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My buddy Cameron got me hooked on The Hype Machine, a site that follows music blog discussions tracking the latest blogs and most popular artists. I haven’t had time to fully surf the site, but I did come across a song that was worth a quick post.
Four-piece piano rock band The Fray recently covered Kayne West’s “Heartless,” spinning their acoustic flair on the beat-driven song from West’s latest album 808s and Heartbreaks. It’s a complete change of pace from the original, but it’s definitely well received.
Check out the cover here.
Atlanta-based Missy Gossip and the Secret Keepers have just released their first EP, adding to the sorrowful country music era that Pasty Cline first shuffled in in the 1950s. But as most local bands, they’ve found a way to add a modern twist to amp up their sound for this generation. Keep clicking to read my full review of their self-titled EP.
Music: Mashups: Missy Gossip and the Secret Keepers
And be sure to check out, Missy Gossip and the Secret Keepers will play at The Earl tomorrow, June 26, at 9 p.m., with Ninja Gun and It’s Elephants.
We Georgians know it. Atlanta is one of the South’s most music-rich cities–Nashville probably has us beat–and on any given day you’ll find some of the best underground talent playing at one of our dozens of venues. Plus, most bands would be foolish not to add Atlanta to their summer tour. But the weekend will always remain the best time for good shows. So instead of going from site to site to fill the void of another lame Friday night, check out what we think are the must-see shows for June 20-22.
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- Hightide Blues (Photo by Richie Arpino, www.arpinosalon.com)
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- The Reeds (Photo via www.myspace.com/thereedsband)
I don’t know about you, but if I were a musician, Bonnaroo would be the ultimate bullet point on my resume. The Trump card to all other gigs. 92.9 Dave FM has already given two local Atlanta bands that opportunity, and Saturday at the 2008 Virginia Highland Summerfest, it will name their third winner of the Third Annual Search-a-Roo contest in the ultimate head-to-head competition, Hightide Blues vs. The Reeds.
Thursday, I got the chance to chat with Hightide Blues lead singer Paul McDonald and The Reeds lead singer Josh Reid to see just how they’re handling the pressure. Both bands are in completely different locations but have two huge things in common: an original sound with an incredible fan base.
Auburn alums Hightide Blues blends old fashioned southern rock with sharp vocals and rhythmic guitar chords with acoustic roots. Add that with McDonald’s raspy voice (which has quite the sex appeal), and you’ve got a real put-together band. In a matter of two years, they went from playing house parties in Auburn, Alabama to sharing the stage with the likes of Sister Hazel, Graham Colton and an upcoming summer tour with my person faves Benjy Davis Project. Touring all around the Southeast, HTB has played more than 150 shows just in 2007. Song you gotta hear: “415″ from their new album, Love Come Easy.
University of Georgia grads The Reeds have a slightly more mellow sound. They’re a blues-heavy band with a bit of pop, jazz and folk peppered in, making a perfect backdrop to Reid’s serenading voice. Reid and violin playe Ben Austin have been a duo since high school, but the just added a full band in December 2007 when they started recording their new CD, Bleed Lust. “Autumn Blues” is one of my faves from their MySpace page. You can just feel the sorrow dripping from the steady violin chords and the heartbreak in Reid’s voice. Saturday will be their first live performance.
So whatever your fancy, you need to add these two rising superstars to your play list. Your MP3 just isn’t complete without it.
Check out my full article about Search-a-Roo here.
I wish I was a lyricist.
In a way I already am. I can carefully craft words and bring out the creativity in most any sentence. I think I’m witty and edgy in my storytelling. I avoid overused cliches—for the most part—and spin words in a way that reflects my personal spunk.
But putting these words to music would be like serving Emeril Lagasse’s prime rib to a pack of feral wolves.
It takes a certain type of writer to write lyrics. There’s the obvious need for an ear for music, but moreover, you’ve got to an ear for words. You’ve got to actually hear how a word sounds: You have to know the inflection, the beat, the pitch. And then after all that, you have to mesh those two mediums, matching the tones of the words and melody into something that not only sounds pleasant but are comparable with each other.
And I get stressed out with just the writing part.
Recently, The Benjy Davis Project’s latest album Dust has been stuck on repeat in my car’s stereo—Yes, I still buy CDs. If you’re unfamiliar with the Louisiana-based southern rock band:
- Your life is seriously musically deprived
- You need to stop reading, boot up iTunes and download “Louisiana Saturday Night.” It’ll change your life.
Ready to continue? OK.
Benjy Davis is one of the most lyrically-inclined musicians I’ve ever listened to. And I consider myself fairly well-versed in the music business. First off, Davis’ voice is raw. It can come off as scratchy and horse at first listen, but after a couple cycles in my stereo, that rough voice plays perfectly into the guitar chords and drum beats. It completes the band’s sound. And once you combine the catchy and widely-imaginative lyrics, you’ve got a homegrown band that not only captures their listeners, but relates to them.
Take the track “Clowns.” The title doesn’t give much away into the depth of the song. But check out these lyrics. The song is all about how he’s exhausted from touring and the truckloads of signed sellout artists who “sell [their souls] to the devil for its weight in gold.” Their emotions are at the mercy of every record label and every fan they meet, because in reality, they’re the ones paying the artist’s bills. And when trying to break out into the music field, he can’t show true emotion, even when the “demo must have been shaped like a boomerang.”
Never, even in my most awe-inspiring bursts of creativity, would I ever think to relate living life on the road to clowns. I don’t think that makes me a bad writer, but it probably doesn’t do much for my lyrically career.
That’s just what a good song should do though, right? Leave you wondering how in the hell did they ever come up with that?
