Christmas is around the corner, and what better way to start thinking about the holiday season than to watch a bizarro music video where Bob Dylan sings a hyper active version of the classic tune, “Must Be Santa”… I love this:
Pat McGee’s most recent release is These Days (The Virginia Sessions) is a heartfelt album with an inspiring story behind it. “Come Back Home” is a mesmerizing song that instantly connects you to Pat McGee and the words he is sharing. Of the song, Pat says,
“Come Back Home” was written in the wake of me losing my longtime drummer and former Army soldier John C. Williams. But the song started off as a reflection of how a military couple deals with separation. After the release of “Come Back Home”, John’s little brother was killed by an IED in Iraq. His name was Blake Williams. His platoon used this track as the audio to a memorial slide show presentation they did in March of 2008. It was for all the courageous men and women they had lost in the month of March. I am humbled by their service to our great country and I hope this song brings them some peace. My father served in Vietnam and I truly appreciate their dedication and bravery.
Thanks, Pat”
Click here to watch the equally powerful video for “Come Back Home”.
http://www.patmcgee.net
Best known for her collaboration with Michelle Branch in the country duo The Wreckers, Warner Nashville is proud to release Jessica Harp’s first solo album A Woman Needs this summer, with her album single “Boy Like Me” already climbing the charts. This week, the pop-country singer secured the iTunes Video of the Week spot for “Boy Like Me,” which fans can download for free from the site.
Check out the brand new video for “Boy Like Me”
Jessica’s Bio:
In June 2004, aspiring country singer Jessica Harp packed everything into her car and left her Kansas City, MO, hometown for Tennessee to finalize a recording contract with Nashville indie-label Dualtone Music Group. Fate intervened when her best friend Michelle Branch called somewhere along the way and asked her to form a country/pop duo, which the girls dubbed The Wreckers. A No. 1 country single, a gold album, a Grammy-Award nomination, and high-profile tours with Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban followed, but Harp could never shake the feeling of wanting to show the world what she could do on her own.
Now she finally has that chance with the upcoming release of her major-label solo debut A Woman Needs — a breezy modern-country collection that finds the honey-voiced Harp telling appealingly relatable stories about her life, loves, and heartbreaks on tracks like the playful “Boy Like Me,” the feisty “A Woman Needs,” and the earthy “Homemade Love.” “Country music is about real people and real things, and that always spoke to me not only as a music fan, but as a singer-songwriter,” Harp says. “I like to tell stories with my songs. This is the album I have dreamed of making since I was eight years old and singing along to my mom’s Judds and Reba McEntire records.”
While The Wreckers were touring with Keith Urban in the summer of 2007, Harp had begun writing songs on her own. She befriended Urban’s bass player, Jerry Flowers, who, in addition to being a musician, is also a singer, producer, and songwriter. Flowers wound up co-writing several tracks on A Woman Needs, including the title track, “Break-Up Song,” and “More To This Than You,” as well as producing the album.
One thing Harp and Flowers knew going in to make A Woman Needs is that they wanted the album to be fun and upbeat. “That was another lesson I learned during my crash course with The Wreckers,” Harp says. “Aside from the singles, Stand Still, Look Pretty is a sad album, and we would play hour-long sets at these big fairs and festivals where people just wanted to dance and have a good time. So I was thinking about touring and playing the songs live when we recorded the album. But I think there’s something for everyone here.”
Jessica on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Harp/23713612032
Official Site Link:
MySpace:
One would think that a truly independent band (without a label, a publisher, etc… behind them) would have no shot at making it onto a late night talk show watched by over a million nationwide. In a story that seemed to slip through the cracks or the music world, The Spring Standards did just that.
In a tight and impressive performance, The Spring Standards played their song, “In The Underground” in front of audience of over million dedicated viewers on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien to promote their self-released EP, No One Will Know.
Their Friday, August 29th performance on Conan was only a sample of their ingenuitive songwriting and performance abilities and multi-faceed talent. The Spring Standards are not your typical band. Members James Cleare, James Smith and Heather Robb suit up their guitar, bass, and keyboard and click into their unorthodox sound of rock/country mixed with three-part harmony, smooth rhythms and sweet infectious melodies, all while playing a different piece of a drum set!!
Their self-released EP, No One Will Know is available online now at TheSpringStandards.com
The Spring Standards streaming audio:
“In The Underground”
“Your Lie”
See them perform, “In The Underground” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien HERE.
Pigeonhole Carrie Rodriguez at your peril. Sure, she’s done a lot of duets. She plays a fiddle (a mean one at that.) She’s recorded songs with a pleasing, folksy twang. But don’t think you know what you’re getting.
Not yet 30, and with a critically-acclaimed solo record and several well-received duet records in her wake, the classically trained singer/songwriter has just begun flexing her artistic muscles, still figuring out how far her talents will take her. If you’re looking for someone playing it safe and sticking to tried-and-true ways of music making, as the title of Rodriguez’s daring new album aptly states, SHE AIN’T ME.
“Because I took some chances, wrote with some new people and actually co-wrote most of the songs on the album, it’s very different,” Rodriguez notes.
Also different: Malcolm Burn’s dense production, bulging with thoughtful details, yet always serving the song. “If the song doesn’t hold up on its own, without all the production, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with it,” Rodriguez says. “And he was much more into the vibe than perfection—which is good for me, because my tendency is to try to make things perfect.”
The songs on SHE AIN’T ME, Rodriguez’s second solo outing for Manhattan/Back Porch, come from an introspective place, rife with self-assessment and questioning. “It comes from having to really look within yourself when you’re forced to be alone, and to not be afraid of that process,” Rodriguez says. “Taking some time off from the road this year to write allowed me to do some growing and reflecting that I often put aside when I’m touring all the time.”
Long before Carrie Rodriguez was a fiddle-toting, mandoguitar-slinging Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, she was a junior violin student in Austin, Texas, absorbing the influences of an opera-obsessed mom and folk-singing dad. “In kindergarten, we had a pilot program at my public elementary school to teach five year olds Suzuki violin lessons,” Rodriguez recalls. “They would give the lessons during naptime, and I must have gotten out to go to the bathroom. And I remember walking down the hallway and hearing these violins scratching out ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’ I was immediately drawn to that and came home and told mom I wanted to take violin lessons.
“Also,” she adds, “I really hated naptime.”
Group lessons soon led to private lessons, which led Carrie to a conservatory program at Oberlin. Enter Lyle Lovett, a family friend, who invited Carrie to sit in with his band at soundcheck in Cleveland, an experience that was both inspiring and frustrating. “My feel was awful and I knew it,” she recalls. “But I was mesmerized by [Lovett fiddler] Andrea Zonn. I wanted to do what she was doing.”
Rodriguez transferred to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where she found no shortage of resources for transforming “violin” into “fiddle. “Casey Driessen is now one of the greatest American fiddle players on the scene (plays with Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien), and he was my roommate,” Rodriguez recalls. “He taught me one of the first fiddle tunes I ever learned.”
Berklee also set the table for a love of collaboration, which led to three duet records (and many touring miles) with singer/songwriter Chip Taylor, who was instrumental in helping Carrie to realize her debut album, SEVEN ANGELS ON A BICYCLE. The Associated Press raved, ““…her voice has a character few achieve. Rather than a support player taking a minor turn, she uses her first solo album to mark her ground as a singular talent.” For SHE AIN’T ME, Rodriguez knew it was time to form new collaborations and she ended up with an impressive list of co-writers, including Gary Louris (Jayhawks), Dan Wilson (Semisonic), Jim Boquist (Son Volt) and Mary Gauthier.
“I feel the most comfortable when I have someone to react to,” Rodriguez says. “The process was completely different with each person I wrote with. For example, with Mary Gauthier we sat down one rainy afternoon in New York City and wrote the entire song, more or less. With Dan Wilson we just came up with a little melody and a few snippets of words while we were in the same room. Later, I wrote the verses, he came up with a great chorus, and we put the song together via e-mail and a few phone calls.”
Lucinda Williams wasn’t among the co-writers, but she makes her presence felt, singing backup on “Mask of Moses” while singing Carrie’s praises elsewhere. After receiving a copy of SEVEN ANGELS ON A BICYCLE from Chip Taylor, Lucinda told the New York Times “…I have to say I am very impressed. She’s got something unique in her voice that’s very subtle and a little smoky and sweet. I detect a certain wisdom in her, and yet a sense of wonder as well.” Rodriguez recalls, “Lucinda had sent me this beautiful email, saying how much she loved my record, and how she really saw something special there. And if I ever wanted to open up for her, that’d be great. It was like, wow! Merry Christmas!”
Rodriguez subsequently toured with Williams, and also sat in on fiddle during Lucinda’s sets. And it was on the heels of a night out with Williams that Rodriguez met Malcolm Burn—whose work she’d admired on Emmylou Harris’s WRECKING BALL (engineer and musician) and Chris Whitley’s LIVING WITH THE LAW (producer and musician)– for an early chat about her next record. “I was pretty hung-over that morning, in my pajamas, looking like a train wreck,” Rodriguez admits. “And Malcolm comes over, looking all dapper in his vintage three-piece suit.”
Appearances were quickly dismissed as Malcolm made spot-on suggestions about Carrie’s songs, and offered production ideas that made her feel her own project would be a worthy addition to the “desert island discs” Burn has already recorded. “I knew immediately that this was the guy,” she recalls.
The result is a record that lives up to its name—an expectation-confounding statement, equal parts organic folk and expansive atmosphere, yet one that comes closest to revealing what Carrie Rodriguez is all about. Think you already know? Think again.
Listen Here
Link to Official Site:
http://www.carrierodriguez.com
Carrie Rodriguez on MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/carrielrodriguez
For those aching to hear the pure, lonesome tenor from the Appalachian siren of modern country, the wait isover. With her first release in three years, Patty Loveless is back with her19th CD on a new label, Saguaro Road Records, formed in June 2008 by Direct Holdings Americas Inc. Direct Holdings also markets and sells audio and video entertainment products under the Time Life brand, which it uses underlicense from Time Warner Inc.
Produced with her husband and musical soul mate, Emory Gordy Jr., and backedby a Who’s Who of Nashville A-list session players, including Harold Bradley, John Hobbs, Hargus “Pig” Robbins, Harry Stinson, Steve Gibson and Biff Watson, with background vocals by Vince Gill, Sleepless Nights features14 titles that the pair culled from a pool of nearly 500 songs. This albumof classics celebrates the many facets of heartache that make country music the diary of the common man.
“Emory and I were talking over dinner about recapturing some of these moments from my youth,” Loveless explains, “because I want to inspire and remind people of what country is made of. It takes me back especially to mybrother, Roger, and my sister, Dottie, and the music they loved.
“It’s a little bit of a history lesson, but I think once you hear the songs,the stories … you’re going to be drawn to it,” continues Loveless. “People lived a little differently then, but at the same time, there’s a lot more in common [with today] than people would think.” Hailed by People magazine as”equal parts Linda Ronstadt and Patsy Cline” when her two-million-selling Only What I Feel was released, Loveless has always believed in honoring her upbringing. Born in rural eastern Kentucky to a coal mining father who loved bluegrass, Patty followed her roots all the way to the Opry stage afterfirst catching the ear of Porter Wagoner when she was only 13. She released
her self-titled debut in 1987 and has never looked back.
A CMA Female Vocalist and Album of the Year winner, Loveless has consistently set a standard for what country music should be with platinum CDs and chart-topping songs like “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” and “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye.” As Time magazine once noted, “Her songs catalog every sin a man can commit,every pain a woman can bear. If you turn on the radio and hear a strongheart breaking, chances are it’s the one in that plangent Loveless voice…”
“These are great Country songs”, says Direct Holdings Senior Vice President,Retail, Mike Jason, but in many ways they transcend their Country roots bytelling universal stories of love, passion and heartbreak.” “Patty’s beautifully plaintive voice and this album will speak to the Country musicpurist, the newest fan and everyone in between.”On Sleepless Nights, Loveless draws on her vocal strength and traditional sensibilities to bring her own versions of these timeless standards to life.The title track is itself a bridge between the heart-wrenching Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris duet and the original, more obscure yet hopeful Everly Brothers’ version.
That is the beauty of what Loveless has always achieved: a seamless synthesis of what was, what is and what matters. Whether it’s Webb Pierce’s cautionary “There Stands the Glass,” George Jonesregret-steeped “Color of the Blues” or Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart,”these songs are imbued with a fire that consumes the listener. And they are classics for a reason. Not just for what they say, or who wroteor recorded them, but also because of the emotional charge they carry. “I felt like I could dip into my own soul,” Loveless says of “Color of theBlues” by her dear friend George Jones. “It grabs a hold of you and won’t let go … and when you’re feeling down and out, that may be all you have to hold onto. “That’s what makes country music stand out. ‘Don’t Let Me Cross Over’ is acheatin’ line … and it was written by a woman, Penny Jay Moyer.”
In a world growing more complex, and at the same time more superficial, it takes some digging to find what’s real. It’s not always neat and tidy, butit is profound. For Loveless, that’s the essence of her role as a country music singer.
***
Sleepless Nights SONG LIST
1. WHY BABY WHY
2. THE PAIN OF LOVING YOU
3. HE THINKS I STILL CARE
4. SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
5. CRAZY ARMS
6. THERE STANDS THE GLASS
7. THAT’S ALL IT TOOK
8. COLOR OF THE BLUES
9. I FORGOT MORE THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW
10. NEXT IN LINE
11. DON’T LET ME CROSS OVER
12. PLEASE HELP ME I’M FALLING
13. THERE GOES MY EVERYTHING
14. COLD COLD HEART
Beautiful Distraction is the engaging debut by 22-year-old Redlands singer-songwriter Marianne Keith. Full of introspective sentiments, pop sensibilities, Marianne’s expressive emotions, and keen sense of melody, lively songs such as “Kiss Me in the Rain,” give way to the composed passion found on “That’s Just the Way Love Goes.” Sultry numbers like “The Angry Song” easily connect with the open emotions and raw musical talent found in the piano ballad, “Sideways Rain.”
“I tend to write a lot of poppy songs, but I also balance them with quirkier, more unique songs,” says Keith. “Some of my songs are kind of feel-good in a way, but they’re not bubblegum.” Integrating pop, folk, country and more into her musical mix, Marianne crosses musical boundaries much like the diverse female musicians who inspire her: Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, and KT Tunstall. Keith’s many fans have learned not to be fooled by her small frame and young age, her vocals command the room as if she were an old pro.
Video for Happy Girl
Keith has been singing in church from the age of six, and decided to play guitar and write her own music when she was 16. Local gigs led to bigger audiences and accolades such as winning the Orange County Music Award in the Best Country category for the charming and up-tempo “Make You Mine.”
“People think that in order to be some great songwriter, you have to have gone through some sort of tragedy. And I don’t have a tragic life at all,” she says. “But as I see more and more of the world, I think I have something to say and share about it. I think a lot of people have had lives similar to mine.”
* Beautiful Distraction is singer-songwriter Marianne Keith’s debut
* Standout songs include award-winning “Kiss Me in the Rain” and up-tempo “Make You Mine”
* Inspired by Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, KT Tunstall
* Keith has been singing in church from the age of six, and decided to play guitar and write her own music when she was 16.
* Voted one of the top five artists in Orange County for Best Live Acoustic Female and won the Orange County Music Award in the Best Country category for the charming and up-tempo “Make You Mine”.
“Kiss Me in the Rain” (first single) audio stream:
http://www.mariannekeith.com
Kiss Me in the Rain” video stream:
http://www.mariannekeith.com
Marianne Keith Official Site:
and MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/marianne
Unison Music Official Site:
Marianne Keith Beautiful Distraction Tour Dates
June 19 The Gypsy Lounge Lake Forest, California
July 3 Market Night in Redlands Redlands, California
July 12 Fender Museum Corona, California
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette
Just don’t get too carried away with your iPod karaoke.
Published: Tuesday, April 29
Is it just me, or is everyone plugged in these days?
“Nine out of 10 people workout with an iPod or MP3 player,” said Melanie Shernofsky, group fitness coordinator at Montreal’s Mansfield Club.
The same could be said for the many runners and walkers who are tuned in to their own playlist while cruising the streets of their neighbourhood.
Yet despite the apparent spike in music appreciation amongst the fitness crowd, exercising to music isn’t new. People were skating around roller rinks to the tunes of Buddy Holly and jumping to the beat of the Pointer Sisters in aerobics classes long before Amy Winehouse took top billing on the iPod of most gym rats.
Why is music such an integral part of the exercise experience?
“Music takes us away from the physical discomfort and the process of exercise itself,” said Jim Gavin, a clinical health psychologist from Concordia University.
Indeed most exercisers will tell you that music is a pleasant distraction during a workout. Some even go as far as saying they can exercise longer and harder when listening to music than without. And while there is a general consensus that music can make the minutes go by faster when running on a treadmill, there is little data to suggest that you can workout longer or harder while listening to your favourite tunes.
Numerous studies have evaluated the heart rate and time to exhaustion among exercisers listening and not listening to music. The majority noted no significant difference between the two. Which means exercise duration and intensity weren’t affected by music. What was affected, however, was how hard the exercisers perceived they were training while music was playing.
Study after study notes that exercisers perceive their level of exertion to be lower when music accompanies their workout compared to those who exercise in silence. Also interesting to note is that the affect is greater the harder you exercise. In other words, the tougher the workout, the more music helps you hang in there.
“Music tends to separate us from what we are physically doing and leads us further away from how we are feeling,” says Gavin.
Not all music is equal in its distraction, though - at least where exercise is concerned. A 2006 study of 128 undergraduate students noted a preference for faster, more upbeat music as the intensity of the workout increased. No surprise there. Footloose beats out James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful every time when the going gets tough. Nike’s iPod sensor combo even allows runners to program their own “power” song that can be pressed into play when the feet need a little extra incentive to keep moving.
Yet as powerful as music is, not everyone appreciates the distraction. Yet another study noted that among runners, novices were more likely than veteran runners to benefit from listening to music during their training runs. The elite runners actually found music to be an unwanted diversion, which suggests that the disconnect between mind and body is not considered beneficial for runners who use their body’s feedback to continually gauge and modify their intensity.
Of course, there are other uses for music in the exercise field. Yoga instructors often play music as a form of relaxation, helping participants to de-stress and slow down their hectic pace in tune with the mindful approach of the practice.
Group exercise instructors have long been known to count on music not just to motivate, but also to keep everyone in the class moving in synch. In fact, the addition of music to group exercise classes is what characterized the aerobics boom in the 80’s - back in the day instructors spent hours choosing the right music to motivate and the right moves.
Interestingly, with personal MP3 players now all the rage, music lovers don’t need group exercise classes to supply musical motivation. In the age of self-selection, exercisers can create their own workout playlist with their favourite tunes that can be updated at will. This means they can find all the motivation they want on their own iPod, making a solo run on the treadmill just as motivating as a group exercise class.
Shernofsky thinks that’s a good thing.
“For people who don’t like to exercise, music can be a great motivator.”
It also means that anyone with two left feet or an aversion to a Madonna, Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey re-mix played at 150 beats a minute can now workout to the beat of their own drummer.
That being said, there are some rules that go along with plugging in during exercise. Don’t tune out to the extent that you aren’t aware of your surroundings. Keep alert and listen to your body and what’s going on around you. And whatever you do, limit your iPod karaoke to places where you aren’t likely to be overheard. Not everyone is a fan of Bat Out of Hell sung at full volume on a beautiful Sunday morning (don’t ask).
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008
Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits is set for release on May 6th including the new single “She’s A Hottie.” This two disc set is packed with 34 of his greatest hits. In support of the release I have a viral video tool to share with your friends and assets below. I also have copies of the two disc set for review and giveaway so let me know if you are interested in featuring the release on Scene Core.
“Hottie Yourself” Viral Video:
Toby Keith Official Site:
http://tobykeith.musiccitynetworks.com
Singer, songwriter, entertainer and all around Big Dog Daddy Toby Keith tends to do things, well, big. And so the May 6 release of his latest hits collection tips the scales with two discs filled to bursting with smash singles. Toby Keith 35 Biggest Hits spans the multi-platinum performer’s entire career, and adds a kicker.
Released on his own Show Dog Nashville label and Universal Music Enterprises, 35 Biggest Hits opens with his first No. 1 hit, 1993’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” and runs all the way through his 2006 chart-topper “A Little Too Late.” In between, the compilation serves up favorites including “Who’s That Man” (1994), “How Do You Like Me Now ?!” (1999), “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” (2002), “Who’s Your Daddy?” (2002), “I Love This Bar” (2003), “American Soldier” (2003) and “As Good I Once Was” (2005). Incidentally, Keith is currently filming the major motion picture “Beer For My Horses” (which is the same title as his 2002 hit that will also be included) in New Mexico.
The hits collection is punctuated by a new single, “She’s A Hottie,” that is roaring up the charts. And with the two-disc set’s availability, music fans will have the chance to own some of the high points of a career that has seen more than its share. Keith has sold more than 30 million albums, he’s been deluged with critical praise and peer approval in the form of awards, and he’s consistently been one of the top-drawing live performers in the nation.
Toby Keith 35 Biggest Hits
Disc One:
1. Should’ve Been A Cowboy
2. He Ain’t Worth Missing
3. A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action
4. Wish I Didn’t Know Now
5. Who’s That Man
6. Upstairs Downtown
7. You Ain’t Much Fun
8. Big Ol’ Truck
9. Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You
10. A Woman’s Touch
11. Me Too
12. We Were In Love
13. I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying
14. Dream Walkin’
15. Getcha Some
16. How Do You Like Me Now ?!
17. Country Comes To Town
18. You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This
Disc Two:
1. I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight
2. I Wanna Talk About Me
3. My List
4. Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)
5. Who’s Your Daddy?
6. Beer For My Horses
7. I Love This Bar
8. American Soldier
9. Whiskey Girl
10. Stays In Mexico
11. Mockingbird
12. Honkytonk U
13. As Good As I Once Was
14. Big Blue Note
15. Get Drunk And Be Somebody
16. A Little Too Late
17. She’s A Hottie
Pre-order a copy of 35 Biggest Hits:
Download the MP3 single at Amazon:
Download the MP3 single at iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=274895968&s=143441
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7329323.stm
MySpace in online music project
Networking site MySpace is to launch an online music service in partnership with three major music companies.
The new service MySpace Music is being launched with Universal Music, Sony BMG Music and Warner Music.
Users of the new service will be able to listen to music and watch music videos free of charge, while paying a fee to download music.
The website will also make money from advertising and selling merchandise like ring tones and concert tickets.
However, the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The one major record firm excluded from the partnership was EMI.
The new music service is seen as a possible competitor to Apple iTunes Music Store, which has dominated the digital music market.
The music industry has been concerned about a lack of competition for iTunes in the digital music market.
Music firms see a new entrant in the music download market as a positive change.
“This gives a great new lease of life for the download market,” said Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG president of global digital business.
Page last updated at 17:19 GMT, Thursday, 3 April 2008 18:19 UK
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