It's time for Mailbag May, a long-running (aka brand new) Strong Songs tradition where Kirk spends the month of May catching up on listener questions.

The Strong Songs mailbag overfloweth, and Kirk's got enough material recorded for two Q&A episodes. For this first part, we've got questions about chords, Tool, fire extinguishers, perfect pitch, Avengers and Game of Thrones music, the popularity of the flute, earworms, drum solos, and the inherent humor of the cowbell.

REFERENCED/DISCUSSED:

• "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra
• "Lateralus" by Tool (apparently it's actually pronounced lah-ter-allis)
• An entertaining video compilation of "The Lick": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krDxhnaKD7Q
• "Turkey in the Straw," American traditional
• Kirk's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kirkhamilton
• "The Avengers" by Alan Silvestri
• "Happy Birthday" by the Hill Sisters
• "Moondance" by Van Morrison
• "Juice" by Lizzo from her 2019 album Cuz I Love You
• The Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsQLlk-T0s
• "The Night King" and "Game of Thrones" by Ramin Djawadi from Game of Thrones
• "Pacific Rim" by Ramin Djawadi from Pacific Rim
• "Sight of You" by Sigrid from her 2019 album Sucker Punch
• "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris, 1963

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