every lyric. I then surprised her right back by playing it on the drive to school. She did not even know it was an actual recorded song, beyond something her mom whispered to her at bedtime. She didn't even know about the chorus!
She was delighted to hear it and I was delighted to delight her. That's kind of the magic of music and the whole point of what we're doing here, folks.
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That's all for this playlist. I hope you found a few songs you like. Let me know if there's an artist or song you think I'd like.
See you next month,
Shane
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