The Music Herald

Youtube Sensation

Mercedes Burt — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:39:47 +0000

What is hot today is Youtube singers like Justin Beiber and Priscilla Renae. It is amazing that talent be discovered on an outlet that is available to everyone with internet access. It makes one wonder if they have what it takes to e the next big break out star from you tube. Well all it takes is a camcorder and a laptop to find out. Would you be able to put yourself up for national inspection. It takes a lot of courage to do so and a lot of talent to be recognized (at least in a good way). Many people do it everyday, but only a select few make it out of the slush pile so to say and go viral with their you tube video. Going viral, as it is called in internet lingo, is to get as man hits or views as possible. These can go into the millions almost over night. But it is a guessing game of what the right thing at the right time. This can be hard, but again many have done it in the past. Could you possibly be next is the question. Yes, if you have the talent, the drive and a way to put yourself out there. Get your name all over the internet y advertising yourself and you will make it far. In the end it comes down to you, what will you do to be a star, in music or anything else really? The possibilities are endless with Youtube.com.

Nicole Henry

Mercedes Burt — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:24:19 +0000

Nicole Henry is a songstress that focuses on jazz and a little bit of blues. Her vocal styling’s are to be marveled and can be compared to greats such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and even Etta James. In fact she covers the living legend Miss Etta James on her c d with the classic love song. “At Last”. “The Very Though of You”, her 2008 c d is a really great album anyone would be happy to have in their collection. It is a mixture of classic jazz covers and an original or two. All sound like they were made especially for Miss Henry’s voice, so much so that you can even forget that their have been other artists who have performed the gems. Songs like the title track “The Very Thought of You”, “That’s All” and even more melodic tones that are just perfect for a romantic or relaxing evening at home, either with someone special or all by yourself. If you want to know more about this delightful jazz singer and her upcoming and previous projects check out her website at Nicole Henry.com. She also has tons of videos on you tube to get a taste of her music if you would like that instead.

Where’s The Meaning?

Mercedes Burt — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:26:07 +0000

Once upon a time music was always about something. It was more than a nice beat and a cute chorus. Songs told stories and the singers were modern day griots in there delivery of the tales. The same can’t be said for most of our music today. Its sad to even think about it sometimes. With all the offensive lyrics and videos its amazing that we can even open our mouths and call it music let alone entertainment Something has got to give.
There are a few singers out there who still have something worth while to say in music though. Artists like John Legend, Alicia Keys and Chrisette Michelle. Unfortunately even they fall prey to what’s popular over what’s good music from time to time. Once again, this is very sad. One day we might wake up to find that all traces of real music has been washed away with garbage. It might have a nice beat, a cute chorus and tons of pretty girls in the video, but that doesn’t make it music. That makes it a trend. Hopefully this trend of passing beats off as music will soon be coming to an end because I don’t know about you, but I would like the poetry to come back to music and a nice melody. Yeah, that would be nice.

Hannah/Miley/?

Mercedes Burt — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:00:45 +0000

Miley Cyrus has been Miley Stewart who is Hannah Montana for almost six years now. Soon the show will be coming to an end. What does that mean for Miley Cyrus? Apparently it means a new sound and image for the soon to be 18 year old international pop star. With her new hit song “Tamed” she has spiced up her lyrics as well as her squeaky clean Disney star image. From doing so she has received a lot of flack. Fans and non fans alike have said that she is rushing this transition to adult singer. They say that she is still a kid, not even legal yet and should stick with the image she has built with her hit television show. On the other hand there are those who support the star 100%. She is, after all, on the brink of adulthood and no one can be a child star forever. In the end we will have to wait until Hannah Montana fades from the air waves. Years from now when Hannah Montana is long forgotten if the world still remembers Miley Cyrus then she will have done a great job and changed her image for the long haul.

La Vie Boheme: Rent the Soundtrack

Mercedes Burt — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:26:10 +0000

Rent is without a doubt one of the most innovative Broadway musicals of the past decade. It is a truly unique story with a killer sound track. Tat is the topic for today, the sound track. As with any Broadway show the cast changes so much that it might make your head spin, but luckily that does not affect the quality of the music. Whether it is Roger and Mimi’s “Without You”, Mark and Joann’s “Tango Maureen” or the opening song of “Season’s of Love” with each cast change the music is equally fantastic. With some musicals it is easy to get attached to the original actor who brings the role to life. While this may be true with Rent also, it doesn’t take from the fact that each actor brings a new dimension to Jonathan Larson’s characters Mimi, Roger, Mark, Maureen, Joann, Collins, Angel and Benny. Each one is again brought to life with the songs that Jonathan Larson created. In fact they live in the music and with each note sang they get to shine. Rent, the musical, the movie and BOTH soundtracks are well worth the time. You’ll never regret a trip to Avenue B or the tent city of Larson’s New York.

Awesome band

angie828 — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:04:52 +0000

Nightwish is a really great band. I can not explain their music. It is so many component put into one. Some of the music is soft and sensual and then others is really upbeat and powerful. The music is very relaxing and something that I find myself listening to over and over again.
Dark Passion Play is one of their albums. It has 13 great songs on it. Meadows of Heaven is a beautiful song. Very soft and relaxing. To me the song a good message because it just says how beautiful life really is.
Amareth is a good song because it has a great beat to it with awesome music.
Bye Bye Beautiful is my Favorite song on the album. The song is powerful and starts out with a catchy little tune. Then it gets bigger and better. The vocals are fast paced and softer at first, then when the chorus comes up, it is booming with powerful male voices . I just love it.
I would highly recommend Nightwish to anyone who likes music, especially things that are different. Give it a try and you may just like it. I find it to be a mix of gospel music with some gothic in it.

Bret Michaels

angie828 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:07:43 +0000

I am a huge fan of Bret Michaels. I have been since Poison started. So last week when I was at Best Buy I saw they had his newest CD called Custom Built on sale for only $7.99. I must say it is well worth the money. The only thing I was dissapointed in was the inside of the CD. There were no extras at all in the CD, just the one page over showing his picture on both sides. OH well the CD and music make up for that.
You can tell this is Bret. But yet at the same time it is something different. Bret sounds like he did in Poison but has the country feel to it. But yet also a rock feel. My favorite song is Nothing to Lose which features Miley Cyrus. Now when I saw this I was upset because why would he do that I thought. But she had a beautiful voice and lent it well to the song.
He also does a version of Every Rose Has Its Thorn with Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down, Chris Cagle and Mark Wills. This is the country version. And he remade What I Got (the Sublime song).
I give this cd a 9 out of 10. It has 12 great songs that I could listen to over and over. Bret is a wonderful singer and this album proves it. He is very talented and has made us see that you can do country and rock at the same time!

The Downfall of R&B

kirby burt — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:44:44 +0000

What has come of our once cherished R&B genre? What happened to the good singers that sang good songs? What happened to songs about love and not sex? What happened to singers like: Etta James, The Isley Brothers, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Temptations or Diana Ross? Where has all the good music gone you ask? Well it was flushed down the when the era of Beyonce came along.
Now, I’m not saying that Beyonce isn’t a good singer. The woman can sing her but off. She just chooses to sing the wrong songs. When she actually does come out with a decent song, its usually really good. But lately that’s been far and few in between. For every 1 god song she comes out with, there are 3 bad ones that over shadow it. For example Beautiful Nightmare was a sort of good song but then it was followed by Ego, Telephone and Video Phone.
This woman leaves me scratching m head in confusion. I mean, she went from singing a beautiful love song to singing about how big someone’s “ego” is. How can such a good singer sing such garbage? Even the former teenage heart throb Usher has changed with songs like “Little Freak” featuring Nikki Minaj.
Not all R&B singers have dropped to such low standards just to make money. There are still a few good ones out there. There’s Ne-Yo, Usher (sometimes), Alicia Keys, Corrine Bailey Rae, Chrisette Michele, Jennifer Hudson and Jasmine Sullivan just to name a few. The R&B singers of today have so much potential that they’re jut not meeting. Such beautiful voices being wasted with bad lyrics and cameos from these so called rappers.
I say, bring back the real music. Put the soul back into R&B. Bring back Motown if we have to. Just don’t let our generation be the ones to kill the music. Music is inspiration. Inspiration is life. Life….is music.

Rap is Whack

Mercedes Burt — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:06:56 +0000

The saying that rap is whack could not be more true lately. For every genuinely talented artist that comes on the scene there are twenty want to be rappers who think that hip hop means baggy pants, horrible Ebonics and a thug mentality.
The perfect example is an “artist” by the name of Souljah Boy. The name alone is enough to make me stay far away from his so called music, but if that isn’t bad enough you can’t understand a word he says other than his name. Yet he has had some major successes in the music industry, made plenty of money and won awards. Awards for Crank That Souljah Boy? It makes you wonder what is wrong with society today. Could it be possible that we busted our ear drums with the rocking roll of the 80’s and simply can not hear how horrible some music is today.
What ever the reason it is time for a change. Hip hop has dominated the music scene for the last three decades and while not all of it has been bad, (original hip hop was awesome!), perhaps it is time for a shift in our musical taste as a generation. I personally vote for the rebirth of Motown soul and R&B.

Christian Rock Music is Becoming Popular

Blanca Dixon — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:04:56 +0000

Christian rock music is becoming more popular every second! As a Christian, I started listening to Christian rock music in 2002. It was the year I recommitted my life to Jesus and although I wasn’t going to give up listening to secular music altogether, I decided I needed to listen to music that would reinforce my spiritual beliefs. So, I asked a fellow church goer what type of music he listened to and he recommended Air 1, a Christian alternative music station. It was then that I was introduced to Christian rock music!
This station introduced me to great bands like Skillet, Kutless, Seventh Day Slumber, Toby Mac, Anberlin, The Almost, Seven Places, Tree63, The Fray, Lifehouse, Thousand Foot Krutch, Switchfoot, P.O.D., and many more. All these bands are amazing and their music is pure and true to what they believe in.
My fourteen year old son especially loves all these bands and he recently was able to meet his second favorite band in person – “The Letter Black”. Since he saw them in concert, he’s become addicted to Christian rock concerts and he keeps asking me when we are going to see more Christian rock bands perform. Well, my response to him is, “soon”!