American Idol: Boys Night Out

After a punishing round of auditions and an interesting contest in Las Vegas, American Idol Season 11, 2012, has finally started the live shows. That means that the audience at home gets to vote for their favorites, eliminating one singer each week until the American Idol emerges. Last night was a semi-final round with 13 men singing to remain in the competition. There are their face slices above (one doesn't belong). Tonight it's the women's turn. On Thursday the eight lowest-scoring men and the seven lowest-scoring women will be sent home all at once. Each judge will bring back one of the eliminated in a wild card pick., bringing the total number of finalists to 13. That's when the show really begins to heat up as favorites fall and over-the-top divas keep going.

It's good to review the rules, because every year American Idol tweaks them a bit. We haven't had wild card picks for several years, for example. Besides the rules, I noticed a significant change in the show's production vales. I attribute this to direct competition with The Voice, my new favorite show. This was particularly noticeable in the second round of group performances. The contestants were all styled up and voice-coached to the nines, resulting in slick and entertaining performances. And check out the new Idol stage.

As far as last night's semi-final performances, it's too early to get excited. Half of these performers will be gone by the end of the week. USA Today rated the 13 men. Their favorites did not totally coincide with mine. I loved Aaron Marcellus and thought his performance classic rather than "old fashioned". The judges did give him a standing O after all. But I agreed that Joshua Ledet was incredible. My favorite is Phil Phillips, but I was disappointed in his performance. And why did the judges start talking about going home directly after Creighton Fraker's credible version of True Colors? Unfair!

Aaron Marcellus

Creighton Fraker

Phil Phillips

GRAMMYS!

Surprise, Surprise! The beautiful and strong-voiced Adele Adkins walked away with it. Here is a quick run down of the main Grammy winners, starting with.........Adele.

Record of the Year: Adele, Rolling in the Deep 
Album of the Year: Adele, 21
Song of the Year: Adele, Rolling in the Deep
Best Pop Solo Performance: Adele, Someone like You

Best Pop Vocal Album: Adele, 21 


Seriously?

Here, for variety, are some other winners:

Best New Artist: Bon Iver
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Tony Bennett, Duets II
Best Rock Song: Foo Fighters, Walk (from Wasting Light)
Best Rock Album: Foo Fighters, Wasting Light 
Best Alternative Rock: Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Best R&B Performance: Corinne Bailey Rae, Is This Love? (from The Love EP)
Best R&B Song: Cee Lo Green, Fool For You
Best R&B Album: Chris Brown, F.A.M.E. 
Best Rap Album: Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Crystal B.!

Cyndi R. and I had a rare and wonderful opportunity last weekend to see Crystal Bowersox in concert at Dominican University. (A big shout out to Cyndi  for making this happen.) This concert was the first in a season of interesting entertainments offered by Dominican, which is not all that far from Niles, in River Forest. (Here is a link to their schedule.)

I was really excited to see Crystal live, as was the rest of the middle-aged to elderly  audience. What?  Her fan base  skews older, and that may not be good news for imminent stardom. The house, a medium sized auditorium with a balcony, was full but there were a lot of empty seats in the back. She toted a band consisting of drums, harmonica (played by Ryan, her nanny), bass guitar, another guitar, and a musician who played the zither, mandolin, and told bad jokes during tune ups. She played acoustic guitar and wore a stupid bucket hat throughout.

In truth, I enjoyed her many of her numbers, but there is something about her that still leaves me cold, as it did on American Idol. She is not a very entertaining performer. This was compounded by a poor sound system and a band that did not do her credit. The bass was much too heavy and the drum playing was mechanical. There was one number in the early middle portion of the show where everything jelled and the house rocked. But it didn't happen again. Here is a link to several songs taken from the audience.

It seems that Bowersox is developing a little country vibe. Country seems to be the new rock. Crystal's opening act was Corey Crowder, who gave a more polished country-ish performance. He got a lot of mellow sound out of his voice, an acoustic guitar, and an electric mandolin. He also wore a stupid hat.

The New Folk: Americana

There is one more folk-type musical phenomenon to mention - the strain of country music known as Americana. This is a return to country and western roots. In contrast with alt-country, a more rock oriented type of country music, Americana has a gentle, folksy sound.

Here is Blue Rodeo in an acoustic, stripped down performance that does remind me of old time country music:


But in contrast, another Americana group, The Jayhawks, seems to fit more into the soft rock category:


Some of the artists performing Americana are:

Dave Alvin
Blue Rodeo
Steve Earle (very much a rocker to me)
Joe Ely
Butch Hancock
John Hiatt
The Jayhawks
The Mavericks
Uncle Tupelo
Townes VanZandt
Gillian Welch

Coincidentally, The New York Times recently ran an article about the new sound from Nashville men, which they characterize as a gentler, more soft rock sound than traditional county. Here is a link to the article. I'm not sure if this new style fits into Americana or not, but some of the artists noted in the article are:

Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Charles Kelley (of Lady Antebellum)
Jake Owen
Blake Shelton

The Times notes that these artists can be recognized by the lack of a cowboy hat.

The 27 Club

I know I'm late in taking note of this dreadful phenomenon, but I couldn't let Amy Winehouse's untimely death pass without mentioning the 27 Club. I've always known that Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix both died at age 27, but I didn't know that these other rock performers died at the same exact age. Why 27? In my day, we didn't want to grow up, to turn 30. These rock stars REALLY didn't want to turn 30.

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson was an influential blues singer, guitarist, and and song writer. He died in August 1938, possibly poisoned by his girlfriend's husband. According to legend, he made a deal with the devil to become a great blues musician.

Brian Jones

Brian Jones, guitarist and the original leader of The Rolling Stones, drowned in a swimming pool in July 1969. He was widely known to have had a substance abuse problem.

Jimi Hendrix

 Jimi Hendrix died in September, 1970, chocking on his own vomit, after taking a strong sleeping pill. There is an unproven rumor that he was murdered by his manager. Jimi is  widely considered to be the greatest electric guitar player who ever lived.

Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin died a month after Jimi Hendrix in October 1970. She was one of the greatest women blues and rock singers of all time. She died of a heroin overdose.

Jim Morrison

 Jim Morrison, poet and lead singer of The Doors, died in July, 1971. His death may have been due to a heroin overdose, but the exact cause remains unknown.  He died in Paris and is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery there.

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain, a heroin addict, committed suicide in April 1994. He was the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana.

In addition to these giants of rock music, there is a long list of lesser-known musicians who died at age 27. These include Rudy Lewis of The Drifters (overdose), Alan Wilson of Canned Heat (possible suicide), Kristen Pfaff of Hole and Janitor Joe (overdose), and the rappers Stretch, Fat Cat, and Freaky Tah (murdered).

Rest in Peace.

RIP Amy

What a talent!
What a tragedy.
Rest in peace.

The New Folk Music: What's New?

                                          Bon Iver (Justin Vernon)
                                      
Currently, artists considered to be "folk singers" are singer/songwriters who create introspective, personal, and generally quiet music, yet may use pop and rock production techniques. The labeling of these musicians as "folk" doesn't seem quite right to me, yet this type of music can be seen as a progression from Bob Dylan's personal and unique style. Prior to Dylan folk singers concentrated on classic folk or topical songs. At Niles Library we shelve these artists in various categories including, folk, rock, and country, and truly their styles are equally varied.

Here is a list of contemporary folk artists with a few links and a YouTube video at the end:

Avett Brothers
Bon Iver
Jackson Browne
Neko Case
Tracy Chapman
Shawn Colvin
Ani DeFranco
Fleet Foxes
Patty Friffin
Nanci Griffith
Indigo Girls
Mumford and Sons (see video)
John Prine
Paul Simon
Suzanne Vega
Tom Waits (Martha, one of the most beautiful songs ever written)
Lucinda Williams

Here is Mumford and Sons, Little Lion Man: