#dolly parton storyteller: my life in lyrics

[booksandwords]

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton with Robert K. Oermann

Read time: 8 Days Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Quote: I'm a singer, an entertainer, and a business woman. But if I had to choose just one thing to be, I would choose to be a songwriter. I could happily just sit in my life and write songs forever, enjoy life, and write songs. The songs lead to everything else. Everything that I am starts with that song. — Dolly Parton

Full disclosure, I'm not known as a fan of Dolly Parton's music, her business acumen and her philanthropic work absolutely but not her music. I come to this something of as an outsider. So why read it? This appealed to it as a unique look at an influential woman, I'm not sure I'd ever seen anything like it anywhere. After reading that opinion didn't change... To me this is a one of a kind biographical work, there isn't exactly a plethora of songwriters who could replicate this. The magic ingredients are a long successful career, variety, personality and some memory of the stories attached to songs (is that really a given?). This is a fantastic book. It is well worth reading even if you aren't a fan. It is a lovely way to see how someone's life can change, how the world can change over time, and the breadth a single person can write.

On the layout of the book and order it is smart. There are 14 sections. While they initially appear to be by time from they develop or actually by a theme. They're Singing My Songs is looking at the covers and collaborations through her career, The Grass Is Blue is a look at her turn to bluegrass after the pop scene turned its back on her, Porter Wayne and Dolly Rebecca is a look at her turbulent times with Porter Wagoner who had a major hand in launching her career. There are some stunning inclusions in the images. Pictures of the original lyrics, costumes, some rare photos and album covers as they will aid the story. It all blends together so very, very well.

Given the personal nature of the stories I'm choosing not to critique the writing or stories at all. Just have some comments from my reading.

The Bridge is a suicide track written quite early and it's beautiful.

My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy has Dolly's husband Carl on the cover and that's fantastic. Most people don't realise he's been on one of her covers. Dolly has been married to Carl Dean since 1966. I appreciate Carl. Carl doesn't go to any of Dolly's black ties events with her, ever since the first one. That's not his scene it's hers. "I was maintaining a home life. It was a good thing my husband, Carl, has always been such a loner. You know, he doesn't want to be around anybody but me anyway, and he loves to be home. So that worked out time." (p.77)

But whether it's a love affair or not, you're all in, in the relationship. Whether it's sexual or whether it's just passionate, you are connected. It's a love-hate relationship. It is a marriage, of a sort. (p.79)

Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark leads to Dolly talking about the loss of one of her younger brothers. The one who would have been "her baby" to care for.

I've killed a lot of puppies and kids and ladies in my songs. I've killed myself a few times. I don't want to do it in real life, but I can do it in a song. You're safe doing it that way. (p.89)

Dolly is an incredibly loyal woman, you pick it up in the people she keeps around her. Dorothy Jo, Judy Ogle, Don Warden. She inspired such loyalty in Warden that he left Porter Wagoner to join her in their acrimonious split.

 I Will Always Love You. It can sometimes be so hard to remember this is a cover. Elvis wanted to cover it, Precilla claims it was stunning. What stopped the recording was surprise, surprise and licencing issue (the company wanted more than Dolly was willing to give).

The sheer diversity of her lyrics was startling as she addressed suicide, adultery, insanity, drugs, illegitimacy, poverty, death and more. Her songs have been populated by orphans, alcoholics, prostitutes, preachers, vagabonds, widows, gamblers, ghosts, moonshiners, senior citizens, outlaws, hermits, and many other assorted characters. — It is this very diversity that makes her music appealing there is a song for everyone. (Robert K. Obermann, p.107)

Alcohol is the number one killer. A lot of people realize that it's like a drug you can become addicted to. It's so easy to get, and it seems so innocent to have a beer or a cocktail. If you have a weakness for it, before you know it you can become an alcoholic. I've seen a lot of sorrows, because alcoholism runs on both sides of my family. An alcoholic might say, "Well, it ain't hurting nobody but me." That's a crock. It hurts everybody and you. (p.109)

Jolene has been recorded over 400 times. I had no idea it was that many. Dolly won a Grammy for it in collaboration with Pentatonix in 2017. May I share a recentish fave cover... Lil Nas X. The is something so different in the delivery, he sounds like he's surrendered to losing. There is no fight in his voice. It's a different way to sing Jolene, a good one.

 Lord Hold My Hand was written with Ginny Dean, Dolly's Mother-in-Law. There is something amusing and sweet about that to me.

There are quite a few songs in here that are strong statements on female agency and female power.

She might have first attracted attention with her voluptuous beauty, flamboyant fashion sense, and one-of-a-kind mountain soprano, but the Nashville music community is built on songwriting. And it was her gift of song that truly made her a country superstar of the 1970s. (Robert K. Obermann, p.159)

The Man is written all about the world's good men in the world. For Dolly that includes her dad and Carl.

There are two songs in here written to melodies I really like. Sandy's Song is written to 'Greensleeves', written in the wake of the death of Dolly's long time manager and friend Sandy Gallin. And Shine On written to 'Amazing Grace', written for the funeral of occasional collaborator Tammy Wynette.

Travelin' Thru... if you are queer and have never heard it please go and find it. It was written at least in part for the queer community. It's on the Transamerica soundstrack.

I adore Romeo, the performance of it is just so fun. The story behind it is cute too. It's written about her nephew. A fact of which he is fully aware.

Eagle When She Flies originally written for the Steel Magnolias soundtrack (which oddly makes me want to do a rewatch) is just a wonderfully strong female song.

Back in my early days when I wrote [Shattered Image]. I was really not used to people saying bad things about me. Especially if they weren't true. And you don't have to be in show business for somebody to shatter your image or ruin your reputation. (p.297)

Hello God is a beautiful song written in the immediate wake of 9/11. As in as it was breaking news. It is absolutely stunning performed with a full choir.

I love the idea of The Secret Song. A song sealed in a box fox 30 years at Dollywood DreamMore Resort.

Finally, some things I need to look up and enjoy later. I Am A Rainbow I am completely unsurprised that Dolly Parton has a picture storybook, given the existence of the Imagination Library a charity dedicated to increasing literacy in children. Dolly Parton's Heartstrings is referred to multiple times. It's a Netflix anthology series with each episode based on a different song (ep 1 Jolene). One other thing. Dolly's life as a musical is coming, but I don't know the title or anything else about it.

I was looking at reviews of Songteller after I'd started reading I was looking at reviews and comments on GoodReads there seems to be a decent consensus that the audiobook and the physical book are substantially different. Dolly Parton reads her own audiobook according to Amy | Foxy Blogs's review the audiobook can feel more like a podcast. It can be more slightly more wandering though it remains naturally positive. Amy suggests both reading the book and listening to the audiobook. There are several playlists on Spotify playlists (including this one by Zachary Hoyt) collating as many of the songs as possible. I would think it might be a potential alternative to the audiobook for those who aren't a fan of that kind of experience. Or possibly just as a different way to experience the book. Especially good for those who aren't die-hard fans or who just want to be reminded of the songs. I will say one thing that may push people to the audiobook (just over 5hrs) while the hardback is 30 x 25cm and 2.5kg, it can be a tad unwieldy, it's more like a coffee table book.

#dolly parton storyteller #dolly parton storyteller: my life in lyrics #dolly parton #robert k oermann #book review #non fiction #memoir #ktreviews #read 2022 #booklr

[bargainsleuthbooks]

Dolly Parton: Songteller: My Life in Lyrics Book Review + Kindle Deal $2.99 #KindleDeals #BookReview #CountryMusic #DollyParton #ChronicleBooks

#DollyParton is a living legend, and right now you can get her much-acclaimed #SongtellerMyLifeinLyrics book on #KindleDeals for $2.99. I enjoyed this book so much I have 3 different formats #audiobookreview #bookreview #amazondeals #countrymusic

Right now, you can get Dooly Parton’s Songteller book for only $2.99 on Kindle. That’s 91% off the list price and Bargain Sleuth approved. Below is my review of the audiobook and hardcover versions of the book when it came out two years ago. In the past year, there have been a couple of books released about Dolly Parton and her impact as a songwriter. I reviewed Unlikely Angel: The Songs of…

View On WordPress

#Audiobook Review #Book Review #Country Music #Dolly Parton #Dolly Parton: Storyteller #Grand Old Opry #Kindle Deals #Songteller: My Life in Lyrics #Songwriting #Storyteller

[newmusicradionetwork]

Erin Duvall Releases Female-Empowered Summer Single “Girls Weekend”

Singer, songwriter, mother, and entrepreneur, Erin Duvall releases her country summer single, “Girls Weekend.” This new song from Erin is about female friendships that transcend their worth and how a girls weekend for everyone might not look the same, but it will be felt by everyone. Erin says, “The power of girl friendships is one of the strongest forces in the world. It is a source of energy and love, and there is nothing we can’t do together. Some people call their girlfriends their tribe; some people call them their ride or die; I simply call them my family. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful group of women in my life who, no matter what, are there for me through thick and thin and vice versa. This song is a testament to our friendship, all of the amazing times we have had with one another, and all of the incredible ‘Girls Weekends’ to come!” As a country music songwriter, Erin writes about love, life, family, and what a girls weekend truly means. This song holds a special place for Erin as it defines the friendships that give a strong representation of how her closest friends have turned into family. “A girls weekend can look a little bit different for every group of friends, but the true core of what a girls weekend represents will be felt by everyone. Girls’ weekends are good for the soul. They give you the ability to put life on hold for a minute and reconnect with your closest friends and with yourself. Whether it is a spa weekend, a staycation, a rowdy trip to Vegas, a beach or lake trip, or a few days on the slopes, girls’ weekends provide the feeling of being free and being seen. Like they say, life was meant for good friends and great adventures! So here’s to a lifetime of fun ahead of us, says Erin!” Erin’s artistry continues to empower others through her honest storytelling and advocacy for girls’ empowerment. As a singer, she sets herself apart from others through her truthful perspective on motherhood and family, which includes heartbreak and broken dreams, but also resilience and grace that have made her much stronger. Erin adds, “I truly believe the older you get, the more important your girl friendships are to you. I have had the same best friends for 20+ years, and we definitely have grown up together. We have gone through the highs and the lows, the heartbreaks and the joys, with each other. We have stood by each other through thick and thin. So no matter how much time, distance, or life’s commitments may keep us apart, when we reconnect for our girls’ weekends, it is like nothing has ever changed. We lift each other up, we laugh till our stomach hurts, and we fuel one another to fill each other’s hearts with love and support until we can be together again! There is truly nothing better!” Erin also received high praise for her single and music video release “Walking Country Song,” her single and lyric video “Too Little, Too Late,” and her single “To Be Here.” It’s inevitable that it’s all about the support you have around you and the trailblazing women who have influenced Erin and her artistry along the way, including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and Shania Twain. “Girls Weekend” is another powerful song building women up that is relatable to all audiences. Be sure to tag Erin on all social media platforms to be a part of her social media challenge, where you share your vision of a girls weekend for a chance to win a surprise gift and be featured in the “Girls Weekend” music video. STREAM HERE For more information and to connect with Erin Duvall follow her on  Website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.  To schedule an interview or for more information, contact Dead Horse Branding at the following: Danielle Reiss Dead Horse Branding [email protected]  Phone: [phone] About Erin Duvall There are many roles women play on a daily basis, creating a need for several different faces that each resemble the role authentically. Erin Duvall’s intention is to show you all of her roles and “faces” via her successful mediums of Music, Motherhood and Entrepreneurship. Collectively – “The Three Faces of Erin”. She aims to have you unmask your “faces”, embrace your roles and find what inspires you. The Texas-born singer-songwriter, Erin Duvall, was raised on a foundation of country, blues, gospel, and rock ‘n’ roll. Erin’s unique approach to music has drawn comparisons to singers like Janis Joplin, Natalie Maines, and Susan Tedeschi. As the fourth of five children in her family, Erin learned to advocate for herself and what she wanted at an early age, which was to always perform. By delivering raspy country vocals, Erin sets herself apart from other women in today’s country music scene. She belts, teases, and soars into listeners’ ears with her roadhouse bluesy tunes and the sultry sounds of her vocals. Erin’s debut album, Out of Focus, was recorded in 2010 with producer and songwriter Rob Giles. Rob Giles is a singer-songwriter known for his solo work, along with working with Andy Summers of the Police and the band The Rescues. Taking a pause to become a mother to four beautiful children and, as a single mother, she knows the importance of hard work and following your dreams. Currently, Erin is working with Terry and Simeon Baker of Baker Brothers Music. With over 30 years of experience, they have worked with Michael McDonald, Aretha Franklin, Kirk Franklin, Patty Austin, Wayne Newton, and Bishop TD Jakes, to name a few. Together they are working to perfectly blend country, gospel, and rock ‘n’ roll into one sound, showcasing the music that was rooted in Erin’s upbringing. The story of Erin Duvall has taken her around the sun twice and led her back to her passion for music time and time again. As a mompreneur, Erin is the creator and founder of the children’s animated character Aunty E, who teaches children about all types of music. The exciting animated world of Aunty E started in 2006 with producer Billy Henry. Billy has worked with prominent acts like The Chicks, Courtyard Hounds, Fleetwood Mac, and Shakira.The project is very near and dear to Erin’s heart, and she is excited to share the progress with all of you as she revamps it. Aunty E now features over twenty characters, a book series, and an album. As an influential philanthropist, Erin Duvall and her sister, Molly Duvall Thomas, founded a multimedia brand known as Sisters of Red. Sharing their love of fashion, design, travel, and all things real and beautiful, Sisters of Red started in 2017 as a creative outlet to share their inspiration. As a sister-duo, the two share a passion for giving to help make a difference in the lives of others. “I have grown up with two very strong examples of family first, hard work and giving back. So now, as a single mother of four, I feel very strongly to leave a legacy behind for my children that makes them proud,” says Duvall. With the passion that burns inside Erin Duvall, she will excel in all aspects of her career, especially in an ever-increasing world of burn-outs and flashes that dispense as quickly as the wick is lit. Press Quotes “It has been amazing to watch Erin Duvall, a beautiful, intelligent woman wear so many different hats as she births this body of music. What we are most inspired by is the love she always keeps at the forefront for her four children. This love speaks through these lyrics and melodies of “To Be Here.”’ — Baker Brothers, Award-winning musicians touring with Kirk Franklin and Bishop T.D. Jakes About Dead Horse Branding Dead Horse Branding is an award-winning public relations, management and branding agency with headquarters in both Nashville, TN, and Sydney, Australia. Dead Horse Branding creates, designs, and refines each component of a brand, ensuring that the brand will always hit the right chord on every level. Dead Horse Branding’s business model is a cutting-edge management and branding service all-in-house that spans multiple industries, including music, fashion, design, business, culinary, entertainment, fitness, and more. There are 7 primary formulas to branding and Dead Horse does them all under one roof, making them a very competitive branding agency. Branding is an identity developed through our DH7 branding formula, which includes: strategic planning, logo and image design, photography and visual assets, website design, marketing and social media, publicity, licensing, and distribution. Dead Horse Branding’s brand-building technique has been implemented into the education system in the USA and Australia. Rick Caballo and Melissa Core-Caballo were instrumental in helping to lead Kennesaw State University’s Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business program (MEBUS) as one of top curriculums ranked by Billboard Magazine 2022. Baha Men, LOVING MARY (Steven Tyler’s solo band), Cyndi Lauper, Hachette Book Group, Simon and Schuster, Bo Diddley Estate, HENDRIX Music Academy, Grammy Winning Mark O’Connor Band, Universal Music Group, MTSU, Sony Music, ACPI Group, Interior Designer Kathy Anderson, Gigi Butler of Gigi Cupcakes, TEDx, NAMM, Songwriting University, Marc Jordan, Music Producer Tony Brown, Jayne Denham, Average Joes Entertainment, Music Expo, Joel A. Katz MEBUS Program, The Today Show, Lionsgate, and Hallmark are some of the brands we have had the pleasure of working within the USA and internationally. Visit deadhorsebranding.com for more information! Recommended Post Erin Duvall Releases her new summer single “Girls Weekend.” A summer country girls song released by Texas-based singer-songwriter, mother and entrepreneur Erin Duvall. Listen to “Girls Weekend” releasing on Friday, August 11th. Relevant Hashtags #spotify #applemusic #girlsweekend #texas #family #friends #texascountry #dallas #nashville #musician #country #singer #songwriter #mother #entrepreneur #businesswoman #publicity #branding #music #listen #newmusic #artist #journey #motherhood #entertainer #radio #deadhorsebranding #charity #foundation #twicethelove Read the full article

[pop-punklouis]

The thing that gets me to doubt h&L is the camille thing and it's not the song Cherry it's the lyrics (you r not here and there's no one to blame but the drink & my wandering hands) It potrays him as a cheater. I saw a Trans youtuber review the song but he said it sucks H cheated and the fans on livechat were like mad typing no he didn't! He was like you guys are in denial he clearly cheated. Why would managment portray him as a cheat if they're trying to market to hets or make him desirable?

i just. i don’t know how else to say this because i’ve said it multiple times on my blog when plagued with this exact question: it’s songwriting. it’s literature. it’s art. all of his songs just like louis’ or anyone else’s should filter through that mindset first before using words so literally. besides, it isn’t surprising that the phrase “wandering hand” would be used as harry’s entire image has been set up on him being a womanizer and never being able to settle down or stay committed. it’s saddled onto him at this point, and it’s still used to market him to the masses. so, regardless of how literal or creative that song is, it isn’t surprising that it’d be used to center that narrative further with camille but in a more “this was my first real love, and i fucked up and really miss her” heartbroken swan song of an album that does bring sympathy from his fans. like a friend of mine went to One Night Only and when he played cherry there were three girls behind her crying and being all “oh harry no :(.” don’t underestimate a marketing ploy. it hits angles beneath what you see on the surface.

also, circling back around to my first point, i wish it was more common knowledge that songwriting isn’t always autobiographical. songwriting can have just as much you in it without it being apart of your personal life. it’s a form of creative writing— of storytelling. just like authors who write fiction and even fans who write fanfiction. these things they write about more than likely haven’t happened to them, but they know how to bleed the words into a convincing story or emotional upheaval that connects with others while still having a part of them in the creative process. one of the biggest examples is Dolly Parton (out of a plethora of other artists) who has over 3000 songs she’s written in her career about heartache, tragedy, affairs, abuse etc. yet she’s been married to the same man since she was 19-20 years old. she’s gone on record several times and spoken about how she spins words to tell a story and connect with an audience because that’s what good songwriters do. it’s a gift. a talent. and with how observant and interested harry is of other people’s lives and stories, it isn’t shocking to think he does take inspiration from all the people he comes in contact with. Canyon Moon and From the Dining Table are two great examples. CM for writing down his senses while creating the song as “Jenny” yells to go get the kids from school while he stays with Kid Harpoon’s family. FTDT due to that track being a mashup of love and loss stories from everyone there who worked on that record. not everything is completely autobiographical. sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn’t. and it’s up to you to dig into that and come out with your own opinion. but the above thoughts are mine.

[aturtleinmiami]

INTERVIEW WITH ALEXA LASH 11.3.20 If you don’t know who Alexa Lash is, then you must “like” her on Instagram and follow her immediately. She has her very own “Sound check song” in which she’ll include a stranger or a friend in the lyrics and makes up an interesting story to begin her set. I find myself singing it sometimes so it’s quite catchy. Alexa has a powerful voice to match her lyrics. She began playing locally with a ukulele, then during quarantine picked up an acoustic guitar and learned to play on her own. Now, she feels more empowered than ever and her craft has taken a fiercer shape, just like the tattooed phoenix on her back. My personal favorite is, “Every Little Thing I Do” where she pleads for her lover to say those magic words, we girls desperately want to hear and then strums along to a frustrated rap because the lover isn’t responding. Although most of the songs Alexa sings are originals and her new EP is due out shortly, she covers anything from “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse, “Zombie” by The Cranberries to the local’s favorite, “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. Alexa has diamond eyes and a beautiful smile with a quick wit that will have you singing along with the crowd to “MIA” and cheering during breaks as she sips on her old fashion. Our Interview went like this: 
VA: It’s difficult for me to pinpoint your style of music, how would you describe it?
AL: It’s funny, I always have trouble answering this question because I feel like I sound a little different with the band and as like when I was with November May I felt that I sounded like you know, more like alternative, soulful, a little funky. Now what I’ve been doing is singer-songwriter stuff; I guess my style is storyteller with soul. A little folksy but not. I don’t know my inspirations are drawn from various places including like 80’s music and Hebrew songs from JCC, Jewish camp. VA: What inspires you to write? AL: Well, what inspires me to write now and what has been I mean are mostly just experiences either that I have been through or that people I know have been through like I’ve actually written songs for other people who are about other people’s life you know, telling a story, like if it’s my story that’s great, if it’s another person’s story that’s great or made up stories like I just imagined something happening or how I would react or a collection of things that have happened over the course of whatever amount of time. I like telling stories about real life or fictional life, a lot of it was about relationships but now it’s kind of transitioned. It went from just you know a lot of oh, heart break and you know, I’m suffering to now it’s emotions that I’m experiencing in quarantine and those trigger song ideas. I wrote about anxiety during quarantine, that was one of my first songs that got a lot of connectivity and traction during quarantine, people were like, “Alexa, I really like your song, I connect with it” and people would start telling me that, since that song. Then I wrote some songs about thinking about death, about loneliness, about stress and just like all those feelings combined and then just kept writing. I wrote more and more and more. I just finished a song the other day about thinking about my future because music has become a priority. VA: When you sing, “She’s Gonna Be Fine” I feel the hurt from your gut, it’s a beautifully painful song, do you harvest the emotions of when you wrote that song right before you sing it? AL: Yeah; She’s Gonna Be Fine is such a special song to me. I actually recorded it recently so it’s going to be on my EP that I release out of the four songs and trying to replicate how I sing it in person is not easy when you’re in a room by yourself and I’ve noticed that I sing that song very differently depending on the audience and when the audience is engaged in my story telling like I can feel it throughout the night, I tend to sing it with more backing so when I start to sing that song, I don’t know if I’m conjuring up emotions but that song makes me sing emotionally because I know the words, they’re very measured and that song is based on a true story so it’s very easy for me to fall into it. I recorded it originally and then showed it to someone and they were like, “Alexa the pacing is kind of fast, can you redo it?” and I was like, shoot, you know, I really like the way that this sounds, I did some cool stuff with my voice but she was right. I didn’t draw the same emotional pull that I do when I’m in person and I don’t know why, I think I was just too excited to record it so last night, I re-recorded it and you can hear me like almost crying in it. Yeah, that song always makes me want to cry when I sing it. It takes a lot of out of me. When I’m done singing it, I feel like I can take a nap or go crawl in a corner and just keep crying or something. VA: What is your favorite song to perform and why?
AL: There’s a mix. She’s Gonna Be Fine is one of my favorites to perform now, just because it tends to silence a room and there’s something special to be said about that for me because I’ve never been able to command a space as much as that song’s given me the power to do so. Beyond that song, I really like singing Sunrise, it’s also new, it’s one of the new ones because when I sing that, there’s a part that’s like with you, with you, with you, like I yell it and now everyone yells it with me but my favorite that’s kind of always been my favorite to sing with everybody has probably been MIA. I wrote that on the ukulele, and everybody’s just has always been really down to sing along and I love when the audience comes into the picture and sings it with me. There’s something special about even strangers who don’t know the song start to sing it, it just is a nice community exercise. VA: You play the ukulele and more recently learned to play guitar; are there any more instruments you have thought about playing in the future? (In my view, a keyboard is set up next to her)
AL: I was telling somebody the story on a podcast that I did recently about my dad supporting my music. There’s more backstory to that but basically lately, my family, my friends have kind of all been into this dream of mine and I was thinking about getting a keyboard for a while. When quarantine started, I just, I wanted to learn everything and then I saw a friend of mine play the keyboard and I was like, oh my god I want one so badly and I was like, oh well you know if I have a keyboard and the band wants to come over then my keyboardist doesn’t have to drag his, then I’ll have it so I just have all these random instruments that everybody can, so now I’ve got to get drums or something. Quarantine stopped from a lot of things being delivered and I ordered this keyboard about three months ago. My dad got it for me as like a, I want to support your dream kind of gift and I was like, are you sure? Like, I was going to get it anyway but like, are you sure? I was going to go broke dad. And I fell in love with this one and I ordered it and I was like, this thing is never coming in, ever. On that podcast I just did, I mentioned the keyboard and like two days later, after that podcast aired, I get the call from Sweetwater that it was in and it was being shipped. It got here on Halloween, but I couldn’t open the box yet and on November 1st I opened it for the first time, and I haven’t moved from this spot. VA: During quarantine, you have made new musician friends and have brought them to share your stage; how does it feel to be a talent scout of sorts and do you think it is something you would like to continue to do?
AL: I’ve been very lucky and it’s funny because your question lead into my day. Tonight, is my 90’s night, which is why I’m rocking the Jurassic Park shirt (I love it) for my zoom open mic that I’ve been doing since April. I’ve done a lot of stuff during quarantine, I did a song writer exchange, I did an Instagram takeover for Make Music Miami, I did some weird Jewish events, I got called the funky Zionista and I was like a little bit like, alright, chill that’s a little too much for me. Any chance I got to make music, I tried to do during quarantine; I dressed as Elsa for god’s sakes. All of these things that I did then lead to people coming to my open mic night from all of these different resources so during the song exchange, that person, her name is Rew, came on to my open mic like I went on to hers and she came to mine and then she brought her friends who are now are regulars of my night. Rock-n-roll Johnny always likes to be called out but all these people you know, come on and they were supporting me while I was trying to do my song writing lessons like trying to teach people how to write lyrics and to write music or to write songs. I tried different stuff and these people supported me and when I got a chance to go on a stage I could have played by myself for three hours but I was like, you know why not share the love with some of the people who have made quarantine more manageable so people like Clover, April I already knew before quarantine who just went on stage with me, my friend Cynthia same thing before quarantine, Luis was a friend of mine and then he brought the flute player in. This whole network of people that have just been supporting each other during quarantine are the ones I put up on stage, like you didn’t have to show up to my open mic night, it was helpful if I didn’t know you already or wasn’t too familiar with your music because Bar Nancy is a scared place for me like, I worked there pre quarantine that’s my family, that’s my home so who I bring into it is important to me like if you’re a jerk or an asshole, I’m not going to put you on stage with me and everybody’s attitude changes from day to day so you could have been nice prior to quarantine and then become not the nicest person. I’ve just gotten lucky, I’ve met all these talented people and I’ve gotten a chance to put them on a stage and I’ve tried to get them paid as much as I can, it’s not easy but I’m trying to create the opportunity for them. Honestly, it gets exhausting so as much as I want to say I’m going to keep scouting talent, I just keep hoping that I get lucky that people show up either to the open mic that I’ve never met before that live in Miami or that somebody introduces me to someone just because of the networking opportunities here because talent can be easy to find in Miami but talent with a heart and a solid, kind personality that’s not the easiest to find like people who aren’t out just for themselves I guess is what I’m saying. I feel very lucky for the people I’ve met Honestly, if Johnny didn’t live in New York, I’d put him on a stage in a heartbeat, if Rew didn’t live in New York, same thing. If my new California friends didn’t live in Cali - stage. I wish I could put more people on the stage that I’ve gotten to meet through quarantine. VA: If you had your choice of an artist to collaborate with, who would it be? 
AL: Like Famous? Are we talking dead or alive? For a living artist, the first person who came to mind is Lady Gaga. I don’t know why that was the first name that came to my head, but I think it’s just because I admire her musical style like a lot. The way she sings, that would be amazing. I want to see how she writes. So probably her, I can’t even like think of anyone right now if you’d had asked me a while ago, I would have been like Meatloaf or Queen. Apparently, Lady Gaga because that’s where my mind just went. Alexa is finalizing her four song EP and her release party is scheduled on January 1st at none other than Bar Nancy. AL: The four songs are Sunrise, She’s Gonna be Fine, Sage & Wine and Who Knows Me. I was trying to tell a story and it was written in the same time period so I guess the idea is that the person you’re enjoying the time with somebody, know that they’re going to leave, they leave, she’s going to be fine, she cleanses her space and then she’s like, who even knows me anyway so it’s like the story.

Please come out to support Alexa and other talented local artists Friday nights at Bar Nancy on Calle Ocho. Bar Nancy is a great spot for drinks, food and live music. If you are hungry, The Cheese Stands Alone serves amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and if you’re vegan, don’t worry, Amanda has you covered.

#@AlexaLashMusic #AlexLashMusic.com #Nancy305.com #@barnancy305 @thecheese_stands_alone_

[bookcub]

11 Questions

I got tagged in a bunch of these, so I’m doing them in one go XD

@aliteraryprincess‘s questions 

What was your most anticipated book of 2018?  Did it live up to your expectations? Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor!!! And yes, it did. I thought it was amazing, great book and great conclusion. 

What’s your first read of 2019? Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

Any favorite TV shows based on books? I’m more about comic books becoming tv series. I was into The 100 for a while, but I dropped it in season 3. 

What was the last book you read in translation? Oh, The Mulatto maybe? It’s a short story and I’m pretty sure it was originally written in French. I liked it a lot and it was about slavery and a low key thriller. 

If you could have a pet from any book/series, what would you want? Okay, so he’s not a pet, he is Sylvie’s best friend, but Ebon from Pegasus. Because I will always want a pegasus bff. 

Are there any genres that you never read? I say horror, but I read the more psychological stuff. And I rarely read non fiction, but I will read it every now and then. I keep saying I’ll never read New Adult again, but I keep getting intrigued by the synopsis and I’m always disappointed. 

Do you have a favorite classic? Anne of Green Gables is a classic, right? Cause that’s my favorite. But I like quite a few. 

What book-to-movie adaptation would you completely remake?  Why? Percy Jackson!!! Although, I’d just record the musical, which was brilliant on 18 different levels. The movie completely missed the point of the books, misinterpreted all the characters, and  the plot made no sense??? Musial was much better. 

What was your least favorite read of 2018? Enemies Like These by PK Gardner, maybe? It was painful to read. 

Are there any authors whose books you automatically buy no matter what? Brigid Kemmerer and Sarah Rees Brennan. 

What was the last book you bought? I don’t buy many books. I either get them at book sales or on a rare treat. I usually go to the library. But I think it was .69 for the complete collection of Anne of Green Gables as an e collection. Or the short story Atoning by Kelley Armstrong, spin off to Darkest Powers. Can’t remember which I bought first. Unless you want to count books I buy for school. Then The Last September, which I never read. 

@booklisted‘s questions

1. Who do you always trust to give you book recommendations? My mom XD. Although are tastes have started to differ more as I have gotten older.

2. What do you look for in a bookstore? I don’t go to book stores. And theres only one local one and it’s . . . fine. But I don’t trust BAM. 

3. What is a book you loved as a child, only to go back to it as an adult and not like? Turns out baby me and adult me see eye to eye on most books. This wasn’t when I was a child per se, but I did like House of Night when I first read it and now I hate it. The whole series is ridiculous. I read EIGHT of them, what a waste of time. 

4. What is a book you thought you were going to hate, but then were surprised by? Hmmm, most classics I like. I didn’t expect to love The Storyteller as much as I do. Thought it was going to be predictable fluff. 

5. What book did you identify with most strongly as a teenager? Like, every other book I picked up.

6. Did you have phases of reading certain types of books growing up? Describe them! I haven’t outgrown any reading phases. I still love fantasy, children’s and YA. I just keep expanding them. 

7. Have you ever received a book as a present or recommendation which you didn’t like? Did you tell the person? Pretty sure yes. But I can’t think of any examples. 

8. Have you met any of your favourite authors? If so, who? I met V E Schwab at a book signing. She was nice. 

9. If you are reading something written originally in a different language, how much do you care about the translation/translator? A lot!!! I started this one book, The Book Jumper. The translation was sloppy and stiff and choppy. It felt like a child wrote it. I couldn’t read more than a few chapters. The Storyteller was stunningly translated, straight up lyrical. Very easy to read and I got lost in the writing. Pretty sure they were both German too. 

10. What is the strangest book you’ve ever read? Hm. I want to say The Dust of 100 Dogs by A. S. King. It was about a girl who was cursed to live 100 lives as a dog before she could be human again. Most of it was her 102nd life when she was a girl again. She referenced her past lives, and went to search for her treasure and her hopefully reincarnated boyfriend. Not bad. But strange. 

11. One book you would give a 12y/o child to read? One??? Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kristen Miller cause it’s amazing and most people give 12 year olds books about boys and a lot of the same ones over and over. 

@thereadingchallengechallenge‘s questions

What’s your favourite book at the moment? I always go back to The Name of the Wind

Did you read all the books you wanted to in 2018? Lol NOPE 

Did you discover any new favourite authors or books this year? 

Any book recommendations? We could be here all day, just check myy-book-recs tag for more detailed recs. 

What’s your favourite fairy tale? Probs Beauty and the Beast 

Are you looking forward to any new releases? Brigid Kemmerer’s new book 

What genre do you read the most? YA cause I can’t stop 

What’s your favourite book-to-movie adaptation? Stardust cause I like the movie more. And To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. 

Any reading or book-related goals for 2019? My goodreads challenge is like 70 books. 

What do you think will be your last read of 2018? It was Dumplin 

Have you read any books by Australian authors? Yes, Marianne Curley who wrote the Guardians of Time. A few others, but I forget them now. 

@darkestwings‘s questions 

Do you have any pets? Nope 

What is your favorite thing about winter? SNOW!!! COLD!!!! BLANKETS!!!! COCO!!!! 

What was the last book you read? Puddin’ by Julie Murphy 

Talk about a fictional character who inspires you. Recently, Millie from Puddin’. She is so motivated and organized and determined and optimistic. I adored her!!! 

What is your number one pet peeve? I don’t know, so many things. Chewing with your mouth open bothers me to no end 

What is something you are proud of? . . . I can cook okay and bake better. 

Share some good advice you have received. It’s okay to fail

What is the last thing you bought (not counting groceries)? Movie tickets to Mary Poppins Returns 

Share the most useless piece of trivia you know. Dolly Parton was inspired to write “I Will Always Love You” after she wanted to leave a business relationship. Also, Elvis wanted the rights to the song but wasn’t willing to give her royalties. Whitney Housten made a much better deal, both crediting her and bringing the song to new levels. 

What was your first job? I volunteered at a library 

What rating system do you use for books? Five stars but I just kind of wing it. I’m not crazy consistent. 

#about me #tag game

[nonprofittalk]

Pitching Notes: David Brown, Executive Producer MetroFocus

David Brown is a five-time EMMY-nominated Executive Producer and winner of the New York Festival Award for "Best Breaking News Coverage 2015", and created, launched, and run programs for major news outlets, including CNN and Fox.He also has helped launch two cable news networks.

Where did you grow up?

I am Brooklyn-born and Staten Island-raised. I am a proud first-generation American.

How did you get involved in media and journalism?

I graduated from college on a Sunday and walked into a small cable talk news channel that was about to be launched by NBC that Monday. America's Talking evolved into MSNBC three years later.

You've won a number of awards over the years. For what coverage?

I've won honors for  covering topics as various as osteoporosis with Blythe Danner to Pope Francis' visit to America, a look at the history of McSorely's Ale House, and "The High Holidays Going High Tech for the HomeBound". My first EMMY nomination was very special to me though: I was working on the "Dr. Steve Show" for Tribune and was friendly with Dolly Parton's management team.

My pitch was different than anything they expected, and it was simple:  I wanted Dolly to explain how her parents kept 12 children happy and healthy in a single-room, dirt-floor home in the Smokey Mountains. I wasn't interested in her fame; it was all about mountain medicine and growing up poor yet surviving. It was a medical show. It was in essence a look at "Dolly: the girl from Pigeon Forge," rather than the icon she had become.

Through laughter and tears, some gingerbread, and a lot of research, it was magic. Dolly herself was touched by how thoroughly and genuinely we told her story in a unique and "real" way. Her manager said it had been the best interview she had done in 20 years.

For people not familiar with MetroFocus, what range of topics and issues do you cover?

MetroFocus aims to be as varied and as interesting as New York City. We generally deliver a dose of "day of air" news, an issue that affects us all, and a bit of culture gets thrown into the mix. The show breaks down to three or four segments in 25 minutes. Being on public television, I have the luxury of letting a segment breathe. It's a genuine gift for a storyteller.

What stands out as one of your favorite segments?

There have been so many great segments and events over the years. I think overall Jerry Lewis and Shirley MacLaine come to mind first for their celebrity. But also, as the son of a Holocaust survivor, my initial meeting with Elie Wiesel (who was in Buchenwald at the same time as my father) was a major event in my life. That just scratches the surface. I've been blessed to thoroughly enjoy so much of what I do professionally.

What issues do you hope to explore more deeply in 2019?

If it's affecting us, I want to report it. Our failing infrastructure, poverty and inequality, the opioid problem, the rising tide of hate in America, education, politics (both local and national), and climate change all come to mind, as does Broadway, culture, the arts, and all that is welcome in living rooms around the tri-state area. My hope is that when you watch MetroFocus, you leave with something you didn't have or know about before. I want there to be a genuine "takeaway" for the viewer.  Where do you get many of your story ideas?

Ideas come from so many places. There is of course the news of the day, but a segment can be born from anything and from anywhere. A photo can spark an idea, a song lyric can lead you on a tangent. Generally though, as a journalist, my goal is to hold up a mirror to the viewer and discuss and explore what you/they are interested in.  What advice do you have for people who want to send you a segment pitch?

I advise publicists to please know the show. So many people send generic pitches to venues that are not at all viable, so not only knowing your product and knowing the show you want your client to appear on is paramount.  From that point it's all about how can we work together to tell our stories and have a conversation so that the viewer will have enjoyed the time spent, and come away enriched by the 6-8 minutes we've spent together.

Provide some tips on how nonprofits can improve their story pitches.

As it relates to television:

Think visually. What assets can you provide to make a stunning segment?

Pre-interviews are a rule, not an exception.

Know what the main point is you need to address but don't forget context along the way.

Talking points are a big plus and please send bios, links, and the information that will interest me in what you're pitching.

Grab my attention with your headline, personality, or product.

How can we make this segment different from others done before?

And smile while on the phone; it's infectious.

#MetroFocus PBS Thirteen news WLIW WNET DAvidBrown journalism

[mrjeremydylan]

Shania Returns: She’s Still the One

By Jeremy Dylan

Leopard print. Shania Twain. You already have an image in your mind’s eye. But it’s probably not the one I’m thinking of – the classy black and white cover to Shania’s new album ‘Now’, where the highest-selling female artist in country music history gazes towards the sky, hands clad in gloves that surely must be reference to that music video.

“Yes,” Shania chuckles, confirming the wink at her indelible ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ video. “You know it's funny because the album is called ‘Now’, and there are just some things in my life that I just move on from. Time to let go of this. Then there are things that just stay with you forever. I think that the leopard print will just always stay with me forever. It’s part of my career and my life and part of who Shania is visually and always will be. I'm happy to take with me into now and the future.”

The ‘Now’ album is recognizably the Shania we all remember, but it’s an album showcasing her growth and maturity in the fifteen years since her last album ‘Up!’. A bout with vocal chord dysphonia left her retraining her voice, which now has a more complex timbre.

Some will be tempted to scan the lyrics for references to Shania’s personal challenges, which have been well documented by the tabloids. But is this an album about the struggles of her last decade and a half or is this like any other album – a complete portrait of the Shania of today. As Shania explains, the title tells the story.

“It really is more about where I am now, and a reflection on my whole life and not just recent years. There's been a lot of life lived to now and I would say that it's a very it's the most personal album that I've ever written.”

As one of the all-time great songwriters in pop or country music, and one of the most successful, Shania has always walked the line between drawing a portrait of her heart and world and finding language that all kinds of men and (especially) women around the world can relate to.

Lead single ‘Life’s About to Get Good’ is deeply personal, but I’d wager many listeners have no problem finding themselves in lines like ‘You no longer love me and I sang like a sad bird / I couldn't move on and I think you were flattered’.

A song like the volatile, emotionally stark ‘Poor Me’ is without parallel in Twain’s back catalogue. Part of the reason may be that this is her first album written totally solo, without a single co-writer.

“That just does naturally make it more personal. It’s coming from me directly, without any outside influence in the songwriting. I isolated myself to write most of the album, and it's me in the purest sense, unique to anything else I've ever recorded.”

‘Now’ may be the first record with no credited writers other than ‘S. Twain’, but Shania has always defied Nashville conventions. Instead of cutting tunes from the Music Row songwriting elite, she’s had a hand in the penning of all but one song on all her records since 1995’s ‘The Woman In Me’, largely in collaboration with her then-husband and producer Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange.

“I was a writer from the age of ten, so I've been writing alone all of my life. I met Mutt and then he became my collaborator and co-writer for the next two decades. But there was one period, when I first got signed to my record label, that for the first time it wasn't going to be doing my own music. There was pressure to only record outside songs and that's what I did on my first album.”

The self-titled ‘Shania Twain’ album features only one song co-written by Twain, and perhaps no coincidentally, it failed to yield any significant hits. As soon as Shania took the creative reins, this trend was sharply reversed. ‘Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under’, ‘Any Many of Mine’, ‘The Woman in Me’, ‘You’re Still the One’, ‘From This Moment On’, ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’, ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’ and on and on. This is Michael Jackson territory.

Countless column inches have been spent remarking on Shania’s pop crossover success and her high-octane stage shows. Her status as one of the most important and consistently successful songwriters of the last 25 years has been underappreciated.

Growing up poor in Ontario, Canada, Twain took to the greats of classic pop and country (“The Beatles were a huge influence, the Carpenters, Dolly Parton”), and the legendary Canadian singer-songwriters.

“There was a whole host of the storytelling singer-songwriters. There were many great Canadian songwriters that were always on our radio like Joni Mitchell of course and Gordon Lightfoot, who was a big influence on my writing.”

Shania’s love of folk singer-songwriters established a songwriting process that is still largely unchanged today.

“For me it's still what it always was, it’s sitting with my guitar. I do work with my guitar in front of a computer now, but that's the only part that's changed. Sometimes it starts with a melody, sometimes with poems, sometimes with a title or just a concept. So there's no real formula.

I'm always writing from a different element in music and there is no one way that I write to be honest.”

Songwriting is a constant in Shania’s life, whether the goal of a new album is in the front of her mind or not.

“I'm always an ongoing writer and I usually just collect ideas over time. When I decided to jump into the project and make an actual record, it was a good year of on collecting all of those ideas and putting them all together. A year of really concentrated writing and then I carried on writing during the recording process as well so. That was all about a two-year period.”

The deliberate, unhurried pace of Shania’s current artistic process is hard not to contrast to the relentlessness of twenty years ago, when she was riding the bazillion-selling ‘Come on Over’ album to world domination. I asked if her if she was able to enjoy all her success in that period, or if she got too caught up in the crazy pace of it all, like so many superstars.

“It's true and that is what happened to me. I didn't really realize how wonderful it all was at the time. That's partly why symbolically I used the leopard print glove [on the new record cover]. I look back on that period of my life very fondly, especially creatively. So it's a throwback of a moment that I now am enjoying really for the first time.”

It’s hard not to remark on a coincidence of timing that Shania is returning with new music, less than a month after another pop culture icon of assertive brunette womanhood has been relaunched into the forefront of our consciousness. Wonder Woman may be fictional, but the awe and inspiration she’s generating in young girls who see that movie has a lot in common with how girls look at Shania.

With her recent return to touring, I wondered what it was like for Twain to play to 20-something girls who grew up worshipping her music.

“Well it's very special to see the audience today compared to the audience 20 years ago.

You know 20 years ago the audience was so full of parents with their small children who were three, four, five, six. Now those kids are in their late teens or early 20s, college age. It’s amazing to see the transition.

They all have a very similar story and it is touching. To hear them say repeatedly ‘You were my first concert, I came with my mom’ and now they're college kids coming with friends.

It’s still in the joy of a child almost, that's what music does to us. It brings us back to such an excitable euphoric place. A song takes you back to a time and it's just so refreshing and wonderful and energizing for me.

It’s unexpected as well because… I don't know what I was expecting, but I just forgot that all these little kids grew up. You come back fifteen years later and all of a sudden, they're adults and that really did blow my mind.

So it was wonderful to watch that evolution. And there's always a heartwarming story as well that people have to share and I love to hear their stories.”

In a couple of short months, these young women will be waiting with bated breath to pick up their first ‘new’ Shania record. Their real-life superhero has returned, armed with a new collection of lyrics and melodies to touch their hearts.

Shania thinks on this for a moment.

“Well,” she says. “I hope they like it.”

NOTE: This article originally appeared in Country Music Capital News magazine and is reprinted here with permission.

#interview #shania #shania twain

[smokeybrandreviews]

Like Rebel Diamonds

As I listened to Time to Pretend by MGMT at work during those wee hours in the morning, I realized, 16 year old Smokey wouldn’t have given these cats the time of day. At the height of my obnoxious MTV, High School, days, I was a resounding hood. I literally only listened to hip hop and I lived that “thug life” as it were. In retrospect, I was ridiculously narrow sighted about culture and what could be considered “good” music. It was abused but I was product of my environment. Fast forward some 17 years later and I feel like I’ve matured a bit, my tastes have expanded. In that spirit, I wanted to jot down my top 10 records of all time and a little blurb as to why I enjoy each. It should be interesting to see where I land on everything.

1A and 1B - Read My Mind and Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Bro, these records are what music IS to me. I couldn’t really differentiate between the two because, whichever one I’m actively listening to, that’s my all-time favorite song. I can’t really tell you why but I think it has everything to do with the emotion in each record. I FEEL these songs and they legit make me happy. Stress just melts away as those melodies and vocals take me to a warm ass place.

Between Brandon Flowers uncanny ability to emulate the late great Freddie Mercury with his smooth ass vocals and Ronni Vannucci’s god level skill on them drums, it’s hard NOT to put these records on top. The Killers are also my all-time favorite band, if you can’t tell.

3 - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Speaking of the great Freddie Mercury, there’s no way Rhapsody doesn’t make this list. Look. The things Mr. Bad Guy could do with his voice are transcendent and this record puts all of the prowess on display. Never mind the fact that he wrote every lyric and every note of this song. Bro was what every artists should strive to be.

4 - Sleepyhead by Passion Pit

I am a huge fan of this cat’s catalog. His sound is so eclectic and unique. Cats just don’t make music like him and Sleepyhead, for me, is the quintessential Passion Pit record. It’s his magnum opus. It feels very technical, like he meticulously put this thing together like a puzzle. All of that time, energy, and detail produce one of the most profound sounds I have ever heard.

5 - Through The Wire by Kanye West

Way back in 2004, when this song dropped, I was 20. At that time, in my youth, I was kind of transforming into an adult. I was tired of all that bling rap from the late 90s into the early 00s. Don’t get me wrong, I adore me some Back That Azz Up but it was all just too much. I was tired of hearing about chicks getting f*cked and how hard a cat was and how many bullets/ounce of coke some studio gangster moved. I was tired of that Def Jam bullsh*t. And then I heard Through The Wire. Sh*t was a revelation. This was a legit record, with dope ass lyrics, on a dope ass beat, telling me a story about the artist’s most harrowing life experience. It didn’t involve coke or cops or thugs or whatever. It was an honest to goodness classic hip hop record, without all the hip hop stereotypes. I was a fan of Ye for life at that point. For me, The College Dropout is a goddamn classic and it was Through The Wire that introduced it to me.

6 - Killing Me Softly by The Fugees

Roberta Flack dropped this record way back when but Lauryn Hill got her hands on it in 96 and she transformed it into a goddamn masterpiece. Don’t misunderstand me, what Ms. Flack pressed, too, was brilliant in its own right but this is one of those rare circumstances where a cover exceeds the original. It’s rare but is it dope! Lauryn pours her soul over this record and you can feel the heartache on it. I was flabbergasted the first time I heard this long but then she hits that long note. Oh My…

7 – The Less I Know The Better by Tame Impala

Yo, this song hits hard. I was absolutely enthralled with the music itself but Kevin Parker's vocals compliment that instrumental with such precision, I was absolutely enthralled. The first time I listened to this song felt like the first time I hear Mr. Brightside, just a little less. If you don't listen to Tame Impala, you're doing yourself a disservice. Joint also has a dope as video.

8 - Juicy by Notorious B.I.G

It was all a Dream! BIG is the greatest lyricist I have ever heard. He wasn’t crazy prolific, I think cat released 2two albums before he was killed, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another rap record that stands to-to-toe with his catalog. The way dud abused wordplay while taking you on a journey with his storytelling was amazing and Juicy is perfect example of that. He makes you feel like your right there with him as he became the GOAT, before he was declared the GOAT.

9 - Hurt by Johnny Cash

Truth be told, I love old timey country. All of this, modern sh*t is whack as f*ck but you throw some of that Grand Ole Opry on and I’m good to go. Conway Twitty and Dolly Parton are immediate favorites that come to mind but it’s the Man in Black, all day. I love all of his music. Cat is a damn fine storytelling and his distinctly gravely voice caters to those tales perfectly. I remember seeing the video to Hurt when I was young and it devastated me. It made me remember a lot of stuff I didn’t want and I ended up crying by the end. Like, sobbing. It was cathartic. I was carrying so much, for so long, and this record broke that dam like it was nothing. Music is amazing that way but to have such a profound reaction to this song? I don’t know, man but it’s in my list forever now.

10 - Pressure by Milk & Bone

I first heard this record at the end of a Letterkenny episode. Side note, if you’re not about Letterkenny, you corny as f*ck. Anyway, the second those vocals hit, i was awash in a warmth i can’t describe. This record makes me think of my chick. It soundtracks the highlights of us. It’s absolutely found it’s way into my being and i adore every second of it’s melodic, delicate, affectionate melody.

It’s a rather eclectic list, if I do say so myself. Good sprinkling of genres in there. I feel mildly proud of myself. I thought for sure it would be all post punk and 80s revival because, I mean, I am an 80s baby but I like what shook out. I feel like there’s a solid nine songs there. As much as I love Journey, there’s probably fifty songs that could take that ten spot. Honestly. It was actually mad easy to get through this list, too, which surprised me. Outside of the first three records, I figured I’d be more conflicted but nope. The heart wants what it wants I guess.

[mastcomm]

Behind a ‘Best New Artist’ Nod: Yola’s 20 Years of Experience

Yola — Yolanda Claire Quartey — sang her first recording session 20 years ago, as a teenager in her English hometown, Bristol. This Sunday at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, she has been nominated for best new artist and three other awards: best Americana album for her debut, “Walk Through Fire,” best American roots performance and best American roots song.

For Yola, 36, the two decades in between encompassed homelessness, international arena tours, stealthy appearances on dance-pop hits and, eventually, the hard-won self-reinvention that brought her to Nashville to make “Walk Through Fire” with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach as producer.

The one constant was her formidable voice — a range that stretches toward four octaves, backed by the power to infuse whatever she sings with deep soul. Yola can moan and rasp and steamroller her way through a chorus, bringing crowds to their feet; she can also tease out the pain, longing and humor of subtler moments. Onstage and off, she’s a vivid presence: a voluble storyteller with an imposing Afro and a boisterous laugh.

Although Yola grew up in the 1990s, she built her vocal approach on sounds of earlier generations: Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Dusty Springfield and more. “I was very isolated from the ability to absorb popular culture,” she said in a recent interview in New York. “Poverty is a wonderful isolator. If you have resources, you have access to all the latest computer games, all the latest records.”

She didn’t. Streaming wasn’t yet an option, so she soaked up music from the LP collections of her mother and her friends’ parents. At her most recent New York City show, a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg, Yola interspersed her own songs with showstoppers from Franklin and Elton John, but also delivered an introspective deep cut from the Beach Boys, “Till I Die.”

Yola proudly describes her music as “genre-fluid” and “out of time.” Her Grammy-nominated song, “Faraway Look,” is a reverb-laden ballad that harks back to the early 1960s pop melodramas of the Righteous Brothers and Roy Orbison. Much of her album reaches back to vintage Southern soul: hand-played rather than programmed, sung with fervent grit and grain, and reclaiming the relationship between soul and country music that Yola sums up as “an interstate between Nashville and Memphis.” (Her competitors for best new artist include commercial blockbusters like Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Lil Nas X.)

For Yola, the songs about love and self-preservation on “Walk Through Fire” mark her escape from what she recalls as the “negative, abusive environment” of her 20s — when she was working constantly as a singer and collaborating songwriter — and from a “bro-tocracy” that convinced her for too long that she couldn’t make music on her own.

“I was just made to be afraid of my own personality in every single situation I was in before I was solo,” she said.

Yola describes “Walk Through Fire” as “a breakup record” with her diffident former self. In the video for “Ride Out in the Country,” she drives a pickup truck into the backwoods and buries a corpse that also turns out to be Yola. “Doormat Yola goes in the ground where she belongs!” she explained, with a cheerful cackle.

“For so much of the album, I’m talking about who I was, not who I am,” she added. “You have to go back to a previous incarnation of yourself, you have to reconnect with that old part of yourself — and the vulnerability in that state — to be able to tell the story.”

Yola dropped out of college to work as a singer, and despite some lean times — at 21 she was evicted and homeless in London — she got gigs as a “frontwoman for hire” with her undeniable voice. In the mid-2000s she sang for Bugz in the Attic, a dance-pop group that drew large audiences in Europe, Asia and Australia, and in 2008 she toured with the Bristol trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack. She also sang and co-wrote melancholy, rootsy songs for her own group Phantom Limb.

Yola’s first teenage recording session was with the Bristol-based production team Distorted Minds, and behind the scenes, she continued to work as a studio singer and topliner for electronic producers, belting hooks others had written or coming up with lyrics and melodies for their tracks. “All of my old network that were players and music makers, there were a handful of token women and they were the singers. And then there’s a crowd of men and they’re like the expertise, all the players and the technicians,” she said. “My whole life was one of codependency.”

Yola’s voice topped British dance-club hits including “Turn Back Time” by Sub Focus, for which she wrote the top line, and “Don’t Look Back” by Duke Dumont. And because British copyright law provides “neighboring rights” royalties to performers as well as songwriters, her work was profitable. But with rare exceptions — like the country-blues-rooted “The Devil and Midnight,” which she wrote with the producer Nitin Sawhney — she refused to be credited for her studio vocals.

“Part of the contract was that you don’t use my name. Because when I debut, I want to debut under my own guise,” she said.

In 2012, Yola started to redefine herself, a process that accelerated after the death of her mother the following year. She broke away from old associates, learned to play guitar and started writing songs on her own.

“It dawned on me that I needed to be my own rich daddy,” she said. “Because what’s the music industry full of, other than rich kids who had daddies who could prop them up?” With her dance-pop royalties, she financed and produced her largely acoustic debut EP, “Orphan Offering,” billing herself as Yola Carter. Its opening song, “Home,” turns into a multitracked vocal crescendo, vowing, “Let’s get going!”

For her showcase at the 2016 Americanafest in Nashville, Yola got a crucial endorsement from NPR Music. She went on tour with a full band, using those royalties from her dance hits — “the bank of Yola,” she said — to pay them.

By 2017, after touring festivals in the United States, Europe and Scandinavia, she had built considerable word of mouth. She returned to Americanafest for a more prominent spot. A video of her performing reached Auerbach, who was building his Easy Eye Sound studio and label in Nashville. “As soon as I heard her I wanted to meet her,” he said by phone. “I was instantly struck by her voice, by the range of her voice, just the command that she has — it spoke to me.”

They wrote and recorded “Walk Through Fire” fast. Yola, Auerbach and assorted co-writers — including Dan Penn, a writer on Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” who joined Auerbach and Yola for “Faraway Look” — got together for songwriting sessions, often with different combinations in the morning and the afternoon. In a week and a half, they had dozens of songs. “Some people have it and some don’t,” Auerbach said. “She just sounds like a record.”

Yola was collaborating again, but in Nashville, Auerbach said, “She was the leader. She’s unafraid to take it to the edge, and her edge is way further than most people’s.”

Getting recognized with Grammy nominations for work made on her own terms “made me feel as though for the first time, I had the sense of a safety net,” Yola said. “I’m O.K. I can carry on growing and if I need to take another risk then just take it. It’s all working. You’re not crazy. This is the solid foundation on which I build my fabulosity.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/entertainment/behind-a-best-new-artist-nod-yolas-20-years-of-experience/

#Entertainment

[thecatalystpublicitygroup]

The Catalyst Publicity Group Presents Artist of The Week: ZOË NUTT

“Zoë Nutt has a voice as haunting and seemingly ancient as the East Tennessee hills she hails from. Her lyricism and delivery are poignant, fresh and promising. Like so many great artists, she knows how to mix the new with the old and create music with broad appeal while never compromising her artistic integrity.” – CRUZ CONTRERAS of The Black Lillies

“Zoë combines a beautiful balance of more traditional sounds with a modern folk twist. You must hear her sounds to truly understand the beauty of her voice.” – TRAVIS WYRICK, producer (Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels)

Raised in Knoxville, and a graduate of the prestigious song writing school at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, folk singer Zoë Nutt is anything but your average musician. Writing with a fiery passion igniting her bones, one can say Zoë is more of a storyteller than songwriter. Expressing her inspiration from the world, the musician manages to make every lyric come to life with the distinct visualization of light heartedness and clarity for the world; a visual we all tend to lose touch with in our lives. Zoë Nutt truly has the gifted talent of what so many musicians lack, genuineness.

With her debut album Like You released in Spring 2016, Zoë is proud and grateful that her hard work and effort is appreciated by the public. Appreciated indeed, anyone who has listened to this album can definitely agree on the tender soul-hitting voice Zoë manifests. Zoë expands, “My style is eclectic and reflects my interest in all types of music. My songs are about life, living and feelings, good and bad, that we all experience. If my music makes you smile, or even cry, that’s how we know we are not alone.”

The eleven track album features songs such as “Nothing I Can Do,” a song that was co-written with Cory Bishop (The New Schematics) and has interestingly become a justifiable inconclusive split amongst listeners in whether it is an intricate lovelorn song or a sanguine love song. Like You also features “Dearest,” the harmonious yet empowering song calling out the so called ‘players’ us women have endured at one point or another. 

Recently, Zoë teamed up with HelloGiggles and the Hearing Loss Association of America to unveil her emotionally-driven song and video for "Like You," sharing her personal experiences with hearing loss. The folk musician has been faced with progressive hearing loss and tinnitus since the young age of eight. The song and video for "Like You," released through HelloGiggles, invites the audience to hear her story of living with this almost life long struggle. The song is a positive message Zoë sent out to her future children, and shares her most innermost thoughts about what it will be like to having children whose voices she will never be able to hear. Zoë shares, “This story tells the most difficult part of my life so far. And it’s a story that could get worse. But even so, I never let it define me. It’s just a bump in the road.” All proceeds from "Like You," which can be downloaded via Noisetrade, will be donated to the Hearing Loss Association of America. 

Zoė Nutt is one of the few artists who truly indulge themselves in their writing. Hoping to inspire others in realizing no one is the battle they are faced with, and with the right mindset one can definitely still triumph and shine, Zoë leaves this message for listeners, "I am going deaf. And I want people to know. We are all dealing with issues in our lives, but we don't have to be defined by our problems. I'd rather define my life by how I'm dealing with my problems. It's a strange feeling to be releasing a music video about losing my ability to hear, but it's the hand I've been dealt and one that I plan to overcome. This music video represents the start of my story and I'm very excited to write the next chapter.”

Head to HelloGiggles today to watch Zoë Nutt's compelling music video for "Like You" and download the track via  Noisetrade to donate to the Hearing Loss Association of America. 

Follow Zoë Nutt online to keep up with new music, show dates, and more!

#music #the catalyst publicity group #catalyst publicity group #catalyst #pr #zoe nutt #hearing loss association of america #hearing loss #noisetrade #hellogiggles #artist of the week