Supercool Music: A Living Article©

Posted on 03/28/2018 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 47: “Heartache on the Dance Floor”

When an artist is as good as Jon Pardi, it’s hard to choose which song of theirs to review first! 🙂 All of his original songs that I have heard thus far are supercool, pure country music. 😎 And I believe that every song he’s covered has sounded the best those songs can sound – and that’s a supersize compliment! 🙂 I would like to review every song he’s sung – originals and covers – yet before I could claim that accomplishment, a certain decision must be made. Do you know what that is? 😉 Deciding which song to start with! 🙂 I believe I will do this one…

“Heartache on the Dance Floor” is the newest radio single from his album, “California Sunrise”, which was released on June 17, 2016 by Capitol Records Nashville. 😎 Supercool. 😎 I loved his debut performance of it on TV (March 6, 2018), every piece of concert footage I’ve been blessed to see of it, the video, the performance video and especially when he sang it solo for a radio show. 🙂 It was a perfect example of what George Strait’s character was talking with hope about in the movie “Pure Country”: you don’t need all the smoke and lights – just a man and his guitar. 🙂 😎 (At that same radio show, Jon also sang George’s “I Just Want to Dance with You”; I so loved it that I’m working on a review for it, too. 🙂 ) Back to this review: I loved “Heartache on the Dance Floor” since the first time I heard it. 🙂 This song has such a great sound – made it feel like summertime in the wintertime. 😎 Sunshine, blue skies, sparkling waters, the colorful artistry of the Creator’s sunsets – I can hear it all in Jon’s song. 🙂

At the very start of “Heartache on the Dance Floor” you immediately know two things about it: it’s pure country and it’s good…really, really good. 🙂 😎 As you all know, I appreciate every aspect of what makes a song sound good – and this one excels in it. 😎 Every instrumental note is played with genuine heart and talent. And every note sung is essential to the great sound of this song. Guitars, drums, fiddle and steel guitar all lead into the opening verse featuring the amazing lead vocals of Jon Pardi (later joined by the All-Nighters’ impressive backing vocals). 😎

Jon begins telling the story of the song in first person; he has a Creator-blessed gift for storytelling, by the way. 🙂 The setting is a little beachside town on the West Coast.

The video begins with him buying some fries at a standing trailer on the edge of the beach in the bright sunshine. 😎 The scene changes to evening, lights have been set up in front of it, music playing, people dancing, enjoying the atmosphere. 😎

In the song he tells about a girl catching his eye the other night, like nothing he had ever seen. When Jon’s singing “Heartache on the Dance Floor”, he gets the full effect of the story across with such clarity and smoothness. 😎 The girl was dancing to an old Motown song (good music! 🙂 ). Jon Pardi has some great moves. 🙂 He sure feels that supercool music. 😎

He sings he was speechless, watching her, couldn’t manage to say anything, so he just sang along to the Motown song. (Which would’ve sounded great! 🙂 )

I love the notes, tones, volume, pace and melody of this song through and through! 🙂 It sounds so good!! 🙂

The chorus begins, picking up the pace and volume from conversational singing to an upbeat rhythm of exultation. He sings about her being a heartache on the dance floor, moving through his mind. He’s determined to know her name, to see her again. She has him wondering where she is this night. Jon carries a “whoa” in strong, melodic fashion, along with the driving country beat of the band. 😎

And I just have to note here: that blue guitar he plays so excellently has got to be one of, if not the most, beautiful guitars I have ever seen. 😎 Just beautiful. 🙂 I’m so glad that that fine guitar has such a talented owner. 🙂 😎

In the second verse he continues the story. Wanting to see her again, he hung around that little West Coast town, dropping by that beachside place every night and staying until closing time. I like the way he said “my little mystery”. 🙂 😎 He put on a song, just to sing along. I like the heart and determination in this song; the man’s doing what he can, trying to find this girl who stirred his heart like that. Good romance. 😎

The second chorus is sung and played just as excellently as the first time; Jon Pardi and his supercool band, The All-Nighters, give consistently top-notch performances each and every time. 😎 And they make it look so easy; they’re that good. 🙂

This chorus includes some bonus features. 🙂 He sings that she’s got him mesmerized; she’s all he thinks about. Then the instrumental break arrives, featuring a blazing guitar lead with the rest of the instruments keeping that great song going in the background. 😎

In the third verse, Jon sings that he’s right here, right now, humming this little song. If he could say a thing, he’d want her to know: “You were a heartache on the dance floor.” Bringing it down a little bit instrumentally, thus highlighting this part of the song expertly, he sings the entire chorus to her, with The All-Nighters echoing his words in good, strong voices. 😎

He’s hanging around this little town, “looking for you, Baby”. Singing the chorus, addressing this girl in the song, brought a really cool element to it. First he was telling about it, and then he changes it, directing it personally to her. I really liked that touch. 🙂 😎

The song ended as it began: perfectly! 🙂 Such a great sound; this is a song I could – and have 😉 – listen to repeatedly and love it just as much each time. Now that’s real supercool music! 🙂 😎

Jon Pardi’s music sounds great whether it’s a studio recording or from a live performance with his band The All-Nighters. 🙂 Billy plays the fiddle with equal parts great talent and energy. 😎 The steel guitar artist, Andy, plays with smooth skill. 😎 (I would give them credit by last name as well, but I don’t have that information as yet.) Super guitarist Terry Lee Palmer and boss bass guitarist Lee Francis have accompanied Jon at various radio station performances. 😎

I’ll close this review by telling how I know the supercool drummer’s name. 🙂 Mitch White, yes, he’s the one rockin’ those drums to a country beat, joined Jon Pardi in a cool, purposeful challenge – which they both aced. 😎 Jon was taking part in a 22 push-ups challenge to help bring more awareness of our soldiers who are losing their lives from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had asked Mitch to join him in the show of strength and they added extra challenges to it besides. 😎 (You can check out the footage on YouTube to see what they did. 🙂 ) And not only did they accomplish the 22 push-ups impressively, but they added two bonus push-ups at the end! 🙂 Strong fellows, good men who care about our military – the men and women who defend freedom and help keep us safe. 🙂 😎 The members of our military who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other struggles, need our prayers, love and encouragement to help them have hope and to know that they can win this battle. Never give up. Please. Never give up.

Jean247

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Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 46: “Fire Away”

One of the songs I most enjoy listening to from Niall Horan’s “Flicker (Deluxe)” album is track #9, “Fire Away”. As I said in my overview article of the album: “Lyrics and Sound: #1 Song of 100% Beauty.” 🙂 It’s three minutes and twenty-six seconds of solid Niall Horan music. 😎

“Fire Away” begins with drums and guitars leading in this gentle, melodic tune on the album. In concert, you can hear the keys clearly adding it’s own beauty to the song as well. 😎 Niall’s voice, gentle, quiet and lending the genuine offer of caring, starts telling the story of this song.

She says that she’s alright, but he can see through her fake smile that she’s not. He knows she’s been holding back tears for a long while. Niall carries so much heart in the next two words, “What’s wrong?” A few more quiet notes play as the music, an easy, flowing beat, continues the setting of a reassuring trust. He tells her that she doesn’t have to hold it in or be afraid – just go ahead and unload it. “You know it’ll be okay.” 😎 So he tells her to go ahead and fire away (tell him all about it).

And that brings us to his excellent band providing strong backing vocals as they twice echo “fire away.” 😎 In concert we also gain the beautiful music of Conor’s violin playing at this point. 🙂

During the next verse he kindly tells her that even though she holds him at a distance, assuming he’s not really listening to her, he truly is listening to her. 😎 How often do we make assumptions based on our own insecurities instead of on the facts? Too often. It’s wise to get the actual facts before making a decision. 🙂

Niall includes well-placed instrumental moments in this song, lending to the quiet and intimate setting (which can take place just about anywhere, because it is the location of the heart that matters, not your physical surroundings) of one heart sharing with another.

He encourages her to open up and share her thoughts with him; he’s there for her. 😎 We all need that – to know that someone cares – and it’s great that Niall put this to music, making it easier for those who cannot find the words to express what he is in the lyrics and through the music. 😎

At 2:09, the pleasantly deep guitar notes lift the song to a soaring level, bringing the other instruments along with it. So beautiful, touching the heart.

Soon Niall sings in the strong, comforting tone of Irish vocals: “And I will steady your hand, when you’re losing your grip. Even if I don’t understand – you can talk to me.”

He sings louder, willing her to believe him and understand that he is sincere and trustworthy: “And I will steady your hand, when you’re losing your grip. Even if I don’t understand – you can talk to me.” Those are wise words. Sometimes it is hard to describe how we feel. Sometimes it is about something that the other person may not fully understand. However, neither the lack of explaining prowess nor the full understanding of the subject is necessary when you just need to talk and for the other person to listen. Good listeners are a blessing. 🙂

As the song glides to its finish, Niall carries the “fire away” melodically, each time carrying the “away” in musical fashion. 😎 The deep guitar, accompanying instruments and backing vocals are all adding yet more beauty and heart to the song than they already had, bringing a strong sense of comforting reassurance, which carried throughout the entire piece. 😎 Great song. 😎 Great performance. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 02/14/2018 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 45: “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” Cover by Brett Young

Here’s a supercool, hot-off-the-press single from Brett Young that just begs (I tried to resist that pun, but decided to go for it anyway 😉 ) to be reviewed right now! 🙂 “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” was released on 2/9/2018, which was cool timing, seeing as that’s one day before the release date of his debut album last year. (Follow that? 😉 ) Or, to put it more simply: he had supercool music releases on the second Friday of February two years in a row! 🙂 😎

It was quite recent that I first heard Brett’s music – on 2/6/2018 to be exact. His YouTube and VEVO channels have so much great stuff to enjoy! 🙂 His Caliville sound (California/Nashville) is a very good and pleasing mix of soul, country and rock. I now own his debut album and two singles. 🙂 😎

Having already heard what good quality music Brett puts out, I was so happy to see he covered this song! 🙂 I felt sure, given the standard he’s set, that he would do this song justice. 😎 I love good oldies music – it’s one of my favorite genres 😎 – and enjoy hearing excellent covers like this one! 🙂 Brett faithfully sang this song as it should be and the man-made instruments hit their marks, too. 😎 I’ve heard this song sung by The Temptations so many times on various oldies radio stations and seen clips of original performances on television specials. It always sounds great! 🙂 Their recording of it continues to get radio airtime; “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” is instantly recognizable from the very first notes. It’s got a lot of heart to it and I know that the soul of a country boy has an amazing amount of heart within it. 😎 I could hardly wait to listen to this song, as recorded by Brett, and when I did, this is what I heard….

Music. 🙂 So much music! 🙂 😎 It starts with an awesome, quick series of drums beats – which you all know I love! The cymbals come into play right on time as Brett’s strong, heart-deep vocals ring out with all the soul and longing determination that this song needs in order to tell its story. 😎 A groovin’ piano brings its matchless tones as well – another essential part to this very song. 😎

He sings that he’s going to give it his all to convince her to stay, because she means that much to him. The upbeat tune conveys the true hope in the lyrics: true hope is based on knowing what’s real and true. Sometimes we think we’re in love and it seems real, but then the person either isn’t who you thought they were or you realize it isn’t a lifetime love. If it’s a lifetime love – the person the Creator has for you, the other half of your soul’s heart – then your hope that you’ll be together is real and true. The character in this song is convinced in his heart that this girl is his true love and he’s not giving up. In fact, he’s amping up his efforts to prove his love to her, even to the point of setting aside his pride – because his love for her is more important. 😎

Brett keeps up the tempo and so do the man-made instruments, which now include guitars, horns, tambourine. 🙂 Other key elements to this song also present are the well-done hand-claps and just the right amount of backing vocals. 😎 The levels and volumes of all parts of this song are excellently engineered; I appreciate that. It’s important for all of the instruments – Creator-made (vocals, hand-claps) and man-made/constructed-by-mankind (drums, piano, guitars, tambourine – you get the idea 😉 ) – to be at a good, clear level. If one is too muted or sounds far away, it throws off the balance of the song and therefore the enjoyment of listening to it. This song, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by Brett Young is 100% enjoyable! 🙂 😎 Great work by all! 🙂

The Caliville singer/songwriter hits each note just right, singing the whole range with the result of excellence. 😎

Singing it like he means it (an essential part of good vocals), he says that even though it’s sometimes said that man shouldn’t cry, he’s willing to shed tears if it’ll keep her by his side. I’d like to note here that it shows great strength and true manliness to cry when deeply moved, for love, for gratefulness to the Creator, for when you hear your national anthem, et cetera. A man who’s a U.S. Marine or an IDF soldier can cry – and you really can’t get manlier than those fellows. Sincere, purposeful tears exude manliness. (Also note-worthy: a woman isn’t a ninny for crying, either. Tears at the right times, for the right reasons, in the right way shows true strength and heart. 🙂 )

Swinging into the chorus for the second time, it’s every bit as good as the first. 😎 And I love the way Brett sings “Sweet Darlin'”; endearments are beautiful when they come from the heart like that and aren’t merely words.

The tempo picks up more as he expresses his willingness to sleep on her doorstep if it’ll keep her from walking away. (Let it be noted that the lyrics of this song are meant to show the man’s determination and willingness to show her he truly needs her and loves her. There is no threat, only the pleading of a gentle heart within a strong man. I wanted to make that clear in this review because the typed words could be taken otherwise, mistakenly. If you listen to the original by The Temptations or this supercool cover by Brett Young, the tender love and gentle pleading is very, very clear. 🙂 )

He’s even willing to put up with her friends laughing at his efforts. Nobody likes being laughed at, but he’s got his focus on her, not himself or his pride. Sounds like love. 🙂 A good definition of love is this: love is the unselfish desire to meet the needs of a cherished object or person. You see the lengths someone goes to to take care of their treasured car or other object. A man’s love for his girl (or a girl’s love for her fellow 😉 ) should be evident in what he says and does (as well as in what he doesn’t say or do).

1:35 launches an instrumental, vocalizing section that continues the upbeat energy and features a rockin’ guitar. 😎 After this, the break-down of instruments is really cool, emphasizing what the man has to say. He sings of the deep love in his heart that grows more and more each day. That’s true love. 😎 He’s not ashamed to “…plead to you, Baby” if pleading will keep her from walking out that door.

The song carries out on two more choruses then Brett’s husky, richly-blessed voice sings “Sweet Darlin'” from his heart three more times, telling her he “Ain’t too proud to beg! No! No! No!” He’s sung the words and a tambourine finishes out the last notes as this energetic song concludes in a whirl of music. 😎 What a great ride! 🙂 😎 Brett Young honored the integrity of the original tune and yet made it seem as though it was a brand-new song, never before heard. 😎 He’s good. Really good.

Jean247

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Posted on 01/31/201801/31/2018 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 44: I Believe

“I Believe” is a song that inspires, encourages, comforts and shows forth hope and deep joy. Clint Walker’s strong, steady voice is perfect for getting across the sureness of this song. 😎 His tone resonates the power that can be found when you believe in things that are true. This sixth track on his twelve-song LP, “Inspiration”, is two minutes and fifty-five seconds of exactly that: inspiration! 🙂

I’m reviewing while listening to the digital version I own – and I’m so delighted to hear the wonderful sounds of vinyl recording coming through the speakers! 🙂 There’s nothing quite like it. 😎

“I Believe” begins with the beautifully melodic rising “ahh’s” and lowering “ooo’s” of the Sunset Serenaders of Warner Bros. studios. 🙂 One bell chiming between ten and twelve seconds rings in the arrival of Cherokee Clint Walker’s noble vocals at thirteen seconds. 😎

He sings of the amazing workings of raindrops, like their ability to make beautiful things grow. 😎 The beautiful strum of a harp, an organ softly playing, a bell chime, and then Clint’s voice rises in volume to sing, “I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.” There is always light, no matter how dark things may seem – literally as well as figuratively. Literally: on a clear night with a dark, new moon, there is still light. If you step outside, having been indoors with man-made light, it would seem pitch-black to you. You wouldn’t be able to see much until your eyes adjusted. In much the same way, if we are blinded by the brightness of manufactured life, it sometimes takes us a while to see clearly what great things God has for us. Literally, if you are standing beneath the sky in the Creator’s pure light at sunset, your eyes will easily adjust to the darkening sky. The spiritual correlation is that if you’re focusing on the Creator’s ways instead of being overwhelmed by the world’s pressures and glitter, you can see the blessings in life much easier. 🙂

The Sunset Serenaders lend their melodic voices to this song at just the right moments, guided by an excellent arrangement and wise director who hears just how perfect it all comes together. 😎 I love the sound of the harp strings! 🙂

Clint’s gifted voice sings these next words of true hope: “I believe for every one who goes astray, someone will come to show the way.” The delivery of each word is perfectly timed and delivered to convey the certainty of the message. 😎 We’ve all naturally gone astray from our Creator, being imperfect humans, but He sent His Son, Yeshua/Jesus, to show us the way back to Him. 🙂 Yeshua/Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; He is the only way back to peace with God. (That’s in the Scriptures in the book of John, chapter fourteen, verse six, if you’d like to check it out for yourself. 🙂 If you’re unfamiliar with Bibles, I recommend the King James Version as far as most-reliable-English-translations go. 🙂 ) Our shortcomings will keep us out of Heaven unless we put our faith in Yeshua/Jesus, Who paid for our mistakes with His own life over 2,000 years ago. And He arose, thereby conquering death and enabling us to live forever, too. Has anyone else ever loved us that much? No, because only God is big and powerful enough to do that. These truths are strong enough to make you free. Yeshua/Jesus is the only Friend we can’t live without.

Back to the song…

The Sunset Serenader’s voices swell. Clint sings with a solid knowing, these definite words, “I believe.” He sings out again with hope and assurance: “I believe.” Strong and sure. And that’s only the first minute of the song! 🙂

“I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard.” And that’s true, too. Even when you can’t even hear yourself, your heartfelt prayers of faith wing their way to the Creator. 😎 “I believe that Someone in the Great Somewhere, hears every word.” See? 🙂 The Creator, Who made and loves each one of us, is the Someone in the Great Somewhere – as it says in the Scriptures: God is so great neither the heavens nor the Earth can contain His greatness. He’s all around us. 🙂 You never need to ask the words, “God, where are you?!” Because the answer is this simple: He’s right there, waiting for you to trust Him to help you.

In the chorus of “I Believe”, Clint sings of the wonderful things the Creator blesses this world with, from miracles to the awesome beauty of His creation, like the sky above. Touching a leaf can be a powerful lesson itself. 😎 When you take time to notice the texture, the design, the amazing miracle of how it comes about, you can’t really help but be awed by this seemingly simple item. Seeing and hearing these daily miracles declare the Creator’s existence, power, love and care. 😎 Clint sings out with certainty, “Then I know why I believe!”

The Sunset Serenaders repeat the chorus section in soaring vocals then Clint finishes it with great vocal power. Building. Strengthening. Leaving no question that when you recognize the Creator’s love all around you amongst His creation, you can believe His love for you. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 01/16/201801/16/2018 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 43: Adorn – Cover by Ash Minor

Soul, heart, talent, gifted voice, unique vocal style, strength, determination, bravery, confidence-without-conceit…all these (and more) lead to this one man whose music I’m about to review and immediately award with his own category. His name is Ash Minor. And he’s already got what it takes to be a superstar. In fact, I’d say he already is – and the world is finding that out. 😎

Superstardom is a goal, but what Ash already has right now is the more important of the two: soul music. In all of his music. I have had the pleasure of hearing him sing several songs – each one of them excellent! 🙂 His rendition of James Bay’s “Let It Go” is breathtaking.

This supercool Aussie, who arrived in LA not long ago in pursuit of getting his music more widely known with recording his first album, gave an amazing performance on American television of “Adorn” (originally by Miguel). Such soul. 😎 It was breathtaking and soul-stirring. I’ll give it my best to put it in words for you, although words aren’t quite sufficient to truly convey just how amazing Ash’s performance was. You’ll need to watch it on his YouTube channel to hear the beyond-words power of his soulful music. 🙂 😎

A minute and thirty-two seconds of very powerful, soulful singing is what Ash delivered. 😎 After a softly-played piano intro, Ash immediately claimed the attention of every ear with his husky, from-the-heart singing. Bringing even more depth and romance to lyrics already deeply romantic, he sang as if straight from his heart to the girl of his dreams – his true love who awaits him. 😎 His words were soft and gentle at first then deep, gutty soul poured forth as he sang, “And Baby, these, these eyes can’t wait to see your grin.”

His vocals rise and lower like the rhythm of the ocean’s waves, gently soothing, yet showing a powerfulness in volume at the peak moments. “So, yeah, Baby, so just let my love, just let my love adorn you.” He sings endearments exquisitely well. 🙂

At 1:02 he amazingly combines gutty soul with soaring higher notes that follow a melody of love. It sounded so good. He did it in the right way at the right time for the correct amount of time without overdoing it. The man has great vocal abilities and the good sense of what to do with it. 😎

After a specific, perfectly-timed pause at 1:12, he shifts seemingly effortlessly to a beautiful, melodic “ooo-hooo” that is priceless. 🙂 😎

Moments later, he finishes with the words, “So let my love, just let my love adorn you”, carrying the last note superbly in gentle, deep-soul, heartfelt fashion. The entire performance was awe-inspiring and nothing short of pure excellence.

One of the many things I greatly appreciate about Ash’s performance is that he doesn’t bring acting into it, emoting. What he does is pour out the song with depth of heart and soul. Not only does he sing the song – he clearly feels it in every fiber of his being. Ash Minor’s performance is like none other. 😎

To Ash: I love it that you said you don’t let yourself get distracted by what’s going on on the right hand or the left – you keep your focus on doing your best. 😎 You are right and wise to do that. In such a business as music, some artists don’t realize that and lose their uniqueness and joy of music by trying to compete with and follow the styles of other artists. Please continue to remember as you pursue your amazing music career: Be true to the Creator, to yourself and to your music. You are unique and genuine. You know who you are and what you are about. That’s more important than the size of a contract or audience. You are already a success, Ash. 😎 Your music is part of you; please don’t lose your joy of it in the pursuit of stardom. It’s too beautiful a thing. ❤

Jean247

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Posted on 12/20/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 42: December Holidays Music Part 2

Welcome to part two of my December Holidays Music review collection! 🙂 There’s so much great music to listen to such as Paul Revere & the Raiders, Big Time Rush, Bruno Mars & the Hooligans, LUNAFALL, In Real Life and Why Don’t We. 🙂 I enjoyed listening to these songs, watching some performances and reviewing them to share with you all. 🙂 I hope you enjoy reading here and checking out any of this great music you haven’t yet had the pleasure of hearing for yourself. 🙂

An artistic instrumental written by the hands of two geniuses of music, Terry Melcher and Mark Lindsay, “Peace” is a mesmerizing composition that says so much – without one word. 😎 This song was recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay and released on their 1967 album, “A Christmas Present…And Past”. 😎 The first seventeen seconds subtly sets the scene of a rainstorm; at eighteen seconds the strings come in a few notes at a time to add to the story being told within the music. If you listen closely, you will hear it. 😎 More strings shimmer out music by the smooth gliding of the bows with a sudden dash of three higher notes depicting the flashes of lightning in the stormy, dark sky. Midst the storm, there is peace. The Creator made a way for peace with Him through His Son, Yeshua/Jesus. And it doesn’t matter which kind of storm nears you – be it the storm of weather, thoughts, actions (or inaction) of others, or anything else that might make us feel unsure and unsettled in spirit, soul or body – the Creator is more powerful than them all. 😎 He can give us peace in our hearts; all we have to do is ask Him, believing. Belief is important. Words merely spoken have no power; belief, faith and trust must be in your heart or else they are just empty words. When He said He loves us; He meant it 100%. 🙂 And He doesn’t change. 😎 He loves us still. In the song, you can hear the raindrops falling, the ominous storm. Yet, if you listen as the song goes along, the sun is breaking through the dark clouds, sending beams of light shining down on us. 🙂 😎 The storm is ending, moving off, as sound of thunder and flashes of lightning grow farther away. The rainstorm gentles until it is a calm, soothing rain that brings the feelings of coziness – and peace. 🙂 😎

Last Christmas season, the three members of the band LUNAFALL, (Joel Darkes, Craig Wright and Dave Bright) released a charity single entitled “Christmas Day”. All profits from sales of this cool single goes to Donkey Sanctuary, UK, where these noble creatures are cared for, many having been rescued from dire situations. It said a lot to me about the band members – it takes a lot of heart for your band’s very first single to be dedicated to a charity, instead of focusing on promoting your own band. Great guys. 🙂 😎 I saw the music video first, which led to me gladly buying the single. 🙂 The video starts with Craig opening double doors and inviting us in to a cheerily-decorated collection of rooms where the video was filmed. The rockin’ trio begin their song, guitars in hand. 😎 A pleasant tune is soon joined by lyrics sung by Dave then Joel, respectively, telling of some of the happy things often associated with the Christmas season, such as children having fun playing in the snow. They sing about it being almost Christmas and how we can sing merrily, joining together to sing this song. 😎 The chorus features some very cool guitar work by Craig. 😎 The words paint a very cozy picture. 🙂 The drums are real cool as are the other musical instruments in this great tune. 😎 Partway into the second verse, backing Dave’s vocals, quiet “ooo’s” add a very important touch to the overall sound. 🙂 😎 Singing about faces all aglow leads to the supercool chorus again. 🙂 2:16 to 2:45 features an awesome Craig guitar solo. 🙂 😎 One of the best parts of the song has arrived. As the notes carry from the guitar, Joel sings the chorus softly – some of my favorite of his vocals! 🙂 Meanwhile, those supercool “ooo’s” and adding of the other voices at just the right points makes this such a completely good collection of sound! 🙂 The chorus kicks back up into high, rockin’ gear and ends with some very cool notes. 😎 At the close of the music video, Craig closes the doors with a friendly smile after our visit and the screen changes to a familiar blessing: Merry Christmas. 🙂 Christmas, when many celebrate Yeshua/Jesus having come to Earth, bringing everlasting light, life and forgiveness for all.

Bruno Mars & the Hooligans (Peter Gene Hernandez, Philip Lawrence, Kameron Whalum, James King, Jamareo Artis, Phred Brown, Eric Hernandez, John Fossit and Dwayne Dugger) are amazingly talented and entertaining fellows. 🙂 😎 In 2012 they did a performance of “White Christmas” on television. 🙂 Classic. Cool. Original. Fun. Superb. Entertaining. Supercool. Those are just a few of the words that describe this rendition. 🙂 😎 All of the fellows are dressed their finest for this occasion. Bruno starts the count then they all begin the vocal intro with the drums, keys and bass blending in just right. When it’s time for the first verse, Bruno steps forward as if to sing, but a Hooligan with chutzpah (okay, so that probably applies to each of them 😉 ) quickly steps in front of him, an arm stretched out to block any attempt to regain the forefront, and starts singing – very, very well. 🙂 Bruno smiles and steps back; he’s cool, he knows he will be centerstage at the right moment. Mr. Chutzpah (of the moment) sings in his exceptional, deep voice that he’s dreaming of a white Christmas, just like he used to know – “you remember the ones!” he adds in personably. 🙂 Bruno slides up after verse one, stepping alongside said Hooligan, clamping a firm hand on his shoulder then smoothly shoving him out of centerstage as Bruno himself claims it verbally (starting at the top 😉 ) as well as physically. 😎 His smooth, husky tones sing of treetops glistening and children listening for sleigh bells in the snow. 🙂 Going onward to the next part, where the blessing is given for days to be merry and bright, the harmonious vocals of Bruno Mars & the Hooligans rings out beautifully. “And may all your Christmases be-” right here everyone stop, Bruno says, “Dramatic pause” 🙂 😎 strikes a dramatic pose then he finishes the blessing for a snowy Christmas. As he holds the note, the Hooligans sing a little bit of “Jingle Bells” in the background and the instruments flourish, the cymbals shimmering to perfection. 😎 🙂 But are they done performing? No, after all, they take entertaining the audience of listeners very seriously. 😉 🙂 😎 They always give more, adding good surprises along the way. Bruno says, “Merry Christmas, America”, they do an end-of-song-pose, drumsticks count to the next part then the seven in front exit the stage with witty style as they vocalize the tune. 😎 🙂 😎

Now to the music group featuring Michael Conor, Drew Ramos, Chance Perez, Sergio Calderon and Brady Tutton: In Real Life. Their version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” opens with an original lead-in sung by vocals in harmony accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Melodic background “ooo’s” brings us to the start of the well-familiar lyrics of the song. Sleigh bells and finger snaps join in as the tempo picks up to a cheerful reassurance that she can count on him to be home for Christmas. A collection of percussion is soon added to the instrument backing the group. I really like the way they sing the part, “Yeah, I’ll be home for Christmas”, Drew sings out, “I’ll be home!”, they sing again “Yeah, I’ll be home for Christmas” then Drew sings “Yeah!”; it sounds so supercool! 🙂 😎 Next up is a highlight of the In Real Life music: Michael Conor’s rapping! 🙂 😎 I love Michael’s music: his singing is great, he’s a gifted expert on the violin and the supercool rapping and free-stylin’ is way cool. 😎 😎 😎 😎 In this song, he’s rapping words of promise that he’s coming home for Christmas. 😎 He repeats this promise alternately throughout the closing chorus section in this cool arrangement along with Drew’s singing out a heartfelt “I’ll be there!” 🙂 😎

How’s this next one for a supercool gift? 🙂 On December 25, 2016, the five-member band Why Don’t We posted an acoustic Christmas Gift – a song called “You and Me at Christmas”. 😎 Daniel Seavey, Zach Herron, Corbyn Besson, Jonah Marais and Jack Avery sang with Daniel’s guitar being the only other instrument heard. 😎 Here’s how I came to know about this group, this song and their YouTube channel that began in 2016. A friend came across one of their performances back on October 14th of this year, saw their nice message on this song’s page and told me about it. And I was already liking them because of that cheerful and thoughtful message. 🙂 We watched the performance – loved it immediately! 🙂 The tune’s great 🙂 – I love upbeat stuff! 🙂 😎 The lyrics are excellent, flowing with natural musical beauty. All five of the guys have really good voices and sing superbly. Great style – honest, real and musically satisfying. They and their music are genuine, unique. If anyone should ask me, “So, who does Why Don’t We sound like?” My answer would be, “They sound exactly like Why Don’t We!” 😀 😎 That’s important in the music business; you want to be immediately recognized by your (good 😉 ) sound (it isn’t all that great for a group to be recognized because they sound musically bad). “You and Me at Christmas” is two minutes and thirty-eight seconds of great melody and singing. 😎 The song tells about how he’s been missing her since she went to California and wanting to see her again. The chorus is the song title sung in a very cool, melodic way; they’ve got great vocals and style! 🙂 😎 He sings that now, with her near, even though it’s cold outside, his heart is warm because he’s kissing her. 🙂 ❤ Bells and sleigh bells are ringing along with the heartfelt beauty of this song. 🙂 The chorus is sung gently with a cheerful, upbeat vibe. 😎 This song is supercool! 🙂

So how about another song by Why Don’t We? 🙂 They gave us a whole Christmas EP this year! 🙂 This one, “Kiss You This Christmas”, is the first song on their EP “A Why Don’t We Christmas” – and it’s supercool, too! 🙂 😎 This music group has such great harmonies and sings each solo part with excellent, melodic vocals. 😎 “Kiss You This Christmas” opens with twenty-four seconds of beautiful bells and strings, its melody already established as unique, warm and cozy. 😎 A perfect setting. 😎 The singing begins as he tells how joyful he is when she’s near and that she shines like a star. 🙂 These fellows sure know how to write a song – and sing it with heart. 🙂 ❤ ❤ It’s refreshing, good and supercool. 😎 The beautiful lyrics just keep coming, sharing his heart with her through poetry-set-to-music. 😎 He wants to kiss her this Christmas. ❤ He’s waiting for her to let him know. 😎 She’s all he needs to bring him cheer; there’s nothing sweeter than for her to be near. ❤ ❤ This is one of the most beautifully romantic love songs ever. 🙂 ❤ And I don’t say that lightly; I mean it thoroughly. Why Don’t We has a real gem here; it’s extraordinarily beautiful in word, in melody, in heart. ❤ 😎 I heartily recommend you check out their EP; it would be a great gift to give – and to receive! 🙂 😎

In 2016 I reviewed Big Time Rush’s “Beautiful Christmas”; this year, I’ll review the other track from their 2010 Christmas EP, “Holiday Bundle: All I Want for Christmas/Beautiful Christmas”. I’ll also be referring to their music video for it as well as my favorite acoustic performance. 🙂 The music video was the first time I saw Big Time Rush; I was immediately pleased with their great sound as well as their fun, upbeat personalities. 😎 I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve watched that video. 😛 A whole lotta times, to be sure! 🙂 My favorite acoustic performance of this song (although they are all great) is their performance from “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” on 11/30/11. 😎 Sitting amongst the festive decorations on a wintry New York City night, Dustin Belt played guitar, Kendall Schmidt (who learned from Dustin) also played guitar and Carlos PenaVega played tambourine. James Maslow and Logan Henderson, along with Kendall and Carlos, sang vocals. All five of them – for surely Dustin Belt is an essential part of Big Time Rush’s success both on scene and behind the scenes – brought good cheer, good music and warmth midst the cold with their excellent performance. 😎 The EP featured a full set of instruments including cool drums, music box chimes and sleigh bells; both versions sound very good. 🙂 😎 My favorite part of the EP version is found in the last half minute of the song. 🙂 They’re all singing the chorus in a round, Logan sings, “All I want for Christmas…” then James perfectly sings out, “…is you-oo-oo, Baby!” Then Logan takes over at twenty-three seconds remaining and it just sounds so cool! 🙂 😎 I love the arrangement, the change-up, the melody, the style – if you haven’t gotten to hear it yet, I believe you really should give it a listen and hear for yourself what I’m talking about! 🙂 😎 🙂 “All I Want for Christmas” tells about the desire of the heart in love, not needing or wanting lots of presents or other material things that many think are inseparable from the holiday. This song sings out that all that’s really necessary for happiness on that day is love. 🙂 Love is a precious gift from the Creator, as is His Gift to us: forgiveness, freedom and life through faith in His Son, Yeshua/Jesus. 🙂 😎 The Scriptures make it clear that He loves us, like in John, chapter three, verse sixteen: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That’s a lot of love! ❤

Jean247

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Posted on 12/11/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 41: December Holidays Music Part 1

Happy Chanukah! 🙂 Merry Christmas! 🙂 This December Holidays Music collection is part one and features supercool music artists Elvis Presley, Heffron Drive, James Maslow and more! 🙂 Part two is scheduled to post later this month and features such artists as Paul Revere & the Raiders, Big Time Rush, Bruno Mars & the Hooligans, LUNAFALL, In Real Life and Why Don’t We. 🙂 I hope you enjoy these review collections and the music that they feature. 🙂

Paul Revere’s Raiders, in their rockin’ Christmas concerts, include a beautiful version of the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”. 🙂 It’s one of the very best versions I have ever heard; an excellent ballad gently sung from the heart by lead singer Darren Dowler. 😎 The footage I was blessed to see is from a few years ago and it’s a treasure of a concert. 😎 Paul Revere’s Raiders have a reputation for great concerts filled with good music and fun. 🙂 The stage set-up is festive and cheerful with decorations; I love the tinsel and multi-colored lights draped about the stage – as well as on some of the instruments. 🙂 Their Raider uniform jackets are a bright red and Paul’s tri-cornered hat, which is usually black, is bright red as well – with white trim. The opening of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” is so beautiful as Darren’s singing goes perfectly with Danny Krause’s keys. 😎 Excellent! 🙂 The instrumental break in the song is beautiful as Darren turns the focus to Danny Krause’s highlight on the keys. 🙂 Paul Revere shows his approval by word and action as he, along with the rest of the guys, join in instrumentally – Ron Foos’s right-on bass, Doug Heath’s fine guitar playing, Tommy Scheckel’s awesome cymbal-shimmering all help make the performance exceptional. 😎 (I didn’t get to see footage of a time when guitarist Jamie Revere was performing this song with the rest of the guys on stage; it would’ve been even cooler with one more Raider there. 🙂 ) I appreciate the continual honor and respect that the Raiders have for our military, which they continue here with a tribute to them with a salute of respect at the finish of the song. 😎 It’s a great blessing and comfort to know that even if you aren’t able to be in the company of your family during holiday time – Chanukah, Christmas or any other holiday – you are together in heart and thought. ❤ ❤

In 2014 Kendall Schmidt (of Heffron Drive and Big Time Rush) wrote and recorded a new timeless Christmastime song, “Blame It On the Mistletoe”, releasing it as a solo single. It has a supercool, catchy, always-sounds-great rock’n’roll sound – complete with “shoop-shoop, shoop-de-doop”. 😎 🙂 Besides the drums, guitars and keys, excellent use was also made of ringing bells and sleigh bells. Kendall sings about his desire to break the ice, get the girl to go out skating or dancing with him, but it hasn’t worked out – yet. 😉 He keeps trying to figure out how to let her know what she means to him. 🙂 The chorus swings in at 51 seconds with some supercool drum beats. He tells about the mistletoe – symbolic for kissing – is hanging right above them, so why not pause from talking and just kiss…while they can “blame it on the mistletoe”? 🙂 Smart boy. 😉 At 1:16 is one of my favorite parts, where the note’s melodically carried at the end of “mistletoe” – excellent! 🙂 😎 Nice echoing effect of “mistletoe” from the chorus to the next verse, too. 🙂 The lyrics continue to be cool, poetic and witty as he tells her he’s been writing her carols since the fourth of July. 🙂 Kendall brings the volume down just right as he sings the chorus then jumps right back into the enthusiastic, upbeat vocals. 😎 When Heffron Drive (Dustin Belt and Kendall Schmidt’s music group 😎 ) performed it in concert the following year, they included a cool saxophonist on stage – who, after playing great throughout the song, played a supercool solo near the end. 😎 The lively tune sounded great live with Dustin and Kendall’s guitars, along with other music artists on drums, keys, bass and the sax. 😎 The drummer started it off in style with the rest soon joining in. Kendall focused on singing the song brilliantly as Dustin’s smile lit up the room. 😎 They were all having a good, fun time and that always makes it extra fun and enjoyable for the audience as well. 😎 Dustin’s energetic performance slowed down perfectly to a gentle strumming with less than a minute to the finish, conveying the tenderness in his own excellence of pure style. 😎 Awesomely cool. 😎

James Maslow gave us all an early Chanukah & Christmas gift! 🙂 A new song especially for the holidays season, “Christmas Beautiful”, is worded and sung by James with poetic beauty. 🙂 😎 This cozy, romantic song is well-titled, making good use of the good feelings that are often associated with Christmas: love, happiness, light, cheer, joy, celebration, loved ones near. 🙂 These words also apply to Chanukah, which celebrates the miracle of the Creator making one day’s amount of oil (for the Temple light after Israel won against the invading foe, cleaned up the desecrated-by-the-enemy Temple and rededicated it to the Creator – the lamp was to burn continuously and He made it so) last for eight (the amount of time needed for more of the required oil to be made and purified). 😎 Celebrating the miracle of oil for the Temple and the miracle of the Light (Yeshua/Jesus) makes it a joyous season in heart and soul. 😎 🙂 James poetically brought that beauty into a phrase “Christmas Beautiful” that shines brightly. 😎 His vocals are really the only music needed for this song, even though there’s other music joining in. He sings of the nice California weather outside, but that he would rather be inside cuddled close to his girl. 🙂 It’s his favorite time of the year, made better with her here by his side. She’s Christmas beautiful. 🙂 That would mean that not only is she beautiful to him in appearance, but also beautiful in her heart. 🙂 The holidays are known for warmth and love; true beauty comes from the inside and shines forth from the eyes. In the next verse, James paints another tropical beach scene then points out what’s better: it being cold outside, but warm inside. Thus he invites her to come in and enjoy the coziness of the holidays together with him. And he hopes it snows all night. Yes, a cozy evening cuddled close on the sofa in front of the fireplace is a beautiful scene that neither would want to end. 🙂 Thank you for the song gift, James! 🙂 I hope you have a Happy Chanukah, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🙂 😎

This next song, “Wintery Nights” by Allison Medina, was brought to my attention by my friend Ron Foos (Paul Revere’s Raiders), who co-wrote the song. 🙂 😎 He kindly shared it with me pre-release and I’ve been looking forward to including it in my holiday music collection review this year. 🙂 The opening sound of shimmering notes brings to mind the sparkling light reflected in the snowflakes of wintertime. 🙂 Gentle “ooo’s” in the background join together with a relaxed beat, setting the pace for the song. I love the touch of reggae beat that enters the song along with Allison Medina’s unique voice as she begins to sing – mentioning that snow we heard at the top of the song. 😉 😎 She sings the story of looking forward to husband and wife holding each other tight on this cold, wintry night. The chorus swings in at 46 seconds, where she sings that “wintery nights won’t get me down” – now that he will soon be back in town. 🙂 The next verse tells of the cozy setting; a crackling fire in the fireplace and the kisses that mistletoe traditionally represents is a great combination. 🙂 After the second chorus, an instrumental break leads into the third verse – and more romance. 2:43 is one of the prettiest parts of the song – a gentle melody sung so well in excellent tone and with tender heart by Allison. 😎 (The backing “ooo’s” are brought back in perfectly, too. 😎 ) She does a beautiful job of singing that spending your favorite time of year with the one you love most dear is precious. The song closes with her tenderly singing of how he’s riding on his sleigh through the sleet and snow to get back home to her. Love. 🙂 😎

When I hear “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” sung by Elvis Presley, it’s a blessing and a comfort to me. I have always loved listening to his Christmas album; his voice is so warm and reassuring as he sings these melodies. This particular song begins with a piano note; ladies prettily singing a snow-falling series of “oo-oo-oo-oo-ooo’s” follows then Elvis starts the verse. 😎 He sings that he will be home for Christmas, to plan on him being there. He asks for snow and mistletoe. 🙂 He tells how Christmas Eve will find him where the love light gleams. He reiterates that he will be home for Christmas – even if it’s only in his dreams. Being with loved ones is natural for celebrations; it makes it all the merrier. 🙂 However, sometimes loved ones are in various locations and are unable to meet up in one place at the same time on a specific date. But that shouldn’t keep the joy of celebration from happening in our hearts; we can be together in heart wherever we are. 🙂 I know it’s not exactly the same, but it counts and is important to remember. 😎 If you are joined in heart, you are together. If you have no loved ones to celebrate with you can still celebrate. If you believe on the Creator, you are never truly alone. 😎 You can talk to Him; He listens and cares. Most likely, you can find happiness in helping others; it’s an awesome feeling that adds yet more joy to any celebratory occasion, be it Chanukah, Christmas, New Year’s, et cetera. 🙂 Back to the song now… The way Elvis sings so gently, deepening his notes and carrying them in his own style all at the right moments makes this an extra-special version of the song with continuous recognition as the top recording. The male and female chorus finishes out the song, along with the other instruments, with the heartfelt words, “I’ll be home for Christmas!”

John McDermott, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan – The Irish Tenors – sang “The Holy City” poignantly beautifully on their 1999 album, “Home for Christmas”. 🙂 This four minute, fifty-four second studio recording begins with a majestic orchestral opening (played expertly by a seventy-eight piece orchestra) then quiets as the singing begins. John sings the lyrics about a wonderful dream one night. 😎 “I stood in old Jerusalem beside the Temple there.” 😎 He heard the voices of children singing, then he heard what seemed to be the voices of angels. The instruments begin to build up majestically around fifty-three seconds into the song as the chorus, the words of the angels in the dream, is sung out by all three tenors. 😎 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your heads and sing! Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to the King!” Anthony brings in the second verse, which tells about a change in the dream. Now all was silent, no gladness of singing, a darkness reigned over the land, when Yeshua/Jesus, died on the cross to pay for everyone’s sins so we wouldn’t have to. Now all we need to do is accept His gift of forgiveness and trust Him to save us. 🙂 The joyful chorus begins, because now there’s singing again! 🙂 😎 The third verse, sung by Ronan, tells of another scene change in the dream. The Holy City, New Jerusalem, from Heaven above, is seen. 😎 You can read about it in the Scriptures, in Revelation (the King James Version is the clearest English translation from the original language). The streets are paved with gold. His Light is the only illumination needed – no sun or moon necessary. 😎 The gates are open wide in invitation to all who would like to enter; all you need to do is believe in Yeshua/Jesus, what He did for you, ask Him to forgive and save you – and He will. That’s why He came to Earth. To rescue you. Because He loves you.

Jean247

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Posted on 11/29/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 40: Flicker – The Tour, The Album, The Song Part 3

Flicker – The Song
In the heart of the track list is the heart of the album, “Flicker”. This title track – all four minutes and eighteen seconds of it – is one of the most beautiful melodies I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. 😎 The waltzy Irish tune carries hope and dreams along on a wave of tender lyrics and heart-powered musical instruments that can leave you breathless. It’s that beautiful. 🙂

The song is introduced by the melodic sounds of the acoustic guitar and the keys, soon joined by Niall Horan’s fine Irish voice. 🙂 He sings about the feeling of being afraid that the love you thought you shared with another has gone away. (But if it is true love it won’t ever go away.) Niall’s tone lifts in hope as he tells about thinking of the stars, an echo of spark, looking back at what brought the guy and girl of this story together to start with (that’s a wise thing to do). He goes on to sing, as the music soars upward, that looking within your heart, there’s a light in the dark – a flicker of hope. This hope is something to keep and the guy in the song doesn’t want his girl to leave him.

In concert, Gerry shimmers the cymbals with perfectness, keeping it low then building the volume exquisitely. 😎

By the second verse, the drums are supplying a steady rhythm and the electric and bass guitars have joined the acoustic guitar and keys regularly now. 😎

The second verse began at 1:36, as the story continues, the guy telling the girl things he’s never shared with her before – and only kind of is now because she’s not awake. He asks questions as he looks at the ceiling, not knowing what she’s ever thinking. And that’s probably a big part of why he’s wondering if they still have it. The way to solve the problem of not knowing what she’s ever thinking is to ask her. And if he told her stuff he’s never told her before – when she’s awake – then they could maybe find out if what they have is real. Where there’s not enough trust there’s no security. If you can’t/don’t trust the person with your heart then you’ll never have the security you seek. That’s what marriage is supposed to be made of: love and trust and faith. With these three ringing true between the two of you, you’ll both have the desire of your hearts.

As great as this song sounds on the album, it is even more impressive when performed live by Niall, Jake, Gerry, John, Louis and Conor. 😎 In concert, you can see that the entire band feels the music deeply, swaying and moving to the waltzy tune. 😎 If you couldn’t physically hear the music, you could still see it just by watching them. 😎

By the end of the second chorus, the volume of Niall’s vocals has risen from quietly conversational to that of an imploring hope. And the instruments have been right there with him. 🙂 😎

As the next section of the song begins, the sweet voice of the violin is heard – such a beautiful sound it is! It adds even more to the song, which is an amazing feat. 😎

The vocals ring out that he hopes this fearful feeling will pass, that it won’t last too long. Then Niall’s voice rises along with the other instruments, focusing again on hope. 😎 Hope is a precious thing; it is of high value. True hope comes through faith that the Creator keeps His promises. He wants us to be happy even more than our dearest friends do. 😎 That’s why He gave us hope for heaven – because He loves us. With faith in Him, our Savior from our own imperfections, we can have peace in our hearts and souls. And we can have heaven both on Earth and in Heaven above. 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 11/24/2017 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 39: Flicker – The Tour, The Album, The Song Part 2

Flicker – The Album
First you see the cover, right? 🙂 And this one’s a good one. 😎 It’s honest, real and straight-forward, which are words you could also use to describe the man featured on the cover and for the music inside. 😎 The emerald green vinyl – an excellent color choice! 😉 🙂 😎 – is one of the coolest records I’ve ever seen. (I hope to get one, but so far I’ve only gotten to see a pre-release picture of it.)

Although the tracks of “Flicker” would have been great to listen to straight from the album without having heard it performed live first, Niall’s idea made it that much better. 😎 Now, after having seen and heard the songs done live, the depth of listening enjoyment is even greater. 😎 As I listen to the album, I can see Niall and the guys singing the rich vocals, Jake playing that guitar with expertise, Gerry playing the drums and percussion with his soul-deep style, John’s sparkling cool bass, Louis bringing the keys to life, and Conor swaying with the violin as he helps take the song to another level. 😎 No matter how many times I listen to the album or watch footage from the live performances, I look forward to hearing and seeing it all again. 🙂 😎 Continually satisfying and enjoyable. 🙂

This album features awesome drumming and percussion; you know this Cherokee girl loves that! 😀 It’s great. 😎 Each vocal and each instrument represented is superbly enjoyable to listen to over and over again. 😎 The album has good rockin’ music, heartfelt ballads, plus a few other genres added to the flavor as well as the happy sound of lilting Irish melody, making it a way-supercool addition to the music-lover’s collection. 😎 Every nuance of this album’s music is both deep and heart-touching. 😎 It carries with it an unending hope. 😎 There’s a mixture of themes and tempos to be found. And each song – even the ones on the unhappy-side-of-things – all have a great sound that makes me smile. 🙂 (I couldn’t really avoid putting a happy smiley after that sentence, now could I? 😉 )

The album starts off with “On the Loose”, a song whose lyrics features a warning for the listener. My favorite part of this song is the supercool guitar in the last 30+ seconds – have you gotten to hear it yet?! 🙂 Track two is the first single from this album, “This Town”, which was the featured article on my blog back on March 17th (hey, it seemed like the perfect day for it! 😉 🙂 ). The next song is “Seeing Blind”; I love the happy, upbeat sound and lyrics to this one where the love that’s dreamed of is the love in real life between the girl and guy characters of the song. ❤ “Slow Hands” is the fourth track; the supercool vocals and music makes it obvious why this second single was an instant hit and remains so popular. 😎 Niall’s third single is track number five, “Too Much To Ask”, which I love listening to – the clean version. 🙂 The opening of track six, “Paper Houses”, is really cool, as is Niall’s softer singing later in the song and the melody. 😎 Track seven, “Since We’re Alone”, tells about sharing your heart with trust and features some higher notes from Niall – his vocal range is excellent. 😎

“Flicker” is the eighth track, which is fitting because it is enjoyably listenable for infinity. 🙂 😎 This song is of hope and has a wonderful Irish waltz tune – love the sound of it from start to finish! 🙂 😎 🙂 Next, in the ninth spot, is “Fire Away”, a #1 song of 100% beauty. 😎 😎 😎 Track ten is a promise of the heart called “You And Me”; Niall’s deep vocals sound really good. 🙂 😎 The first ten seconds of track eleven, “On My Own”, features some of the coolest music on the album – a solid Irish melody full of energy and enthusiasm (even though it soon switches to a story about the state of being hungover, sung with the attitude befitting such a situation). The opening section is reflective of the cheerful state of the Irish heart. 🙂 😎 “Mirrors” is the song in the twelfth notch and has a super-awesome rockin’ chorus in which each instrument is soaring high with liveliness and strength. It’s got great sound! 🙂 😎 The 13th track on this supercool deluxe Irish album is “The Tide”; I love the dramatic opening that sounds so pleasingly cool – the drumbeats and percussion claim my attention right away in awestruck silence at its great musical quality. The song has a great fast-paced tempo and the drums just keep on impressing. 😎 🙂

I love listening to this album and watching it being performed live is an extra blessing. Seeing each instrument being played with gifted hands and expertise along with a generous portion of heart is great! 🙂 As I have said before in other articles: I greatly enjoy seeing exactly how the sounds come about from each instrument. It is fascinating and intriguing and always adds to the music for me. I’m very grateful to excellent musicians like Niall, Gerry, Jake, John, Louis and Conor for sharing their music and for those who film and post some of it for us to see online. 🙂 Not everyone can go to the live performances and concerts, so it’s nice not to miss out on such musical treasures as these fellows. 🙂 “Flicker” fulfills the need for more good music and celebrates the love of true, honest music filled with Irish heart. ❤

This supercool collection of good sound is available on compact disc, as MP3 digital download and – my constant-favorite sound – vinyl record. 🙂 😎

For handy reference, here’s the track list and times for the “Flicker (Deluxe)” 10/20/2017 album release by Niall Horan:
1. On the Loose 3:44
2. This Town 3:53
3. Seeing Blind 3:05
4. Slow Hands 3:08
5. Too Much To Ask 3:43
6. Paper Houses 3:35
7. Since We’re Alone 4:03
8. Flicker 4:18
9. Fire Away 3:26
10. You And Me 3:05
11. On My Own 4:01
12. Mirrors 3:38
13. The Tide 3:21

Jean247

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Posted on 10/31/201711/15/2017 by Jean247 · 7 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 38: Flicker – The Tour, The Album, The Song Part 1

You all know that I love good music, so it shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone that Irishman Niall Horan’s new album – and the supercool session tour that it inspired – is about to be featured on Supercool Music. 🙂 😎

The songs began releasing last year, followed by performances at radio stations and special events. This Summer, the Flicker Sessions tour began. This Fall/Autumn, the album featured here, “Flicker (Deluxe)” by Niall Horan, was released on 10/20/2017. When that happened, my “1020” (code for “location” 😉 🙂 ) was the music store to get this supercool album. 🙂 😎

This article is the first of a three-part series, the first of its kind, entitled: Flicker – The Tour, The Album, The Song. I hope you will enjoy reading it as each part is posted. 🙂

~”Flicker” – The Tour~
Flicker Sessions is the name of Niall’s album tour and it was excellently chosen. As he tells everyone at his concerts: he wanted to sing the album for us first. I believe it’s very cool of him to do that; it makes it extra special for the artist to sing it to us first – foregoing the usual way of not getting to hear it all until its official release. Niall goes more by heart than this-is-the-way-things-are-done-in-this-business. That’s cool. 😎 It’s not surprising, though. 🙂 The Irish are known for their good sense, good humor, hard-working and fun-loving ways. 🙂 Niall and his band (including the one from England 😉 ) show forth our heritage quite well. 🙂 😎

The stage itself is designed with a reflection of the Irish heart: home. The lamps set about the stage gives off a warm and cozy glow. The comfortable rugs strategically placed on the stage floor not only lends a feel of home, but also is good for the overall comfort and good health of the fellows standing on that stage for the entire concert. (That’s some more of that good Irish sense I was talking about. 😉 😎 )

These live concerts feature five supercool Irishmen and one exceptional resident of England. 🙂 😎 Here’s the fellows playing that supercool music and singing those deep, manly vocals:
Niall Horan – lead vocals, guitars
Gerry Morgan – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Jake Curran – lead guitar, backing vocals
John Bird – bass guitar, backing vocals
Louis Querelle – keys, backing vocals
Conor Masterson – violin, rhythm guitar, percussion, backing vocals

Each one of these men are not only nice, highly likable individuals, but they are also very good at what they do. 😎 Each instrument is played with a gifted expertise that adds such an important element to the overall sound of the music. 😎 They feel the music within and bring it out beautifully. Another rare thing is that their individual styles blend together into an orchestration of powerful, soulful, moving music that fills the air with its strength of heartfelt beauty. And the best instrument on stage isn’t any of the manmade ones. 😉 It’s the gifted, strong male voices of Niall, Jake, John, Gerry, Louis and Conor. 🙂 😎 The music of their voices is the only essential instruments truly needed for a successful performance. 😎 And I say that even though I love the sound of their drums, guitars, percussion, keys and strings. That’s really saying something. 🙂

As I’ve noted before, a concert/live performance is even more enjoyable when not only the music is great, but also when the artists on stage are having fun and enjoying the music, too. Niall and his band are having a great time up there – you can hear it and you can see it. 😎 And therefore, you can feel the difference. 🙂 😎

You can easily see that Niall’s team – including those whom we get to see on stage as well as the many who work behind the scenes on every aspect that helps to make each show a success – is a talented, close and capable one. 😎 The security team is essential and greatly appreciated always. 😎 Thank you. 🙂

It’s really cool – and fitting – that the Flicker Sessions tour began in Dublin, Ireland at a beautiful theater. The comforts and treasures of home are a blessing that’s always close to the Irish heart. ❤

Jean247

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Posted on 09/28/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 37: “End of the Day”

Track #5 on One Direction’s “Made in the A.M.” album – “End of the Day” – is a melodic tune of very cool musical elements. 🙂 Harry Styles begins the story, singing about how he (the character in the song) told the girl he loved her, but was unsure if she had even heard him. Niall Horan picks up the story, saying how powerful love can be – and at times that power can be kind of frightening. The next part, after some cool drum beats, The lyrics continue, saying that even though no one is perfect, if that special someone is the one you love – they are irreplaceable. She is that to him. 🙂 The next section of the song changes up (the third change-up – it’s really cool the way they did this 😎 ) again and is the most melodic of all. 🙂 Niall carries out the beautiful tune of “oh’s” that could go on for a very long time and not be too much. 🙂 Yes, it really sounds that good. 😉

Verse two begins with Liam Payne telling how overwhelming love can be. Louis Tomlinson sings the words again about the level of emotion that being in love can take you to – it’s beautiful and almost overwhelming in its power and how much it effects your life. Although there may be some elements of fear (more of a worry than a scary fear, though – as in: worrying if you can be everything they need, worrying about the possibility of failing them), real love isn’t a fearful thing. It is a beautiful gift from the Creator. 🙂 There is an excitement in true love as well as a reassuring, peaceful contentment – all at the same time! 🙂 😎 And I’m not talking about the physical expression of love; I’m talking about true love between a man and a woman who are each other’s own true love. Sometimes we might think we are in love – sometimes we even think we know it – but when you find your real true love, it is such a powerful thing it rises far above the power and wonder of the physical. It flows through your whole being – your spirit, your soul, your body, your heart. It’s undeniable.

The Creator is Love. Perfect love comes from Him; apart from Him, we don’t even know what love is (Scripture reference: first letter of John, chapter 4). “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” These words can be found in the Scriptures, in first John 4:18, if you’d like to read it there for yourself. You should check things out for yourself, make sure it is founded on Scripture. 🙂

2:03-2:19 features an excellent solo by Louis. 🙂 He sings that at the end of the day, sunset, he knows everything will be all right between his girl and him. 😎 Love should be that way. 🙂

Harry follows with the chorus lyrics in which he sings, “…you follow your heart even though it will break sometimes….” Sometimes we are convinced that we share a mutual, lasting love with another, but sometimes it isn’t truly so. The heart is very fragile, yet it is also very strong. It can break, but it can also heal. And it helps a lot to know that true love does exist; therefore, it can be found. Just trust the Creator to guide you, pray to Him and trust Him to lead you in the right path. He wants you to be happy even more than you do – He loves you! 🙂 😎

Everything is better with your true love – yes, everything, because they love and trust you enough/so much that they married you, so your heart can safely trust in them. Sometimes people call strong feelings or desires/needs “love”, but that’s not what love is all about. A good definition of love is: the unselfish desire to meet the needs of a cherished object or person. (Examples: a person who loves their boat or car so much that they put much work into taking care of it, and in the area of your sweetheart – caring so much for that person that you put their needs before your own, doing what is best for them overall, even if you’d rather do something else). You put the other person first – that’s one way you can tell if it is real love. A person who truly loves you won’t try to pressure you into doing what they want to do. They might ask, but they won’t resort to name-calling or other pressure tactics to get what they want.

With less than half of a minute left to the song, the beautifully melodic “oh’s” by Niall begins again, with Louis singing “At the end of the day” she’s the one he wants, Harry and Liam belting out their vocals as well – and, this time, a great guitar adding its powerful voice to the heartfelt melody. 🙂 😎

And as great as this song sounds on the album, it’s even better at a live performance – and by my other articles, you know the reasons why. 😉

Jean247

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Posted on 08/28/2017 by Jean247 · 8 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 36: “Infinity”

“Infinity” is yet another vocally pleasing song on One Direction’s newest album, “Made in the A.M.” 🙂

A quiet instrumental backdrop starts and soon thereafter Niall Horan begins singing the first verse in his fine Irish voice, followed by Liam Payne’s musical tones. 🙂 When the chorus arrives, Harry Styles belts out the vocals with all the heart needed, soon joined by more voices – I can hear Louis Tomlinson’s melodic voice – adding yet more depth and power to the song. 😎

In the chorus, Harry tells how very long it would take to fix his heart from the harm her words and actions caused him. Then he sings out the heartfelt lyrics: “Oh, Baby, I was there for you; all I ever wanted was the truth…” Sometimes we feel compelled to hold back the truth, afraid that it will either hurt the other person or ourselves. But avoiding it doesn’t make it go away. Honesty is essential in every relationship in life – be it love, friendship or business. The truth might be difficult to admit, even to ourselves sometimes, but lying is never the right thing to do. If there is something you know you should tell someone then you need to be brave, show some diplomacy (tell them in the nicest way possible) and tell them.

If you aren’t honest with the one you love, how can they trust you? Maybe you cheated on them and you’re afraid that telling them that truth will make them not trust you. At first, they would have to think it through – that information would be a shock to them – but if they truly love you, they’ll forgive you. And by telling them that difficult bit of information, you prove to them that you respect them enough to be honest with them and to ask their forgiveness. If you don’t tell them, you will know, the other person will sense something is wrong (and will probably assume it’s their fault – which is doubly bad of you) and it will become a wedge between you. Honesty, however difficult, brings release from a guilty mind and frees you. If love is there – love will still be there. You need to trust your loved one with the truth so they can trust you, too.

The Creator is always truthful with us. He never lies. We can trust Him in all things. 😎 If He said it, we can safely believe it. We should make sure that He actually said it, though – sometimes people (either knowingly or unknowingly) say the Creator said something, but He didn’t. The Scriptures are His Word in print; if He said it – you can find it in there. 😎 Even those who claim to know the Scriptures because they studied it for years can be mistaken about things. Every human is capable of making a mistake, misunderstanding or misinterpreting something. The Creator’s true thoughts on things can be found in the Scriptures if you search it out with an honest and faithful heart. Every answer is in there. Some things you can understand by the context and some things are so straightforward you can’t take it incorrectly unless you’re lying to yourself because you want to believe something different than what is actually being said. Just because someone is a member of the clergy doesn’t necessarily mean they know the Creator better than you. Everyone who believes in Yeshua/Jesus knows the Creator and the Holy Spirit helps us to interpret/understand the Scriptures – as long as we are listening to Him. If we come with false assumptions and preconceived ideas, we might miss out on the truth that’s right in front of us. We shouldn’t try to make the Scriptures agree with us; we should try to make sure we agree with Scripture.

Okay, back to the song! 🙂 The second verse begins with Liam singing some of his best vocals then Louis sings the next part with such clarity you can almost hear the heart breaking.

The chorus follows, sounding as great as it did the first time. 😎

The bonuses are fast approaching as the song reaches past the halfway mark. It’s always a great anticipation to see what a group will do with that last section of a song. 🙂

At 2:43 One Direction begins a very cool echo of the song’s title. 🙂 😎 The music takes off in a soaring crescendo as the vocals match – and surpass – the man-made instruments at will. The song concludes with Harry singing that poignant one-word title, “Infinity.”

Now, that was the album version. 🙂 It’s really cool. 😎 In concert it’s supercool. 🙂 😎 There are several reasons why the concert performances are even better, four of those reasons are: Josh Devine on drums, Jon Shone on keys, Sandy Beales on bass and Dan Richards on guitar. 🙂 😎 They are one impressive band! 🙂 Another reason is that Louis, Niall, Liam and Harry have the freedom to sing out their vocals; their voices are excellent and sound even better live in concert. 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 07/31/2017 by Jean247 · 8 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 35: GERRY MORGAN IRISH DRUMMER

Please prepare yourself to see a lot of 😎 smileys, because the magnificent artistry of the man whose work I’m featuring in this article is going to bring on a lot of that feeling. 😎 Gerry Morgan. 😎 Irishman. 😎 Drummer. 😎 (See what I mean? 😉 I’ll try to keep it down, though, so it won’t interrupt your reading enjoyment or distract you from getting the full portion of information on how great a drummer this man is. 🙂 )

On the subject of music, additional to Gerry’s soul-deep drumming skills, this excellent percussionist enjoys finding and playing many unique percussion instruments from around the world. 😎

I first learned of Gerry Morgan and his drumming as I was watching a late night show performance by Niall Horan. Although Niall is without argument an exceptional artist and a very nice person, my attention was irrevocably drawn to the man playing the drums. There was no denying the depth of connection he had with the music he was playing. That he’s a kind and good-humored man was another thing I observed. A true artist’s music is a part of them; it reflects part of their heart and the heart of Gerry Morgan is soul-deep. I knew I wanted to see and hear more of this man’s work. 😎

The first paragraph and all of the following ones from this point on was typed all on one evening, when I had planned on watching a piece of footage then read in the suspense books – yes, I truly had two going, that “s” wasn’t a typographical error 😉 – for a while. However, once I started watching Gerry’s magnificent drumming, that was it.

The title of the piece of footage I’m reviewing here is: GERRY MORGAN IRISH DRUMMER WARMS UP. 🙂 After a seven-second blacked-screen word introduction letting us know that this footage is of Gerry just messing around on the drum kit/set, the scene changes to the man and his drums. 😎 Mere seconds into it I’m going, “This is only warming up?!?! Wow!” 🙂 😎 No, make that “WOW!” 🙂 😎 Yes, that’s more accurate. 🙂 😎 I could be very happy listening to and watching Gerry Morgan “warm up” for an endless amount of time. 🙂 😎

As you know, if you’ve read my writings, I love good drumming. 🙂 It’s the favorite man-made musical instrument of this Cherokee girl (who has Irish heritage as well 🙂 ), although I love the harp very much, too. (I specify “man-made” because the music of our vocal chords and that of singing in sign are Creator-made. 🙂 ) I love to hear good drumming and watch how these great sounds come about – which drums, cymbals, et cetera, are being played at each given moment and how. In this article, I’m not talking about just good drumming – I’m talking about magnificent drumming! 🙂 😎 Gerry Morgan’s drumming is of the best. 😎

Right away he’s laying down such a groovy beat – takes my breath away. He has such a great presence at the drum set. 😎 He’s totally in control and familiar with his kit – comfortable, confident, at ease, endless strength and power, accurate, laid-back yet always at-the-ready, focused yet casual, content as well as creative – this man is really, really good at what he does. 🙂 😎 Amazing and supercool. 😎

His drumsticks are a blur of musical movement as he covers the entire set of equipment with such smoothness that it gives the appearance of effortlessness. 😎 I’d also like to note here that his mannerism and playing style is a very groovy calm. It is easy to see and hear that he feels the music soul-deep; it flows through his deft hands and feet as he takes the drums and cymbals through a musical journey of great artistic beauty. Such a pleasure and a blessing I thank the Creator for. 🙂

A cymbal crash at 19 seconds shimmers a few seconds then Gerry sets off an impressive run along his varying drums with clear notes and mach-like speed. 😎 He intermingles some cymbals with the drums at just the right moments, too. You’d maybe think a slower, more restful beat would follow this fast-paced section. But you’d be wrong. In a flash – without a moment’s breath – Gerry takes his “warm up” into yet another high-caliber level of drumming expertise. 😎

Never a moment of monotony. 😎 Gerry keeps changing it up, giving another section of music that goes with the previous while being a perfect lead-in to the next section. 😎 I love his choice of drum at each point, often choosing the deeper tones with the snare drum being included at the right moments in the right way without it being overplayed. 😎

The cymbals are just as awesome. 😎 Gerry’s music style, his drumstick velocity and touch are all truly magnificent. 🙂

By 1:26 Gerry is about to switch it up yet again, this amazing drummer. 🙂 😎 This footage has already brought prayers of thankfulness from my heart to the Creator for Gerry, good music and YouTube. 🙂 At 1:27, my gratefulness soars with the pleasure of the amazing artistry that Gerry is now putting forth. And the awesomeness keeps on rising to greater levels as the rhythm of the musical beat flows onward with even more added to it. He already took my breath away and now he is holding my heart as well, musically speaking. Can words truly convey the beauty of this music? Is any phrase powerful and worthy enough to use to try to describe it? I don’t believe so. I write what I hear, yet there are no words to write that will do Gerry’s music justice. The best I can do is to say that I love it. And I do. 🙂 My soul feels it and recognizes the depth of the music. What a beautiful thing this is.

I have been watching and listening to this footage for over two hours now as I’ve made myself hit the pause button from time to time in order to type my review. 🙂 That wasn’t easy to do; I admit that I watched the footage all of the way through oft times because I couldn’t make myself touch that pause button. Gerry is an amazing artist with a great soul for music. Soul music. Music that touches your soul in a good way is the best music there is. My heart gets it.

Before I close this review, I’ll share this little bit of information in regards to the first time (and every time after that, really) that I watched this piece of footage. I believe it might bring you a chuckle or two. 😉 I’m a very quiet person and shy as well, otherwise, when the sound faded out and the footage ended while Gerry was still drumming, the entire neighborhood would have heard me vocalizing my desire for the footage to continue with a heartfelt “NOOOOOOOO!” 🙂 My neighbors should be grateful for my quiet nature, yes? 🙂 😉

Jean247

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Posted on 07/02/201707/06/2017 by Jean247 · 9 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 34: “Kicks”

The 1960’s supercool, super-rockin’ group Paul Revere & the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay has the distinction of having the most popular, most easily recognized, most widely known anti-drug song ever recorded. 😎 Their supercool and way-talented music producer and friend, Terry Melcher, got this song for them from the amazing song writing duo of Mann & Weil, a husband and wife team who wrote an amazing amount of music hits. 😎

“Kicks” is a consistently great and consistently-needed song. It’s current. It’s relevant. And it’s rockin’ cool. 😎

It’s covered by many – including supercool tribute band Paul Revere’s Raiders! 🙂 – and performed by original Raiders Mark Lindsay and Phil Volk on their tours and appearances. 😎 The song is available on vinyl, compact disc, and digital. 😎 Seeing footage of the original performances is way cool; in them you will see:

Drake Levin, the most amazing guitarist I’ve had the pleasure of watching footage of, starts off the song with his signature guitar playing – flawless, rockin’, and supercool! 🙂

Drummer extraordinaire, Mike “Smitty” Smith, is shimmering the cymbals in the background, bringing up the volume at the right time before swinging into the superb drumbeat of this excellent song. 😎

Phil Volk, the man who plays the bass with the finesse that brings it the attention of a lead guitar, is vibing the bass beat perfectly. 🙂

Founder and leader of the coolest band, Paul Revere, is playing the keys – making the instrument known as the organ to sound as cool as only he can. 🙂

Mark Lindsay, the Cherokee man with the voice no one could ever realistically hope to duplicate, starts singing the vocals, putting his heart and soul into it as he authentically always does. 😎

And that’s just the seven-second introduction of the song! 🙂 😎

Musically, it’s an awesome song. 😎 Message-wise, it’s an awesome song. 😎 And talent-wise, it’s an amazing rendering. 😎

Mark sings to the girl in the song with a soft pleading in his voice, hoping she’ll listen to the truth of things and stop trusting in lies. He says he knows she thought she’d find a little piece of paradise when she took drugs last night, but the truth is that when she wakes up in the morning, the world’s still going to get her all stressed out – drugs don’t fix anything or make things better. Not ever.

Drake changes the notes, guiding the tone and set of the song with ease of expertise. 😎 Smitty keeps that drumbeat strong and steady while Paul and Phil blend their instruments’ great sounds into a masterpiece of music. 😎

Mark notes that there’s nothing the girl hasn’t tried “to fill the emptiness inside” and that when she comes back down from the drug “high” – she still isn’t feeling right. Drugs aren’t the answer. God is. He loves you so much He died for you, in your place, and rose again to life everlasting so that you could be forgiven for everything once and for all and live forever in Paradise, when your life here is done. All you have to do is believe that, ask Him to forgive and save you, and you’re saved forever. 😎

In the Scriptures in the book of John chapter 3 verse 16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He loves you. If you were the only person on Earth ever; He would have done it just for you. 😎 That’s how much He loves you. 🙂 That’s how much He loves me, too. 🙂 He loves each and every one of us that much. 😎 That’s a powerful, abiding love. 😎

At thirty-four seconds in, Mark continues to sing the real truth: drugs are a lie. They deceitfully offer escape and pleasure – but you get neither, not for real. You just get more trouble, more sorrow, more misery. They don’t make your troubles go away at all; they just add to your troubles. You like freedom, right? Then you don’t want to ever even try drugs – they enslave you, take over your life and make you less than what you can be.

The tempo picks up with freedom at your fingertips as the other fellows join Mark in singing that kicks (supposed thrills from drugs) keep being harder to find – because they aren’t real or satisfying – and they don’t bring peace of mind. The guys warn with strong encouragement: “Before you find out it’s too late, Girl, you better get straight.” Mark says drugs aren’t the way. And he’s right. 😎

Drake’s cool guitar notes accompany Mark’s words that, “You just need help, Girl.” Whatever you are facing in life, no matter how big or how small, God always cares and is there for you if you just trust Him. And there are people who care about you, too. You might like to know: I pray for you each day. 🙂 What’s that? You ask how I can pray for you when I don’t even know your name? It’s easy. 🙂 God made you, He knows exactly who you are – yes, you right there reading these words right now – and so when I pray for everyone who reads my blog, He knows I’m including you. 🙂 He sees and knows everything and He can be trusted always. 😎

The second verse begins with Mark saying how the girl in the song thinks she’s found a little piece of Paradise, but he warns her that she’d better think twice. Her assumption is incorrect. Drugs aren’t wonderful like Paradise; they’re horrible, like Hell on Earth. That’s not cool. No need to mince words; your life is important. 😎

Sometimes people try drugs because they’re unhappy with who they are or how their life is going, but drugs don’t fix a thing – they only make things worse. “Don’t you see that no matter what you do – you’ll never run away from you. And if you keep on runnin’, you’ll have to pay the price.” Starting drugs is a bad idea and continuing doing drugs takes its toll on you – spirit, soul and body. If you haven’t ever tried drugs: please don’t, respect yourself. If you have tried drugs: please get away from them before they suck you in. If you’re doing drugs: please get help to stop – your life matters.

Yes, it does. 😎

Drake’s right hand blurs along the strings as he plays with his perfection of expertise, building up the momentum of the song along with Smitty’s drums. 😎 All-the-while, Mark’s urgent voice implores the girl to get away from drugs. Mann & Weil cared enough to write this song and Terry, Mark, Paul, Smitty, Drake and Phil all cared enough to put in the work to record it. 😎 It’s message is strong and clear. 😎

At 1:41 the tempo of the song slows down to a more intimate pace as Mark sings with gentleness, “No, you don’t need kicks to help you face the world each day. That road goes nowhere – I’m going to help you find yourself another way.”

As the rest of the group sings the chorus, Mark continues to try to get through to the girl, telling her that “Ah, you don’t need kicks, Girl! Oh, you just need help, Girl! Girl, you better get straight…” Everyone needs help sometimes; there’s no shame in asking for help. Actually, it is a sign of wisdom and bravery to ask for help, especially when your life depends on it. Maybe you think no one cares, but they do. I care. God cares more than you can imagine. And as far as people are concerned: the one who needs to care most about you is you. If other people let you down, you can’t really do anything about that – it’s their bad. But if you let yourself down… You need to care and to respect yourself. Every life is important. Your life is important. You aren’t replaceable; there’s only one of you in this whole, entire world. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 06/27/201710/31/2017 by Jean247 · 5 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 33: Ocean Drum Music by Demian Arriaga

One man. One drum. Much music. 😎

The man I’m referring to is Demian Arriaga, supercool drummer who spent part of this year’s springtime playing drums in the studio for Heffron Drive’s upcoming songs for 2017. 😎 Both members of Heffron Drive, Dustin Belt and Kendall Schmidt, were kvelling about how great the drum sessions were going. I was excited about this because I love the sound of good drumming! 🙂 Kendall mentioned the drummer’s name, Demian Arriaga, and I got in contact with him, telling him how much I was looking forward to hearing the music. He responded graciously, enthusiastically and humbly. 😎 He said good things about Dustin and Kendall, not bragging on himself. I couldn’t seem to wait to hear his drumming and realized there might be some drum solos on YouTube (not of Heffron Drive’s new music yet, of course, but other footage 😉 ). There were quite a few treasures of drum work there! 🙂 So much good stuff. 🙂

The footage I’m reviewing is one minute and two seconds in length and features Demian having fun playing an ocean drum. This clip is so fascinatingly unique and good. 🙂 The ocean drum is an instrument similar, in a very general sense, to a Cherokee hand drum or a bodhran. Its sound differs greatly from that of those two individually unique instruments. The narrow edge of the ocean drum is rested on the player’s leg and balanced with their hands as it’s held so that the people watching will see the large O of the circumference. And so you can see a good reason for its name. 😉 😎 The drum, which is just a few inches thick, has a clear cover on it with an ocean scene depicted inside. 🙂 A small collection of metal beads is contained within this enclosure and adds another dimension of music to it, as Demian excellently demonstrates. 😎 At times, this drum sounds akin to a steel drum, depending on how it’s being played.

Demian, in this brief video, shows a whole wealth of music that this instrument can do. 😎 He’s an excellent drummer. 🙂 I appreciate good drumming and this is such cool footage that I’ve watched it many times already. 🙂

The first twelve seconds he makes use of his fingertips in a series of cool movements from the nine o’clock side (as you would be seeing it) and down to the six-thirty portion with his right hand while his left hand plays the twelve o’clock area. The drum has a really neat sound and the rhythm he’s playing is very cool. 😎

The next part gives a good example of how those beads can add to the overall ocean sound of the ocean drum. 🙂 By hitting the top edge of the drum’s edge with his left palm, the beads shift and bounce at the bottom, as if it were ocean sand. He does this at just the right moments, making a groovy ocean tune. 😎

Demian makes use of various portions of the drum surface, bringing about some supercool music. 🙂 😎

At thirty-three seconds into this music footage, Demian speeds up his right hand’s pace, adding to his ocean drum song with amazing style and artistic gracefulness. 😎

With some instrument artists, you can “hear” the music just by watching them play the instrument – with the volume turned all of the way down on whatever you are watching it on. Demian is one such artist. 😎 As I watch this treasure clip of ocean drum music, I notice this visual. I paused the footage, backed it up and silenced the sound. Yes, you can “see-hear” the music, the energy, the tempo, the beats, the style, the vibes. Very, very cool. 🙂 😎 You might want to try that out for yourself. 🙂 I appreciate visual music like this; music that everyone can “hear”, including those who are deaf. 😎 The deaf can, in a sense, “hear” music through watching movement as well as in feeling the music through the vibration of touch – I’ve noticed this with a few music devices/players. 😎

Volume back up! 🙂

By forty-four into it, his right hand is doing a fast-speed tap on the nine o’clock side and his left hand is keeping those beads bouncing at the right moments. 😎

Several seconds later, both talented hands are getting those beads to bounce and shift in greater volume. 😎 The whole layout of this instrumental piece is very good. 🙂 Excellent drummers can do that. 🙂 😎

Demian finishes up with more cool notes and rhythmic beats. 😎 This footage is very entertaining and fun to watch from start to finish – and for each replay, too! 😉 🙂

Thank you, Demian, for sharing your drumming talents with the world. 🙂 And thank you, Raul Arriaga, for posting this supercool footage on YouTube for all of us to get to enjoy! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 06/21/2017 by Jean247 · 8 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 32: Nobody Can “Drag Me Down” Acoustic Cover

Here’s a cool music cover to check out. 🙂 [Nobody Can] “Drag Me Down” is one of my favorite One Direction songs; I love the upbeat hope in it. 😎 This nice acoustic guitar cover is by Jesse Cardiff. 🙂

Jesse played the two parts separately then they were overlaid, giving us visual on one of those parts – the rhythm – and adding the audio of the melody perfectly. 😎

The man’s quite talented with the guitar. 🙂 😎 I enjoyed watching and listening to Jesse as he performed this song so well! 🙂 😎 I think it’s cool! 🙂 🙂

The song starts up immediately as soon as the footage begins to roll. 😎 Right away you can see that this man is a good guitarist. 😎 I’m not always interested in instrumentals featuring only the acoustic guitar. It has to be done in a lively, melodic fashion that sounds good or I quickly tire of the monotony of it. This was totally not the case with Jesse Cardiff playing the acoustic guitar! 🙂 His style, attention to detail, the lively energy, fret work and melody playing, strength, great timing and the overall performance of one of my favorite songs = supercool! 🙂 😎

After the opening section, he smoothly goes into the next part of the first verse. 😎 It has such a great sound; I could listen to it on repeat. 🙂

I greatly enjoy watching a musician play their instrument, noting how they work with it to achieve certain sounds. This was a particular point of interest in Jesse’s playing. 🙂 When the song drops into the chorus section, it’s really cool to see the stop-note he plays, adding another cool element to the sound and visual of the performance. 😎

Each verse, each section, each part of the song continues to hold the listener’s/watcher’s attention as he continuously plays so very well. 😎 Very cool. 😎

Jesse adds volume, speed and amplification of energy at all of the right moments throughout this song. 😎 He’s good. 😎

I like his choice of song, his style and his willingness to share this with us. 🙂 Wado equa (“Thank you very much” in Cherokee), Jesse! 🙂

The footage was the work of Deezle Films by Ryan Deslauriers, who did an excellent job on lighting, angle, audio, clarity, et cetera! 🙂 😎 It was a job well done, giving us a clear view of an artist at work. 🙂 Thank you for your artistry as well, Ryan! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 06/15/2017 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 31: “Dance Like You Don’t Care”

Another cool single by LUNAFALL, “Dance Like You Don’t Care”, was released on June 5th! 🙂 😎 This fun song will be part of their upcoming album, “MIDNIGHT” – and wittily contains that word within its lyrics – several times. 😉 😎

The eighteen-second intro immediately has your feet moving to the great, upbeat, guitar-driven, cool drummin’, supercool music that has that unmistakeable and totally likable rockin’ LUNAFALL quality to it. 🙂 😎

In keeping with the high-energy excitement of the song, Joel sings in a higher range this time, although his deep, husky tone is always a favorite (that’s not a critique – only a compliment 😉 ). I love the strong, poetic opening lyrics where the scene is set: “It’s a hot night runnin’ with a full moon sky – the light’s shining bright!” Sounds great! 🙂 The verse continues with the suggestion of not worrying about things, enjoy some free time together. 🙂

The lead-in to the chorus begins at 36 seconds into this fast-paced tune with a few calmer moments as the next lyrics are sung with the cool vocal abilities of the LUNAFALL band (or at least two of them – I couldn’t hear Craig’s nice voice, so either he wasn’t singing or it was blending in so smoothly I couldn’t separate it from the others). 🙂 It’s midnight and they won’t let anyone tell them that they’re dreaming – “Now’s the time for us to be free!” Freedom to dream and to hope is a freedom that the Creator has given to every man and woman ever born. 🙂 No matter where you are in the world or what your situation is: you can dream and you can hope. Your mind is free to do that and that very freedom can help you through each day.

Soon the song jumps back into its faster beat, the guitars and drums a continuous rockin’ melody of electrified fun. 🙂 Know why? 🙂 ‘Cause we’re dancin’ like we don’t care! 🙂 No cares/worries to drag us down; they’ve been set aside for a bit “after midnight” to allow for some much needed, reinvigorating, good fun! 🙂 😎

We don’t need to focus on serious things 24/7.

Sometimes you need to take a break from it all, rest and relax without your thoughts being fully focused on your own troubles or the troubles of the world. It doesn’t mean you don’t care. A person might burn out if they don’t take a rest from their labors – and that includes the labor of daily stresses. That’s why the Creator set aside the seventh day of each week as a day of rest – the Sabbath, which, according to Scripture, begins at sunset on Friday (the end of the work week) and ends at sunset on Saturday. The Creator rested from His work (which means He stopped work) of creation on the seventh day and commanded all of creation to do the same – always, every week. That means men, women, children and even the animals were to rest from their work. It was later included in what is commonly called The Ten Commandments to the children of Israel (although there were far more than ten commandments given), but He had already made it a commandment long before that. That’s an interesting fact, don’t you think? 🙂 Resting from what is work to us means to relax and have fun! 🙂 If it’s good, fun and restful to your spirit, it’s a good thing to do on the Sabbath. 😎 Some people enjoy reading, so it’s a good Sabbath pastime for them. Some people loathe reading, that would make reading work to them and therefore not a good Sabbath pastime for them personally. Pretty much everyone enjoys music! 🙂 I love listening to good, upbeat music; it’s relaxing and invigorating. 🙂 😎

“Dancin’ like we don’t care,” Dave sings out melodically as the chorus steps away to make room for the next verse. 🙂

1:26 Joel sings a very important part of the song, a part that shows the thoughtfulness of LUNAFALL that is present in their lives and therefore in their music. 🙂 It is priceless to me that they took the time to include this next part in their song. 🙂 Thank you, guys. 🙂 You’re supercool. 🙂 😎 What’s that you’re asking, kind readers? 🙂 Oh! You want me to tell you what I’m referring to? 🙂 Gladly! 🙂

While this song is about dancing “like we don’t care”, LUNAFALL did something that I have often wished to hear in other songs of a similar theme. LUNAFALL clarified that although they’re taking this time, after midnight, to set the worries and cares of life aside for some fun and relaxation, they aren’t ignoring life or being uncaring or inconsiderate of others. As Joel sang it so poignantly: “We don’t watch the world go by like we don’t really care. Standing right in front of me – an angel in despair.”

Being there for one another with love in our hearts helps make things better. That is true for every situation. Love, real love from the Creator, is a very powerful thing. 🙂

The guitars change to the chords of the chorus – such a great collection of guitar music! – and we’re dancing happily again. You can feel the freedom of a Summer night in the music of this song. 🙂 That’s really cool. 😎 🙂 I like that. 🙂

I also really like the well-timed, perfect volume level and excellent melodically-voiced echo-effect vocals within this second chorus section (you can hear it from 1:57-2:01). 🙂 And please note that this is not a mechanical echo – it’s a real vocal echo by the human voice, and very well done at that! 🙂 😎 Well done of you, LUNAFALL! 🙂 😎

At 2:26 they break it down, often a favorite part of a song for me. 🙂 Very cool. 😎 The drums and cymbals doing their cool thing with the talent of an excellent drummer at the helm. 😎 The guitar strums perfect in all counts. 😎 The vocals telling the story in tone as well as in lyric. 🙂

Then we reach my favorite guitar moment of the song: Joel’s deep guitar notes as the seconds change from 2:42 to 2:43! 🙂 Have you heard it yet?! 🙂 It’s supercool! 😎

At 2:53 the rest of the guitars and the drum set launch back in full-force, instrumentally shouting out the fun freedom this song is all about. 🙂 😎

The groovy beat and hearty vocals carry onward to the close of the song, but its message and melody continues on long after that. 🙂

The music video for “Dance Like You Don’t Care” is way cool as well – like their three previous ones are. 🙂 :cool; I like to see the band play their instruments and sing the song and then switching to shots of them outdoors, talking, laughing, walking around. It’s a cool concept and fun to watch as well as musically satisfying. 😎 I appreciate their consistency in this, too. 🙂 I’m really, really looking forward to hearing – and seeing! – more from LUNAFALL! 🙂 😎 Thanks, guys! 🙂 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 05/30/201705/29/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 30: “Sign of the Times”

Whenever there is an artist who has clearly been blessed by the Creator with a gift for music, it is no wonder when their music sounds great. 😎 Such is the case with the new single by Harry Styles, “Sign of the Times”, which is vocally as well as instrumentally powerful. 😎 It’s one of those songs that, years from now, it will still be instantly recognized when you hear it. It won’t be a “What song is that?” It’ll be an “Oh, cool! I know that rock flare tune!” 🙂

This song is five minutes and forty seconds of solid rock anthem. 😎 I love it that the instruments are clearly defined – not a conglomeration of noise. Each instrument was expertly selected and assigned the notes most befitting their voice and power. 😎 They all come together to give a solid support to the vocals, keeping in tune with the heart of the song without overpowering it or drowning out the amazing vocals of the singer. 😎 Good writing. Good producing. Both are key stuff. 😎

Shall we begin? 🙂 The first seven seconds belong to the piano, a deep, strong, solid sound setting the tone for the upcoming lyrics. A sound akin to a rising wind is added and at sixteen seconds Harry draws a breath and begins the song with these words: “Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times. Welcome to the final show…”

At thirty-two seconds Harry puts forth some very, very important words that cannot honestly be denied. “You can’t bribe the door on the way to the sky. You were pretty good down here – but you ain’t really good.” That’s the honest truth for every individual born since Adam and Eve. We can’t get into Heaven by doing good works or by any other means that relies on our own doings – including money. The Creator provided the only way for us to actually become “good enough” to get into Heaven: by putting our faith and trust in Yeshua (Jesus), God’s only begotten Son, Who paid for our lack of goodness by dying in our place. But He didn’t stop there – He also rose from the grave, giving us the ability to live forever through Him. 😎 All you have to do to get to Heaven is to believe on Him, ask Him to forgive and save you, and He will! 🙂 Just like that. 😎

As you know, I write what I hear. 🙂 And when I hear Harry’s voice, I hear music. 🙂 The Creator blessed him with a wonderful voice that is capable of deep, soulful, gutty singing, as well as varying levels of gentleness and volume. Harry can carry notes an amazingly long time. 😎 And the high notes he hits in the melody of “Sign of the Times” are of a unique quality that is unlike any other high notes I have heard. 😎 This starts at forty-seven seconds into the song as Harry asks when will we ever learn? Instead of repeating mistakes we should learn from the past and thus do better about things. 😎

At 1:18 the drums make their presence known in strong rock style with guitars and keys joining in with the grand piano as well. 😎 It’s quite cool. 😎 Harry’s vocal volume amps up, too, as he continues his song with deep feeling, singing a few words of comfort, “it’ll be alright.” Soon he’s singing those beautiful higher range notes again. 🙂

He encourages again: “Stop your crying, baby, it’ll be alright.” 🙂

The songs takes off to another level four minutes in, amazing music! 🙂 Before you know it, another liftoff to yet another level! Harry definitely put a lot of musicality into this song. 😎 It sounds good from start to finish. 😎 The song ends as beautifully as it began, with piano.

Jean247

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Posted on 05/23/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 29: “Sleepwalker” – Clean Version

As my worldwide readers know, I like the good music of Big Time Rush. 🙂 😎 (So, yes, that “worldwide” was a purposeful pun. 😉 ) Each of them – James Maslow 🙂 , Logan Henderson 🙂 , Kendall Schmidt 🙂 , Carlos Pena (now PenaVega) 🙂 , and supercool BTR in-concert guitarist Dustin Belt 🙂 – have great talents and gifted vocals. 😎 Big Time Rush is (yes, I said “is” – they are still officially a group and plan to do more concerts) a supercool group and their combined talents have great results. 😎 Each one of the guys also has solo-artist abilities; their vocals are individually lead-singer quality. 😎 That’s why their sound is so good. 😎

Logan Henderson is one of the singers I most enjoy listening to; I’ve loved his singing since I first heard it. 🙂 The Creator blessed him with a great quality and texture to his voice. 🙂 So, when I received requests that I review Logan’s new single, which was released earlier this year, I soon agreed to do so 🙂 – the clean version, that is.

When I first found out about Logan’s new single I was visiting one of my friends. 🙂 I told her about the single, she looked it up and played the sample. We loved his vocals! 🙂 Later she reluctantly told me that Logan had an explicit version, too. She had known that I would be just as disappointed as she was that one of our favorite artists had an explicit track. It’s not cool; it takes away from the integrity of the song. I’m glad he had a clean version, so I could hear it – I don’t listen to explicit/unclean-lyric songs. 😎 As I said in Part 1 and on my “About” page, unclean/explicit stuff won’t be reviewed on here – if I can’t listen to it, I can’t review any such.

So, here we go, music enthusiasts! 🙂 The tantalizing Texas vocal abilities are sure to please your ears. 😎

The song is unique from the start, its music intermingled with some funk-rock-pop sounds sets the tone right from the get-go. The finger-snaps, drums/cymbals, guitar have a good sound, although the essence of the music reverberates an ominous tone – which, as you will notice, fits the lyrics. It’s not what you’d describe as a happy, upbeat song, because the character in it is still searching for freedom from a relationship not built on true love.

Logan’s excellent voice soon begins the first verse, singing from the standpoint of a guy singing to his ex that when they said their good-byes, there was a moment when he wiped the tears from her eyes. That’s tenderness. 😎

They had decided they needed space and would turn and walk away from each other. Perhaps it was intended to be temporary. You sometimes need space when anger rises, so you can think things through and keep from saying hurtful things you don’t really mean. But it shouldn’t take a long time. A few minutes. A few hours to cool down. But extended time apart won’t resolve or fix anything. You need to talk with each other and respectfully listen to the other tell you their side of it. Love. Patience. Respect. Trust. All of these things are important. The Scriptures say that when you get angry: “…let not the sun go down upon your wrath…” That means you need to clear things up, try not to let it extend into the next day or beyond. If it lasts too long it turns into a mountain of bitterness that’s harder to fix back to peace and understanding. Forgiveness is key – and not always easy to give. True love gives you the power you need to mend hurts, upsets and broken trust. That said, maybe the characters in the song meant permanent space – as in: it’s over. The rest of the song certainly makes it sound as if this would be a very good idea. You’ll soon see what I mean.

He goes on to sing that she knows what will make him inevitably come back to her – as a sleepwalker. Sleepwalkers tend to do things subconsciously, not thinking things through, just acting on usual habits without regard to the dangers around them in their sleepwalking mode. He seems to have given in to what he figures is inevitable. (That’s not good; you should never give up hope or determination when you know you shouldn’t do something – even if you feel compelled to do that thing you know you oughtn’t. Stand strong. 😎 )

Then we get to some disturbing lyrics in which he says he’s running through the nightmares she put in his head and he wakes up with her. His sleepwalking brings him back to her – but he doesn’t truly want to go back to her. The nightmares she put in his head – is that “our relationship will be forever ruined if we don’t step away from each other for a while” (which is a bunch of hooey that solves nothing 🙄 ) or is she purposefully putting nightmares in his head out of meanness? She doesn’t sound nice. I believe he should run, not walk, away from her. ASAP. Now! Or, as it was said on one of my favorite TV shows, “Big Time Rush”: “And now we run!”

In the chorus he’s desperately trying to stay awake – and therefore away from her because he wouldn’t be sleepwalking back to her – but she keeps grabbing ahold of him and, by the context, is coaxing/brainwashing/trying to hypnotize him into staying – much like Kaa (yeah, he’s the simpering, whining, tricky snake) in the animated Disney feature-length cartoon film, “The Jungle Book.” 😮 Creepy. Untrustworthy. Which leads me to give this little piece of advice to the guy in the song: BREAK FREE AND RUN, MAN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! Nobody needs to be miserable, trapped in a relationship without true love. Love is not controlling. Love is not about being selfish. True love is not a dungeon; true love is like Heaven/Paradise on Earth. 🙂 😎

I like the musical melody of the chorus; it sounds really good. 😎 However, I don’t enjoy feeling the nearly-hopeless, trapped situation that the character finds himself in. I don’t want to be there. You see, when you’re listening to someone as good as Logan Henderson, you’re going to feel the song is real as life – and that you’re going through it with the character. I hope Logan’s next single is an upbeat one; I like being happy. 🙂

At 1:41 the lyrics of the second verse begin with the word “haunted”. He tries to get away from her, but she knows what will make him come back. The more intimacies you allow, the harder it will be to separate away from that relationship – even when you know you don’t want to be with that person and don’t truly love them. This is one of the good reasons to do the cool thing and wait until you are sure you have found your true love – you’ll love them enough to marry them – then share in the deepest of intimacies. So much more special.

Oh, and a side-note to my previous words about intimacies making it hard to break up: please don’t make the assumption that allowing more intimacy will keep you together – it won’t, plus it would be an act of selfishness rather than love and that’s not cool.

During this second verse he puts himself down, name-calling himself. No one should do that. Not to yourself or to others. Have respect for yourself. God loves you… “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus/Yeshua, God’s Son, died in our place and rose again so that we could live forever in Heaven/Paradise. All we have to do is accept that gift by admitting we can’t save ourselves, trusting Him and asking Him to give us eternal life. It’s the coolest thing ever. 🙂 😎

Right after the second chorus he asks her – won’t she ever let him leave? She might have no intention of letting him go – and in that case, he has to stop looking to her for release, be strong and firmly walk – or run! – away from her presence and stay away!

The vocalizing at 2:40, “Ah-ah-Ah-ah-Ah-ah-Ah-ah-ahhh”, sounds good. 🙂

The male character again asks her if she’ll ever let him leave. I’m telling you, dude, stop asking and take the initiative to save your own life from misery! Find a woman who truly loves you, doesn’t spitefully use or control you. He says that every time he’s out of reach she tells him to turn around, to come back. DON’T LISTEN TO HER! Take a cue from Logan Mitchell from the show “Big Time Rush” (I’m sure you’ve heard of him 😉 ) – cover your ears with your hands and quickly walk away while singing “La-la-la-la-la-la-la” very loudly. 🙂 😎 Try it. Please. We’re all here cheering you on to freedom! 🙂 😎

Another round of the chorus and the closing section follows with the last sixteen seconds sounding quite creepy and eerie – fitting for a song about a girl who treats a guy like that.

Although this doesn’t seem like a happy song – it actually is, in a way. 🙂 You see, often in break-ups, at least one of the individuals tends to wish they were still together and they think, “At least we’re still together in my dreams.” However, in this song, he doesn’t describe her presence in his sleep as a “dream”, but rather as a “nightmare.” Clearly, he made the right decision in breaking away from her. So we’re happy for him! 🙂 Now he’s free from her and can go find another girl – one who will love, cherish and respect him. 😎

He set out on the road to freedom when he walked away from her and her unkind (obviously, that’s putting it mildly) ways. 😎 This song tells the story of his struggle to be free from her.

On the subject of nightmares: there are several things that can help free you from nightmares. The most important – and easiest! – way to be free is by praying and putting your trust in the Creator. 😎 The Psalmist, King David, said in Psalm chapter four, verse eight: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” And David was in a lot of danger when he said this – yet he knew what he said was true. The Creator’s love and care allowed him to sleep peacefully even in the midst of danger. 😎

Some other ways to prevent and/or stop nightmares is to be careful what information your brain takes in or dwells on. As mentioned, everything we see and hear is noted by our brains. If you fill it with bad stuff, there’s a strong possibility that you’ll be seeing it in your nightmares.

Worrying about things never helps a situation or prevents things from happening; it only stresses you out, drags you down – and causes nightmares. When you see in the Scriptures the verses “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”, that’s Old English for “Don’t worry about anything. With a grateful heart – because you know He cares about you – tell Him how you feel and what you want. The powerful peace that only God can give – and is more wonderful than we can even understand – will comfort and guide you in your heart and in your thoughts through your Savior, Yeshua/Jesus.” Talk to the Creator. Trust Him. Know that He cares about you always.

It often has been said that if you eat pizza or other exciting food before bed then you’ll have nightmares. 🙄 I’ve happily proved that theory wrong over and over again. 🙂 😛 Tacos are also a great midnight snack; in fact, it’s one of my favorites! 🙂 No nightmares from that. 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 05/15/2017 by Jean247 · 4 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 28: “Amazing”

🌊~~~~~~SPECIAL EDITION~~~~~~🌊

Multi-talented James Maslow wrote the song “Amazing” and it was featured on Big Time Rush’s 2013 album “24/Seven”. 😎 As soon as I heard it, I thought it sounded great! 🙂 After hearing it on there, I could hardly wait for them to sing it in concert! 🙂 I knew without a doubt that it would sound even more amazing with the live band! 🙂 😎 Nothing could beat DBelt’s rockin’ guitar!!!!! 🙂 😎 However, the tour that came up featured a DJ piping in the sounds of the instruments instead of the full band actually being there and playing it full-out. 😦 There were a couple of acoustic numbers – and thankfully DBelt was there for that! 🙂 – but “Amazing” only featured the piped-in music. 😦 As on the album, James, Kendall, Carlos and Logan all sounded excellent in their vocals, so that was still supercool! 🙂 In his solo performances, James is currently including a medley of Big Time Rush songs and you know which one is part of that compilation. 😉 It’s done as a solo-with-acoustic-guitarist and the words flow excellently from the lips of the song’s original author, James Maslow. 🙂 😎 And that’s what I’m going to focus on for this review. 🙂

During his live performances, James sings the first two verses of “Amazing”. 🙂 Verse one begins with the opening strums of the acoustic guitar then James begins to sing how his girl looks good in a dress and how he especially likes seeing her wearing his sweatshirt. (I think it’s so nice – and cozy wonderful! – when a fellow shares his sweatshirt or jacket with his girl to keep her warm while out walking in the chilly weather. Extra nice: when he puts his arm around her, too, holding her close to his side. 🙂 ) He sings about how very understanding and gracious she is. 🙂

James picks up the volume with his excellent vocals as he nears the chorus with the words, “She knows that I’m falling fast. Oh-oh! Oh-oh! I know that I’ll never let her go!” 🙂

The chorus continues his melody of happiness as he sings out how he’s loving her character and how she makes him feel – he likes her feminine appeal. 🙂 He’s extremely attracted to her for her heart as well as her appearance. “Girl, you’re just amazing!”

James Maslow sounds so good in concert; I’m enjoying watching some of the footage from March, 2017, as I write this review. 🙂 He has a very nice tone and carries the notes so well. The rise and fall of the notes are the musical pleasure that they are meant to be. 😎 His voice audibly shows the gentle, strong and awestruck feelings of the lyrics with ease. 🙂 😎

The second verse sounds just as great. 🙂 (No surprise there. 😉 ) James sings in acting lingo that the girl is the “star of the show” – not that she demands accolades, but that she knows in her heart that she’s already “got the part”. He goes on to explain: she’s the star of his heart. 🙂

Up to this point, James has been sitting on a stool as he sings, but now he gets up and sings, “So girl take a bow…” – he does an elaborate manly bow toward the audience, “…you’ve won my heart.” Here he holds up his hands to form a heart-shape. 😎

As he leads into the chorus again, he’s moving to the music, singing with much heart. 😎 I especially like the extra emphasis he puts on the word “just” in “Girl, you’re just amazing” – that added umph gets across how he feels so clearly. 😎 He sings that part again then on the third time he carries the notes longer and softer as he brings the song to a gentle close. Very romantic. 🙂 James always sings with depth of feeling. 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 04/26/201705/08/2017 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 27: “Slow Motion”

🎸~~~~~~~SPECIAL EDITION~~~~~~~🎸

Osiyo! 🙂 (Cherokee greeting) On this exact date one year ago I started this music review blog. 🙂 (I had already begun my work before that elsewhere then decided to go independent and make my articles more readily available for readers. 🙂 ) Thank you to all of my readers worldwide; I’m glad you enjoy my articles. 🙂 Thank you to those who have posted comments here and elsewhere and to those who have communicated their appreciation to me by other means. 🙂 I greatly appreciate each of you. 🙂

What better way to celebrate this day than to review a new song by the music duo whose recordings first inspired me to begin typing my reviews three years ago? 🙂 I’m talking about Dustin Belt and Kendall Schmidt, also known as Heffron Drive! 🙂 😎

The rockin’ soul music and good character of Dustin Belt drew me to Heffron Drive. 😎 Dustin’s guitar work is always amazing and the song I’m featuring in this article is no exception. 😎 “Slow Motion” may be the title, but it certainly doesn’t describe the speed of Dustin’s fingers as he plays this piece! 🙂 😎 I’ll be talking more about this later. 🙂 We’ll begin with the supercool opening of the song and glide on through this masterpiece of instrumental and vocal prowess. 😎

I love the sound and instrumentation of this song! I can hear Dustin’s voice, his exceptional guitar work, the keys, the great production and masterful inclusion of cool elements…so much good stuff to the sound of this melodic song with a blazing guitar solo that sends this song soaring into the clouds with its supercoolness! 😎 Okay, so that was a rather long sentence – but when something is this good, who cares so much? 😉

Dustin and Kendall are not only great friends, but also great creators of good music productions. And they deliver big-time in concert! 🙂 😎 “Slow Motion” is an excellent example of what their combined talents can accomplish musically. 😎

The first fifteen seconds of this song already has me loving it! 🙂 The brilliant inclusion of vinyl-record-playing sounds is way cool; there’s nothing like the pop-cracklin’ of supercool vinyl records. 🙂 😎 (They had their “Happy Mistakes” album mixed and mastered for vinyl release; I hope they get them pressed – it would sound so cool! 🙂 😎 )

The strings and piano are an orchestration of great musical beauty. A great start to a great piece of music. 😎 During the twenty-three second mark, Kendall’s gifted vocals brings us to the lyrical part of the introduction. 🙂 At first his voice is as if it is at a distance – and then it’s right there. 😎 Seconds later, the song does a cool zip into the next music section, smoothly going from one style to the next in an excellent blend of musical treasure. 🙂

By thirty-four seconds we are hearing DBelt’s acoustic guitar finesse as well as his skillful fingers playing upon the keys. 🙂 😎 Question is: did he play both instruments at the same time or were they tracked separately? 😉 No, we know the answer to that one: part of Heffron Drive’s great sound is the great precision work that is done in bringing the tracks together. 🙂 DBelt is a master at this. 😎 Dustin and Kendall play most all of the instruments we hear in the songs, with other musicians only brought in when necessary. 😎 These two are super-talented. 🙂 They put a lot of time, effort and expertise into their music. 😎

The drums are in action as Kendall sings the first verse. You know, one of the things I noticed while listening to this song is that Dustin’s guitar work is leading the way, setting the musical pace. 😎 In most songs, the drums give the orders, but DBelt’s the man and he’s at the helm of this rockin’ ship. 🙂 😎

The vocals for this section: “There’s a light that guides me home inside your eyes” is especially beautiful. 🙂 😎 Kendall sings this part so well; he uses an excellent combination of gentleness and feeling-it-from-the-soul. 😎 Everyone needs light and guidance in life; love is a light. The Creator’s Light guides us on the path to Home. 🙂 He shines the truth all around us; all we have to do is open our eyes – the windows to the soul – to see this. 🙂

The keys signal the lead into the chorus, which is amazing. 🙂 😎 Dustin switches to his electric guitar, playing an awesome tune. 🙂 😎 (Note: you can hear it even more clearly in concert, as I noticed on some of the footage I have seen – and watching his fingers play with ease of expertise is a blessing all its own. You know how I love seeing how the music comes about. 🙂 ) Kendall picks up the volume of the vocals perfectly. 🙂 😎

The chorus music sounds so cool. 😎 The melody of it is artistic, real and supercool. 😎 😎 DBelt’s supercool guitar work was already addressed in the previous paragraph. 🙂 I also love the melodic notes of the keys; it’s the perfect key section, range and volume. 🙂 Beautiful music. 🙂 😎

I can hear Dustin’s deeper, huskier voice along with Kendall’s ringing-out-above-all-else, higher vocals. They both sound great and their vocals go together well, like brothers. 😎 Have you ever noticed how harmonious and complimentary to one another’s vocal qualities the voices of siblings are? 🙂 It blends excellently. 😎

Verse two comes into play and I notice yet again the supercool tempo style of it. 😎 It’s unique in its flow and pauses, sounding so melodic, strong and gentle all at once. 🙂

The rolling music waves of the chorus are an awesome, glorious ride! 🙂 I enjoy good references to the ocean and “Slow Motion” has that feature. 🙂 😎

Kendall’s singing in verse and chorus is superbly done. 😎 I love every moment I can hear Dustin’s magnificent vocals; the Creator gave him such a nice, pleasant husky singing voice. Maybe we will get to hear more of it in upcoming Heffron Drive songs. 🙂 😎

Get ready before you reach the three-minute mark of this song – DBelt’s path-blazing guitar work is about to burst out onto the scene! 😎 On 3:03 and for more than a half-minute after that, DBelt’s guitar is sooooo good. 😎 The voice of his guitar sings loud and clear, unhindered and undeniable. 😎 Unstoppably good. 😎

The tempo carries on, inspired by Dustin’s beautiful guitar (one of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen – you might want to check it out on the concert footage! 🙂 ) and its awesome sound. 🙂 The music duo’s vocals continue to shine as the energy level keeps soaring along as if on the ocean’s powerful breeze. 😎 The arrangement of the vocals and various parts to it are well-designed and performed. 🙂 Wow, this song is good! 🙂 😎

The closing twelve seconds of the song features that awesome tone of the keys chosen for this song 😎 along with the pops and crackles of a vinyl record playing. 🙂 😎 Soon we hear a sound akin to a record player’s needle being removed abruptly from the vinyl’s surface – yet the vinyl continues its pop-crackling sounds as if it refuses to stop playing. 😎 Keep on rockin’, vinyl – there’s no sound quite like yours. 🙂 😎 And there’s no sound quite like Heffron Drive’s, either. 😉 😎 🙂

As I have said before: Heffron Drive’s recordings are very special work that Dustin and Kendall take care of in their own studio, TOLbooth Records – and their live performances surpass even that! 🙂 😎 The energy level and getting to hear the instruments live are two of the elements that contribute to an even greater sound than a studio can give – even when the producers are of the expert level that Dustin and Kendall are. That’s somethin’. 😎 In concert, Dustin plays his gorgeous electric guitar throughout the song. 😎 During the verses he plays a groovy heartbeat tune and during the chorus he plays the intricate notes with supercool precision. 🙂 Meanwhile, Kendall is pouring his energy into his vocals, giving his focus to a heartfelt performance therewith. 🙂 Both fellows do excellently in providing a great show. 🙂 😎

“Slow Motion” sounds great on its recording as well as in concert; I highly recommend you hear both! 🙂 😎 Great stuff! 🙂 😎 Wado equa (“Thank you very much” in Cherokee), Dustin and Kendall, for sharing your love of and gift for music! 🙂 😎 The kindness, graciousness and thoughtfulness in your characters, respectively, is honorable and is a continual blessing from the Creator, through you, to the world around you. 🙂 Everywhere you go, at home and abroad, you treat people of all nations with individual respect and genuine friendliness. 🙂 That’s so cool. 😎 It should be that way; it is pleasing to the Creator. 🙂 😎 May He bless you for the many good and honorable things you do. 🙂

I appreciate so much that I could always count on you to provide great, listenable music that I can freely and happily listen to. 🙂 😎 I would have bought The Slow Motion EP in its entirety if you had kept to your usual standard, but you had an explicit song on there. That one track is the ONLY Heffron Drive song I don’t own. Please keep it clean; I love getting to enjoy your unique sound! I believe you are both very creative, artistic and cerebral; you don’t need to rely on “explicit” material to try to make your music strong, real or cool – in its usual standard of integrity, your music is already all of those things! 🙂 😎 Using explicit language doesn’t make it more mature, either; it only takes away from your great artistry. You guys are cool; please don’t fall into that uncool abyss of poor lyric choices. You are far better than that. 😎

Jean247

More Heffron Drive Articles ~
Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 1: What’s This?
Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 2: Interlude x 2
Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 3: “Rain Don’t Come” Single and Music Video
Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 4: Meet Heffron Drive
Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 6: “Don’t Let Me Go”

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Posted on 04/13/201705/08/2017 by Jean247 · 10 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 26: “Find a Way”

Guess what?! 🙂 Another cool rock band found me! 🙂 This time the gentleman who found and followed me is Joel Darkes, frontman of a very talented guitar band based in Birmingham, England: LUNAFALL. 🙂 (No, I’m not shouting at you, kind reader; their band name is officially all in capitals. 😛 ) Craig Wright plays guitar solos that sizzle 😎 and adds his pleasant voice in the harmonies. 🙂 Dave Bright rocks out on the bass guitar 😎 and sings some of the verses in their songs. 🙂 Joel 😎 , as noted, is frontman, singing lead vocals with a husky voice as well as playing guitar with great gusto. 🙂

I thanked Joel for following and told him I looked forward to checking out his band’s music – especially since I’d seen he mentioned they’re Rock’n’Roll. 🙂 The first I heard (simultaneously watching – it was a video 😉 ) was their supercool song “Christmas Day” – which I totally loved and have listened to numerous times already! 🙂 Yeah, I know it’s springtime, but good music is good music all year around! 😉 If I’d known about the song when it came out in December, I would’ve already reviewed it back then. 🙂 😎 So, now I have another song review to look forward to writing when the season comes again. 🙂 I liked that not only is “Christmas Day” by LUNAFALL supercool music, but also that it is a charity single. 🙂 They donate all of the profits to the Donkey Sanctuary in the U.K.; you can see two of the recipients, Moses and Oscar, in the music video with the guys. 🙂 😎 It’s cool to see, right in front of you – and get to pet! 🙂 – the noble animals whose ancestor probably carried Mary, the mother of our Savior, Yeshua/Jesus, to Bethlehem. 🙂 As well as carrying Yeshua/Jesus as He entered Jerusalem shortly before He gave His life for us. I also like about the donkey who was wiser than man – and the Creator gave her voice to speak in human language to the man who wasn’t being wise, kindly telling him what-for! 🙂 😎 😆 It’s so cool that that truly happened. 😎

Now, back to the cool song “Find a Way”! 🙂 I loved that title as soon as I first saw it; I like the never-give-up attitude. 😎 One of my favorite Stan Lee comic book character quotes goes something like this: “Don’t tell me there’s no way. There’s a way. Find it.” When it’s something important – and love certainly is! – you don’t just give up and say, “There’s just no way!” Refer to the quote. 😉 If love is real, if it’s from the Creator, there’s a way. 🙂 Find it. 😎

For example: a girlfriend & her boyfriend, or a wife & her husband, or a want-to-be-girlfriend & her want-to-be-boyfriend, whichever applies 🙂 , there is a way to make long-distance type relationships work. Many people say there’s no way. But there is a way; it’s called love. 🙂 If the love is real, no amount of distance will weaken it. It will remain just as strong. 😎 The two of you are close-in-heart always. When love is true no one else will do. 😉 🙂 There are so many ways to stay in communication even if you live in different countries or your job requires much traveling and thereby limits your time in one another’s immediate presence. It can work. Communicate often, be faithful to one another, trust one another, don’t let anyone tear you apart. If you are unable to handle the long-distance way then ask yourself if you are where you should be, doing what you should be doing. It could be that there’s a place you can do your work and be with your true love. Maybe there is another job that would suit you better. Maybe you worked long and hard to get to where you are in your career, but is that what you’re going to let your decision be based on? What you do depends on what/who is most important to you. Maybe you have the right person, but the wrong job. Maybe you have the right job, but the wrong person. Decisions like that are hard to make. That’s why it’s best to talk it over with the Creator; prayer can help you see things more clearly. 😎 If it comes to having to choose between your job and the person you truly love, keep in mind what/who is most important on earth to you and there’s your answer. 😎

LUNAFALL’s “Find a Way” is an encouraging song. 😎

All three members of the band play guitar (hence: guitar band 😉 ), but they of course know the importance of including other instruments that add to that overall supercool sound – like the great, solid drums that start off their very cool single “Find a Way”, released in 2016. 🙂 😎 (They also have a cool video for this song! 🙂 😎 )

The band’s guitars are launched into action two seconds into the song, simultaneously being joined by a series of strongly vocalized “oh’s”. Soon, Joel’s husky voice begins to sing the story of the song, telling it well with his tone. 😎 The pace of the song and the guitar work is perfect as well, all things together painting the picture of the man and the woman, their love on the line.

A half of a minute into the song the tempo and volume suddenly increases, showing the strong effort he is giving to make things work out okay between them.

The tone and tempo gentles again as he sings that he heard that she’s doing fine, but for him, after she left he couldn’t focus on anything.

I like how the members of LUNAFALL join in on certain words to bring emphasis, depth and harmony at just the right points in the songs they do. 😎 They are consistent with this excellent touch in all three of their original singles they’ve given us thus far; I appreciate that. 🙂

There’s an excellently-delivered “hey-ohhh!” call in the background (again, perfect sound level for the desired result) that is a masterpiece of its own. 🙂 The story continues that he’s trying to find a way to get her to want to stay. He’s definitely got his heart in this. (If that girl is the right one for that fellow then she certainly ought to take note of that element. A heart filled with love is a beautiful gift. 🙂 If she’s not the right one, hopefully he will realize that and go find the girl who truly loves him. 🙂 😎 )

He sings that the truth got left behind. That’s not a good thing – truth and honesty are essential, without them there’s no trust. She had told him all the things they could be, that they didn’t need to change. But, apparently, she doesn’t do as she says, giving him nothing to work with in trying to figure out what she wants, never knowing which way she’s going to turn. That’s rough. She needs to get it in gear. At this point in the song, I’m thinking he needs a different girl (one who’s honest and trustworthy). The one he’s trying to stick with either needs to get it in gear and do right by him or, perhaps, he should be thankful to be free from her and let himself heal and move on to happiness with the right girl. 🙂 Love is not a misery; it is a blessing filled with great joy and pleasure. 🙂

Have I mentioned how very cool the guitar work is in LUNAFALL’s music?! 🙂 😎 Sizzlin’! 🙂 😎 I love the fret runs that Craig does – excellent! 🙂 😎

The chorus begins and at the two-minute spot Craig’s guitar solo comes into the spotlight. 🙂 Yep, he’s good alright! 😎

The majority of the instrumental music drops away for the “oh’s” of the song, a piano’s notes being the only accompaniment – another nice musical touch in this song. 😎

Kicking up into the Rock’n’Roll gear, the “oh’s” peal out louder then Joel’s vocals once again sings, “If I could find a way…” He’s ready and willing to make the effort. 😎 If the love is real it is worth the effort. 🙂 😎

The song finishes out excellently. 😎 LUNAFALL certainly did a fine job on this song all of the way around. You can hear their good sound, their instrumental talents and their appealing vocals. It’s no wonder I like their music. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 03/17/201705/08/2017 by Jean247 · 9 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 25: “This Town”

It seemed fitting to save this specific review for this specific day on which the Irish are celebrated globally, seeing as how the artist is extremely proud of his native Ireland. 😎 Niall Horan is the man I’m referring to and his surprise-release single, “This Town”, is the song. 🙂

Niall is one of the most gifted acoustic guitar players I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and/or watching. The guitar has a special voice when it is in his hands, as if his Irish heart’s pulsating through his very fingertips and giving the guitar some of its own voice. 😎 The man can even make a guitar sound like a harp! 🙂 It’s amazing. 😎 “This Town” begins with the voice of guitar, already speaking to the listener’s soul before the lyrics ever begin. 😎

Within five second’s time, Niall begins to sing out the story of the song – about a man who is finding out how true the words are that “breaking up is hard to do.” The fellow in the story knows he should move on, but is finding it very difficult.

Niall sings that everything in the guy’s life leads back to thoughts of her, the girl who is being missed.

This song could also be taken at the angle of the fact that an individual’s heart misses the presence of their true love – even if they haven’t met in person yet. 🙂 The Creator has a special guy for every girl and a special girl for every guy, just as He did back on the sixth day of creation. 😎 Made for each other. 🙂 Adam was missing Eve; he was lonely for a love of his own. The Creator, Who already knew this would be the case (He made mankind, after all 😉 ), designed everything Adam needed into the creation of the perfect girl for him. Adam was thrilled – and so was the girl, Eve. 🙂 😎 True love is precious beyond any rare jewels. 😎 Adam and Eve had everything they needed: God, each other, food and drink – everything they needed to be sustained and everything they needed to be perfectly happy every day. 🙂 😎 The Creator knows our needs and wants; may He bless each of you who reads this article with everything you desire that is pleasant in His sight. 🙂

At 1:17 of “This Town”, after the first verse and chorus has finished with a softly-hummed melody in that gentle, Irish voice of Niall’s, the second verse begins. He sings out with an increase in volume of how hard it is for the guy of the story that the girl he broke up with is now with someone else.

With over a minute left to the song, Niall pours a little more volume into his vocals and his guitar’s tempo increases. The gentle tones of a well-played cello sings in the background as his words continue on to the last hum and the last melodic guitar chords of this beautifully-sung song. 😎 Niall’s voice has a power of manly gentleness and strength to it that really requires no additional instrument other than his own voice. 😎 And that, along with his excellent guitar playing, is why this song has a stop-you-in-your-tracks poignancy to it that brings a hush to the crowd wherever he performs this song. 😎

The music video for “This Town” matches the aura of the vocal recording. 😎 Both recordings were done with just the right levels of volume, allowing the vocals and the two stringed instruments to be the focal points, clear in their musicality and teamed up superbly without other sounds getting in the way. 😎 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 03/06/201705/08/2017 by Jean247 · 8 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 24: “Always”

Here’s one hot-off-the-press for you! 🙂 “Always” by Next Stop Mars, was released 3/3/2017, by SD JEM Productions. 🙂 Next Stop Mars is a very talented group of four artists: Shanel Jemal (co-lead singer), Denis Jemal (co-lead singer and bassist), John Wilson (vocals, drummer) and Dan Kerridge (vocals, guitarist). They write and produce their own music under the name established by the sister and brother duet of Shanel and Denis, SD JEM Productions. 😎

“Always” is a very cool, original, rockin’ don’t-let-the-door-hit-you-in-the-butt-on-your-way-out song. 😎 If you aren’t familiar with that phrase: it means that the person to whom that phrase is addressed to is obnoxious and, for that reason, you want them to leave. That phrase is letting them know that you want them gone – that they aren’t going to be mistreating you anymore and that you can get along fine without them in your life. And if the door hits them in the butt on their way out, well, that’s okeydokey with you, too. 😉

Before we get to the song, I want to tell you about the very cool way in which this review came to be. 🙂 Denis Jemal found me and followed me online. 🙂 I checked out his page, learned of his group, watched footage of their rockin’ cover of a 5 Seconds of Summer song, and – based on that great performance as well as how nice and cool all of the group members are on their individual pages – I bought their new single, “Always”. 🙂 I did that without hearing a sample of the song first (something I’ve not done before with a group whose music I didn’t already know); I just knew/sensed it was going to be a song that sounded good and that I would enjoy hearing (as well as reviewing 😉 ). 🙂 😎 So, thank you, Denis, for kindly following me; now I know who you are – and I’m very glad about that! 🙂 😎

“Always” sounds great from the moment John’s drumbeat begins it. 🙂 The guitars of Denis and Dan join in with their rockin’ voices then Shanel brings the opening vocals, telling the self-made-loser boyfriend of the song, who called her, wanting her to come back to him, that she’s not going to. Apparently, the girl of the song’s been dealing with his extreme narcissism for some time now and he’s not making any genuine effort to show he cares about her. She tells him he’s got problems she can’t fix. He obviously had opportunity to be a better man and he failed. If he truly loves her more than himself, he needs to get it in gear (do right by her, show he cares for her and respects her and wants to please her) then try to win her back. It’s never too late; but if you don’t try, you’ve already failed.

The tone and audible texture of the background “yeah’s” by Denis, John and Dan in the chorus sound really cool. 🙂 😎 The whole band has really good voices. 🙂 😎 The voices of all four band members blend together very well throughout the song. 😎

Don’t you just love poetic justice? 🙂 Ahhhh, poetic justice. That’s what happened to evil Haman when out of pride (as well as a serious case of delusions of grandeur 🙄 ) he tried to destroy Mordecai (because Mordecai would not bow to him – and he was not required to anyway). It was so fitting that the good things Haman wanted (he narcissistically thought the king should honor him) was given to Mordecai (because the king wanted to honor Mordecai for saving the king’s life) and that the evil Haman had planned for Mordecai (and the rest of the Jews in the kingdom) returned upon his own narcissistic head – poetic justice.

Well, there’s some excellent poetic justice spoken of in “Always”. 😎 In fact, each time the song came around to this part, I smiled. 🙂 Shanel tells the self-made-loser boyfriend that she’s not coming back – “you can spend another day with you”. 🙂 Now, that’s probably (from our perspective 😉 ) one of the most unkind things you can say to a person like him – but he probably only saw it as a compliment. 🙄 As she noted, he’s always talking only about himself; it’s always about him exclusively. 🙄 It sounds like he only loves himself and so much so that he has left no room for anyone else. That’s sad.

When you truly love someone, you care about them, put them before yourself and are interested in what they feel deeply about. You don’t have to like all of the same things, but you ought to care enough about your true love to listen to them talk about it, letting your focus be on the beauty of their pleasure and excitement for the subject – even if the subject itself bores you. Perspective. Appreciating the good things. 🙂 Instead of focusing on your disinterest in the subject, focus on their smile, the way their eyes light up as they talk about whatever it is. That’s loving them more than yourself and it will be a great blessing to both of you. 🙂

The bass notes between the verses are really cool. 😎 It’s a signature moment of the song. 😎

Denis takes lead on the second verse as he sings to the self-made-loser girlfriend of the song. (A girl’s boyfriend shouldn’t be narcissistic nor should a boy’s girlfriend be narcissistic. If they want to have a truly happy relationship, they need to include the other half of the equation. 🙄 Two hearts filled with love, faith and understanding becomes one heart overflowing with those same good elements. 🙂 ) In the song, Denis tells the narcissistic girlfriend that he won’t miss the days she mistreated him. (Yeah, he will survive just fine without her. 😎 )

I very much appreciated the band’s artistic creativity by their word choice of “oh!” and the way they sang it, getting across very clearly the message that she treated him wrong. Their doing that raises my respect even higher for them, their artistry, their creativity and their vocal abilities. 🙂 They found a way to get the idea across without using foul language. 😎 😎 😎 😎 Using foul language doesn’t make things clearer or sound tougher; it just shows a lack of creativity and understanding. The creativity and understanding of Next Stop Mars is shouted loud and clear in this rockin’ single, “Always.” 🙂 😎 I look forward to more music by such a cool, rockin’ band as this! 🙂 😎

The chorus rings out with strength as the band belts out “You can spend another day with you – ’cause it was always about you – it was always about you…” Dan’s guitar is blazing out the tune. 🙂 😎

At 1:50 they break it down, adding audible emphasis to their words. 😎 The instruments, taking the drummer’s stylish and cool lead, launches back into full-out tempo. 😎

After a rockin’ finish to the song, you can hear the studio chatter and applause as it’s noted, “That’s a wrap.” It’s cool to include that sometimes; it’s almost like you were there for it, hearing it live. 😎 When a band is enjoying their work it shines through in their music. That’s one of the many things I love about the 1960’s rockin’ group, Paul Revere & the Raiders and there’s another cool thing these two groups have in common: they’re strongly against drugs. 😎 I’m grateful for that. 🙂 Drugs are never the answer; they only make things worse. The Creator can help you no matter what you are troubled with; He cares about you. 🙂 If you pray to Him to save you; He will. 🙂 😎 Putting your faith and trust in Him is all you need to do. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 02/28/201711/24/2017 by Jean247 · 14 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 23: “Compass”

The musical treasure featured this time is “Compass” by Forever In Your Mind from their 2016 Hollywood Records, Inc. EP, “FIYM”. This song has some very cool musical elements in it that it is fascinating to listen to each time its recording is played or the song is performed. 🙂 😎 All three members of Forever In Your Mind – Ricky Garcia, Liam Attridge and Emery Kelly – have great vocal abilities, blessed by the Creator with great melodic harmonies. 😎

A well-played acoustic guitar begins the song’s opening melody and is soon joined by Emery’s vocals, conversationally singing to the girl of the song that he never got to tell her everything she deserved to hear. He continues on, singing poetically about apologies and wanting to find a way back to her. Ricky sings out with strong heart words of encouragement to hold on.

After a poignant cessation of sound, the chorus begins. 🙂 The tempo picks up with hopefulness – and a really cool drumbeat! 😎 The group sings that even if he (the character in the song) is figuratively shipwrecked and lost, his heart’s the compass – and it points back to her. 🙂 😎 That’s supercool. 😎 😎 😎 Ricky, Emery and Liam keep the supercool flow coming with some excellent “oh’s” that add a really nice touch to the song musically as well as heartfelt lyrics that get the feeling across superbly. 😎 The man-made instruments are meshing with the Creator-made vocals impressively, joining together at the right volumes to compliment the singing without taking over – well done by all involved in the making of this song. 😎

With a cymbal shimmer signaling the end of the chorus at 1:21, the opening of the second verse commences. 😎 Liam sings with strong belief how she shouldn’t have ever been taken for granted. He also wisely points out that should’ve-would’ve-could’ve never helps. Realizing you should have done better is good as long as you don’t just sit around dwelling on that – take that knowledge and apply it by correcting the situation if possible and also by not making that same mistake again. Noting those things and taking care not to repeat them is a smart thing to do. 😎 Back to the lyrics: Liam sings with tender sadness in his voice of missing her and of the possibility that she might now have another boyfriend. 😦 He goes on to sing that whereas they had always been thinking about tomorrow (hopefulness), now he’s feeling stuck in yesterday (sadly dwelling on the unhappy things he cannot change). They used to have a good comfort, but something happened to that – but he’s not giving up and is determined to find another way to, as Ricky sings out with depth of heart, “To hold on, hold on for dear life” for another try to make things right between them again. 🙂

The cool chorus resounds again at 2:06, sung with heart and excellence. 😎 Their strong, manly vocals coming through with clear, seemingly-effortless precision. 😎 At 2:40 the only music heard is Ricky’s voice (with a few acoustic guitar notes here and there), singing that he knows that they tried to make things work – and that hopefully they will yet succeed. Next, all three voices blend into one harmonious sound, singing quietly – then quickly switch gears to sing out the chorus with gusto and good vocal style. 😎 🙂 As they sing the story of shipwrecked love that need not end in a bad way, they make it clear that a heart filled with true love can guide their hearts back together. 🙂 If love is there, if it is true, and both the guy and girl make the effort to forgive and be understanding – honest with each other – it can be a happy life together. 🙂 I like good, upbeat songs about hope and love – and “Compass” certainly qualifies! 🙂 😎

I love the music video for this song! 🙂 😎 It is beautiful, poignant, real and good. Each member sings with a heart that understands, conveying their message to the girl of the story with genuine appeal. The setting – my beloved outdoors, amongst the Creator’s magnificent creation – is excellently chosen and filmed. 😎 The singing, directing and performance of the song are supercool. 😎 😎 😎

The entire package of “Compass” by Forever In Your Mind is a great pleasure all of the way around. 🙂 Thank you, Ricky, Emery, Liam, Joby and the entire crew! 🙂 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 02/15/201711/24/2017 by Jean247 · 13 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 22: “Here to Stay”

If you have read my articles thus far, you have seen the name of supercool drummer Josh Devine a number of times already. 🙂 The man has many groovy talents and strengths. And I’m not exclusively referring to his physical muscular strength in being able to take on – all at one time and single-handedly – four members of One Direction in an onstage wrestling/tackle match. 🙂 😎 He won that, by the way; he’s a drummer. 😎 Great drummers are pretty unbeatable; Josh particularly so – he stood strong despite their energetic efforts – including Liam’s flying leap! 🙂 Back to the subject of talents and strength, Josh is also a very good guitarist and his vocals are worth more than gold. 😎 Thankfully, he enjoys all three and geared those talents into a single, and later an EP, along with another amazing voice (and additional cool guitar work by): Ollie Green.

This paragraph about Ollie Green won’t be a lengthy one, but what I say in it will say more than a thousand paragraphs. 🙂 In listening to their full EP, I noticed that Ollie at times sounds almost like an across-the-Atlantic-Ocean version of my fellow Cherokee, Jimi Hendrix. 🙂 😎 I don’t say that lightly and it’s a powerful compliment to the gifted voice of Ollie Green. 😎 There’s one song in particular in which I believe the similarity shines extra brightly; you might want to get the EP so you can solve that mystery 😉 – and be rewarded with not only the answer, but also a nice collection of six great-sounding tracks! 🙂 😎

This would be a good point in the article to mention the overall sound of Josh & Ollie’s EP. It has a good rock edge to it that again brings Jimi’s music to mind. I like good, strong instrument playing, deep notes and vocal umph – but no “emo” or plaintive stuff! These two artists know how to put feeling into their vocals, singing it like they mean it, without making the mistake of overdoing it (“412-ing it”, for all of you Stan Freberg fans out there 😉 ). I appreciate that. 😎 By the way, Jimi Hendrix – who’s a fan of Paul Revere & the Raiders and enjoyed the inspiring guitar work of one Drake Levin so much so that it inspired him in later becoming a guitarist as well – never made that vocal mistake, either. 😉

Another good piece of information: while Josh & Ollie’s music relates to other music, it also has a sound and quality of its own. 😎 I listen to a lot of music and there isn’t anyone else I’ve heard who sounds like them. 😎 They offer a unique and genuine sound that is theirs exclusively. If you hear them, you’ll hear a sound that cannot be duplicated, because it comes from the heart of Josh and the heart of Ollie.

Like all good songs, you never want them to end. 🙂 Thankfully, “Here To Stay”, the feature song for this article, by Josh Devine & Ollie Green has over four minutes of quality music for us to enjoy! 😎 There are four minutes and seventeen seconds on the original single, which was released in 2015, 4:18 on the 6-song EP, “Through the Fire”, released later that same year. The artwork is pretty cool, too, on both the single and the EP. I especially like the single’s cover-art; the artistry in the drawing, shading and detailing is pretty impressive. 😎

I have continuously loved this song ever since I first heard it. 🙂 It’s beautiful, powerful and great to listen to. 😎

The song begins with guitar strings setting the musical stage for Ollie Green’s opening vocals. 🙂 I like it that the verse begins with an endearment, “Darlin’.” 🙂 He asks the girl where she’s going – didn’t she notice he’s falling for her? Sixteen seconds later, Josh Devine takes up the first verse and his drums begin to sing as well. 😎 He tells the girl that even though they’ve been talking, she can’t feel his emotions, although he has been trying so hard to show them, to express his deep interest in her and how very much she means to him. Ollie picks up the story, saying how the words in his mouth he has said in his mind, but never out loud because they seem to be locked up inside. He knows he needs to speak the words and let her know his heart. Josh tells that he has been writing down the words so that she will never doubt his efforts for her and that it’s all about the two of them. 🙂

Before a full minute of the song has been sung, the flourishing chorus begins, with Josh singing the words “all my love’s here to stay – all my love, here to stay.” He sings it awesomely. 🙂 😎 The instruments have risen to the challenge of meeting his vocals; it all sounds great! 🙂 😎

After a cool guitar break, Ollie begins the second verse, asking her not to tell him he’s heartless just because he doesn’t have all of the answers. (And well she shouldn’t! He’s trying, so she should be understanding and encouraging in that. It takes both the guy and the girl putting genuine effort into it for their relationship to last. Part of loving someone comes easily and effortlessly and part takes conscious effort and determination. No one is perfect, so you shouldn’t expect that – just an honest effort to be the best they can be for you. 🙂 ) Josh sings the next part of the verse, telling her he’s not thoughtless – he’s given up everything for this – and promises to get things figured out.

Again Ollie & Josh sings the heartfelt section of trying to get the words out to tell her these things. (A girl really does need to know what’s in the boy’s heart, how he truly feels. She can’t just guess – both need to share their true thoughts with one another. 😎 That helps avoid confusion as well as insecurities.)

The splendor of the chorus arrives, including the excellently-vocalized “ah-o-ohh”.

At 3:05 Ollie sings how she fills his every thought, all of his mind; his heart’s racing overtime. He wants so much to tell her right then: “My love is here to stay.” And 3:32 brings us to Josh’s vocals and his drum and cymbal skills all putting even more depth and heart into his words of love to her than he had yet thus far – and that’s really saying something! Every moment, every note – vocal and instrumental – by both artists throughout this song has a great depth of heart and feeling. Each word sung clearly and musically so the message is heard without question; I like that. 😎 The character in the song – his love is there to stay, for her, as they find their way together through the unknown. Both Josh & Ollie’s vocals ring loud and strong as the chorus finishes out the song with magnificent style, rockin’ it all the way. 😎

Jean247

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Posted on 01/26/201705/08/2017 by Jean247 · 10 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 21: “Cherokee Morning Song”

“Cherokee Morning Song”, a traditional Tsalagi/Cherokee song sung by my people since ancient time, is one of my most-loved songs. 🙂 It touches my heart as well as my soul. 😎 This review features the rendition as sung by Walela, released on their self-titled debut album in 1997. 🙂

“Walela” is in Tsalagi/Cherokee what “hummingbird” is in English. And, in this case, the word refers to the very talented singing trio consisting of the sisters Rita and Priscilla Coolidge along with Laura Satterfield, Priscilla’s daughter, Rita’s niece. 🙂 As family members, their lovely voices have a natural blending harmony that is most beautiful. 🙂

“Cherokee Morning Song” is a calming, strengthening, soul-and-spirit-invigorating melody. Its opening drum beats set the tone and the special Cherokee bell-chimes (in this case it is a handheld instrument, although multiple bells of silver are often attached to the attire of ceremonial clothing, playing the tune of the featured song through the movements of the graceful circle dancers) swiftly carries the listener onward through this musical treasure.

The lovely voices begin to sing. They are backed additionally by a quiet synthesizer, although, truth be told, the true Cherokee instruments are the only ones needed for this song: the drums, the bells and the amazing voices of the three Cherokee women. Rita, Priscilla and Laura are gifted with some of the most beautiful singing voices I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. 🙂 😎 Their singing of this song is not only of great audible beauty, but also of beauty that comes from the soul, the spirit and the heart of their very being. You can hear the deep respect for the Creator ringing in their voices throughout the song. 😎

This song is profound yet exquisitely clear in its lyrics. The character of the song – which should be the person(s) singing in first person – is saying that they are of the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit is the One True God, known by many names, as the Scriptures show. 🙂 He is the Creator; the One Who made all things, sees all things, knows all things. He is Love. HaShem. He is our salvation. He is our Hope; the Hope of Israel and of the entire world. He can make the rough seas to be calm. And He can get us safely across the stormy seas. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. He alone can bring peace to the world; when people shut Him out, there can be no peace. That’s why we need to trust Him, because humans cannot bring permanent peace into reality on their own – it takes a power greater than ours. It goes against our human pride to have to admit that, but the truth is the truth anyway. Denial doesn’t change things and it doesn’t fix things. The Creator can guide us on the right path; we just need to listen to Him.

Saying you are of the Great Spirit refers to being a part of His family. The Children of Israel are His Chosen People and everyone who puts their faith in HaMashiach – the Messiah – is adopted into the Creator’s family. 😎 Yeshua/Jesus is the One the prophets foretold of as recorded in ancient writings, including the Scriptures. 🙂 He fills the void that every man and woman searches for; our soul needs Him more than our physical bodies need food – that makes it pretty clear how very important He is to our well-being and lives, don’t you think? 🙂

The words we hear in this song are from ancient Tsalagi/Cherokee. As in all languages, they change somewhat over time and in different locations. The meaning of the song, “Cherokee Morning Song”, is as powerful now as it was when that version of our language was spoken regularly. 😎 It shows our deep connection to the Creator, starting off our day with Him, reminding ourselves of how we cannot exist without Him. We live because He does. We have hope because He is Hope. We have love because He is Love.

This songs plays through like a peaceful flowing stream. 🙂 The first verse is sung in gentle unison then on the second verse the lyrics come in parts, complimenting one another in a beautiful arrangement. At 1:12 a melodic call is sung, touching the heart and soul of the singers as well as the listeners. 🙂 This style is continued in the next two verses of the song. 😎 The melodic instruments and voices glide smoothly through the finish of the song with the various metallic bells picking up speed before the song is done. “Cherokee Morning Song” never fails to touch my soul, my spirit, and remind me of those things that are really and truly important. My connection with and faith in the Creator is what guides me in the right path as I trust Him to show me the way. He can do that for you, too; I hope you know that and are trusting Him with your soul – He will never fail you. 🙂 True success is found with Him, the One Who truly loves us.

Jean247

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Posted on 01/09/201704/19/2018 by Jean247 · 6 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 20: “Don’t Stop (Acoustic)”

One of the coolest tunes I’ve ever heard. 😎 I love the drum, the guitars, the handclaps, the melodic backing Ah-ah-ahhh’s and the well-placed Ooo’s, and the perfectly done whistling! Love that! 🙂 The vocals are great! 🙂 “Don’t Stop” was already one of my top 5SOS songs (and videos) – I especially love Michael’s solo vocal in the last twelve seconds when he sings, “You know that I like it” – great voice and great carrying of the notes. 🙂 (I missed getting to hear that in this version, but this acoustic one is still supercool! 🙂 ) Even though I expected this EP to be great, I was amazed as I listened to this acoustic track for the first time. 😎 And the second time…and the third time…and the- Well, you get the idea, right? 😉 🙂 IT’S SO COOL!!!!! 🙂 😎

Love the stomp beat! 🙂 A perfect combination of sounds all coming in and coming together at the right moments for a supercool culmination of musical prowess! 🙂

It starts off cool and stays cool all the way through. 🙂 Drummer-man Ashton leads off with the wooden box drum (cajon), whose beats soon alternate with strong handclaps then are joined by Michael’s superb acoustic guitar, Luke’s excellent acoustic guitar, Calum’s vibing bass guitar and a supercool whistled tune that fits perfectly. 😎 And that’s all found within the first five seconds ( 😉 😛 ) of the song! 🙂 These guys are great at making music ! 🙂 I can hear Michael’s excellent whistling, although some of the others might be whistling as well, so I don’t want to cut them out of any due credit. 🙂

As the first verse begins, the whistling ceases while the drum, handclaps and guitars continues. The familiar lyrics begin with Luke singing the first verse then the tempo picks up more as all four members use their excellent vocal abilities. 🙂

The second verse begins with Calum singing lead, additional voices joining in at the right moments to add emphasis. Amping up again for the chorus, the guys make very good use of rising Ahhh’s then the supercool whistling tune joins in on the chorus section this time. 😎

At 1:39, Michael’s highlight solo arrives, and, in this version, is backed by a very cool melody of Ooo-oo-ooo’s part way into it. Ashton, Luke and Calum add their vocals on the last word as the volume continually builds up.

From 1:53 to 2:06, the music of the drum, hand-clapping and guitars quietens and Luke’s deep voice can be heard gently singing to the girl of the song. 🙂

Everything stops poignantly for a moment before 5 Seconds of Summer launches into the last chorus section of the song with all of the musical instruments melding together into a wonderful sound. 😎 Sounds like Summer – a bright and sunny day. 🙂 The Ahh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahh’s and whistled tune are such a cool addition to this song!

All four band members lend their vocals, bringing their excellent harmonizing together again, with one voice briefly singing a line in the front at one point while the others continued. An enthusiastic “whoo!”, some great strumming endnotes and this song comes to its supercool conclusion. And I hit that “play” button again. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 12/24/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 9 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 19: “Just Hold On”

🎶~~~~~SPECIAL EDITION~~~~~🎶

This review is a special bonus edition and is being published on a special day. 🙂 Today is December 24th, Louis Tomlinson’s birthday and he is one of two artists featured in this article. 🙂 This review is for the supercool song “Just Hold On”, released on December 10th. As my regular readers know, I usually do two articles a month, and I already had two reviews scheduled for this month, featuring songs of the holidays. However, when Louis Tomlinson & Steve Aoki’s “Just Hold On” was released on the 10th, I knew I had to review it this month – couldn’t wait ’til next month! 🙂

Three minutes and nineteen seconds of fun, upbeat music with lyrics that inspires, encourages, heartens and says it all so well. That’s a very brief yet accurate description of “Just Hold On” by Steve Aoki & Louis Tomlinson. 😎 🙂 Ultra Records, out of New York, are understandably very pleased to have this great song on their label. 😎 This song by Louis and Steve is an instant hit – all over the world! 🙂 😎

The wonderful vocals by Louis are pertinent to the entire sound of the song; he has so much heart that it comes through in every syllable he sings. The Creator blessed him with a love and ability for singing as well as the great vocal texture to make it such a great listening experience for all who get to hear him. 😎 His never-give-up, appreciate-every-day attitude is a good example to all. 🙂 😎

This song was my introduction to Steve Aoki, who is an excellent DJ and a really nice person, too. 🙂 His artistry is special – he gets so much out of his music station yet doesn’t overdo it with too many layers or by using odd electronic sounds merely to catch attention – because he has musical integrity and doesn’t lose sight of what music is. His DJing in this song is excellent! 😎

With great singing and great sound, what more could you ask for? You didn’t have to ask, but they supplied it anyway: great lyrics! 🙂 😎 😎 I love this song! 🙂 The title itself is encouraging. 🙂 😎 Way cool. 😎 “Just Hold On.” 😎 Louis sings with such clarity you can hear all of the words in their strength and directness. The lyrics speak of wishing something for us (that’s just like Louis – always thinking of others 😎 🙂 ) and understanding how we feel. You can hear the humble thoughtfulness, his wanting to help encourage us not to get stuck on discouragement or give up if things don’t go the way we wanted them to. We can learn from everything – good or bad – that we go through. And we have the power to decide how it will affect our character – good or bad. Everyone has the freedom to decide for themselves how they are going to handle something. You can allow it to make you bitter by dwelling on the downside of it or you can keep pushing onward with determination – strength of character that can help you achieve your dreams of good things you want for yourself and for the world. 😎 You can become weak in despair or you can be stronger than you were, learning from every experience you go through along the way. Things may not always go the way we prefer them to, but, as the song says – if that happens: just hold on! Be strong. Don’t give up. The sun sets and rises each day no matter what else is going on; that’s a steady constant, a reminder from the Creator that we need to keep on keepin’ on in the good things, in living right, doing right, helping others, doing what He has given us the ability and gifts to do. Don’t act helpless and defeated, because you aren’t either of those things unless you choose to be. Don’t be a quitter in something good; keep goin’ on with strength of purpose. Are you going to let circumstances decide your attitude or are you going to make your own decision on that?

Dreams. Don’t give up on them. Sometimes, dreams can change – maybe what you used to dream of isn’t what you really want now. That’s not giving up; it’s just a change of plans. 😉 But if you have a dream, and it’s good, then you should go for it. 😎

It should also be noted that the song says, in regards to things going wrong, “if” not “when” – that’s a good attitude! 🙂 😎 I like that. 😎

The song opens with hushed instrumental music very briefly then Louis’ voice begins to sing the encouraging words from his heart. With each section of verse, more instrumentation is expertly added by Steve’s deft hands – including a very nice touch of Japanese-flavored music that really adds to the beauty of the song. 😎 Singing with conviction, Louis adds volume and even more power to his vocals as he gives his message of hope and soars skyward with it when he hits the remarkable chorus of “Just Hold On”. 😎 I like the backing echo of his voice right there, too – very cool. 😎 😎

A very excellent point is made when Louis sings, “What do you do when a chapter ends? Do you close the book and never read it again?” The obvious answer to those questions are: you go to the next chapter and keep reading onward! Giving up on a book merely because you’ve arrived at the end of one of the many chapters makes no sense whatsoever. Likewise, it doesn’t make any sense if we give up on life or good goals just because something maybe didn’t go the way we expected it to at a certain point in our life. We don’t know what the future holds, but the Creator does. 🙂 We might be sad or unhappy about something right now, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing good left for us. The Creator never gives up on us and we shouldn’t, either. Something awesomely good could be waiting for you right around the corner in the next chapter. If you don’t keep going onward, you won’t find out, will you? 😉

The lyrics talk about your own story – you can decide how you will be, either who you were or who you’ll become. There are always things we can learn every day of our lives that can help guide us into better character. Wisdom comes from the Creator by asking Him for it. Knowledge comes by increasing your learning – observing things and applying that information to how you deal with your life. Knowledge doesn’t necessarily come with age – it depends on each individual person. I’ve met very knowledgeable children. I have met some adults that were, shall we say…scarily stupid? (I’m not talking about honest ignorance; I’m talking about adults who could and should know better yet they didn’t use the brains the Creator gave them and allowed other people to decide for them – following blindly without checking out the facts. That’s just not smart.) You can have good, true knowledge no matter your age, where you are from, where you are, what you physically can or cannot do. Think for yourself and look around you – the Creator can teach you so many things if only you open your eyes to what He is showing you along life’s path each day. It’s there, and with a faith-filled heart, you can see it. 😎

Back to the supercool chorus of “Just Hold On”:

The music breaks to a quieter chime as Louis reminds us that the sun goes down – and it comes back up. He gets the significance of that and so does this Cherokee. Can you see it? 🙂 The world keeps turning. It’s not the end of the world, even if it feels like it to us at the time. We are alive – we need to keep living; it won’t change anything for the better if we give up.

The music’s tempo/turbo torques up right after this then Louis encourages, “Darlin’, just hold on.” An instrumental section begins and highlights what a great dance tune this is. 😎 It has a great beat, upbeat cool; whether you consider yourself a dancer or a non-dancer – you can’t hardly help but move to the rhythm of this great tune! 🙂

The second verse tells us that if we’re still here – it’s not over. Your hopes can still be realized – as long as you don’t give up, that is. 😉 It’s up to you; you choose to keep going or you take the seemingly easier way by giving up. I said “seemingly” because it merely seems the easier thing at the time, but, in the long run, you come to realize that giving up is the costliest choice of all – and not a happy one. Louis encourages again with the gentle huskiness of his voice singing, “Darlin’, just hold on.”

As the song wraps up we hear the chorus section sing with an even greater sense of urgency for the message to be heeded, mixed with tenderness – something Louis has a gift for in his singing abilities. “Oh-oh-oh oh-oh-OH-oh if it all goes wrong, Oh-oh-oh oh-oh-OH-oh darlin’ just hold on.” You can hear the pleading tone wrapped in love as he sings: “Oh-oh-oh oh-oh-OH-oh if it all goes wrong, Darlin’ just hold on.”

This song sounds like what you would expect from the smiling, ever-thoughtful Louis Tomlinson. He likes fun, he likes good music, he loves to sing, he enjoys helping people. The song fits with his character. 😎 And it fits with what I know of Steve Aoki, too. 🙂 😎 (My apologies for not being more knowledgeable about him and his work; as I said, he is new to me and I’m happy to know of him now. 🙂 I don’t trust in the media for information; I like to gather it myself by observation of and listening to an individual – actual factual stuff. 🙂 😎 )

A smile says a lot about a person. Some people think that if someone tends to smile a lot then that smiling person must not have any troubles or sadness in their life. That’d be wrong, though. A smile doesn’t indicate the absence of burdens, but rather, it indicates the character of the person who bravely smiles – even when life is tough. Louis has a strong character and it shines through to all of us. 🙂 😎 Steve has a kindness that emanates from him; I could see it as I watched the debut performance of “Just Hold On”. 🙂 😎

No one should ever make the mistake of assuming another person has never had a rough day in their life or hasn’t ever suffered. That’s just asinine. Every one of us has dealt with sadness or hurt to some degree by early childhood. Anyone who speaks of childhood as “a care-free time” probably doesn’t remember their childhood very thoroughly. Maybe they had a mostly healthy and happy childhood, but it wasn’t free of worries or fears. (And little children definitely have faced greater worries than whether or not they’ll get the newest cool toy. Children feel things deeply and are aware of much more than adults often give them credit for.) People tend to think that everything in the past was “a simpler time” and the only tough days are right now, whatever they are currently facing. That’s incorrect, too. It might be how we feel at the time, but it’s not based on facts. Regardless of how we remember it or feel about it, there are good times and unhappy times throughout our lives. It might feel like dearth or plenty at varying times, but it is not 100% miserable or 100% perfect at any given age. And whenever there are unhappy or miserable times, the Creator gives us blessings to get us through. Sometimes we might be too focused on our misery to notice the good things He sends our way, but that doesn’t change the fact that He’s sending them. 🙂 Everything we go through in our lives helps shape our character one way or another – it’s up to each individual how that will go. Some have suffered severely, but you can’t always tell. A brave smile can be a survival tool and it can also be used to send out the message: I don’t have to let my troubles (whatever they may be) rule me and control me. I can be happy. I’m here. I can keep going on.

Jean247

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Posted on 12/18/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 10 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 18: Supercool December Holidays Music – Part B

Season’s greetings! 🙂 I hope each individual who reads this will enjoy my reviews and, especially, that true joy lives in your heart each day, making your day bright with hope and peace. 🙂

The first song featured this time will be one that was heard in New York when James Maslow, Logan Henderson, Carlos Pena and Kendall Schmidt brought their amazing vocals to the annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center – and Dustin Belt brought his very cool guitar-playing as well, all-in-all, making it a performance to remember for years to come 😎 🙂 The cheerful, upbeat tune of Big Time Rush’s “Beautiful Christmas”, is so excellent, that I have been known to play it at various times throughout the year – not just around December! 🙂 It tells about filling the holidays with love and cheer – which can and really should be applied to everyday life throughout the year. 🙂 As Big Time Rush’s supercool song, “24/Seven”, says: every day is a holiday. 🙂 It can be in your heart, even if you have other things you must do. Love and cheer are two very great things that every one can use more of! 🙂 “We can make beautiful Christmas – we can make the world shine bright. As long as friends and family are with us – every star will shine tonight.” Snow is pretty, but it isn’t mandatory for a happy Christmas. In fact, Yeshua/Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the land of Yisrael – not a snowy place. 😉 😎 🙂 It isn’t about the weather, what you do or don’t have, money-bought presents, physical location, or even who you are spending it with – even if you are alone. While some of those things can add to the fun of Christmas, the truly most important thing is knowing why the birth of Yeshua/Jesus is celebrated all around the world – it’s because in coming to Earth, He was providing a way for us to have peace with the Creator. 🙂 Love and peace are gifts from the Creator and through Him, we can love our neighbors (that includes everyone in the world) – and also have peace with them, if they are willing to truly make peace, too. 😎 When your heart is full of love, there isn’t any room left for hate. 🙂 May the love and peace that Yeshua/Jesus brings fill your hearts with joy throughout the year. 🙂

There are many great versions of “Sevivon Sov, Sov, Sov” (The Dreidel Song)! 🙂 😎 I like the upbeat, flowing song. It sounds good from start to finish and catches the essence of the beauty of this traditional tune. 🙂 Spinning the dreidel is a popular game with a very cool-looking game piece. It is a top, often made of wood, with the Chanukah story briefly told by only a small number of Hebrew lettering, which represents the words “A Great Miracle Happened There”! 🙂 In Israel, one of the letters would be different, because it would proclaim, “A Great Miracle Happened Here”! 🙂 Whoever wins the game is usually the proud owner of a nice pile of gelt – chocolate coins! 🙂 🙂 This song is fun to listen to, whether you’re playing the game itself or just enjoying some good music. 😎

Paul Revere & the Raiders put out a Christmas album in 1967 titled “A Christmas Present…And Past”. Most of the songs were originals to that album, having been written by Mark Lindsay and the exceptional producer of the Raiders, fellow prolific music enthusiast, Terry Melcher. 😎 🙂 The LP included an ongoing skit between each song and they are on the CD now as well. 🙂 One of the songs I most enjoy from this unique seasonal album is “Rain, Sleet or Snow”, which tells about the mail situation with great wit and humor – both authors were well-armed in both of those categories as they wrote this one. 🙂 For example: After the instruments have set the musical hard-rock edge, Mark sings with a powerful edge of his own, “Pardon my inquiry, but I gotta know – what makes all you people send your mail so slow? According to the information I receive – you send all your Christmas cards on Christmas Eve.” 😛 😉 The song title is sung next, which is the mail delivery motto about not letting any inclement weather stop them from getting the mail delivered. Mark shared some information that might prove helpful in everyone receiving their cards in time: “The Post Master General says that we’ll get by – if you send all your cards before the Fourth of July.” 😛 😆 🙂 The lyrics have humor, are sung with perfect, tough delivery by Mark, and the music is supercool. 😎 “Rain, Sleet or Snow” doesn’t have a soft, gentle melody – it’s a hard-rock sound through and through. 😎 It’s in the way the audio was recorded so expertly, how the instruments were played – yes, the Raiders had already “invented” using an orchestra in a strictly rock setting, which is something that some of the cooler bands have been experimenting with lately with great results. Paul Revere & the Raiders introduced a lot of unique elements into the music world; true originals and path-makers. 😎

Yasmin Levy singing “Ocho Kandalikas” (“Eight Candles”) is Ladino music most beautiful! 🙂 The instrumentation catches the attention, grips the heart and touches the soul all at once. When Yasmin Levy begins singing, the songs enters new depths that are seemingly almost tangible. Hebrew and Spanish flavors blend together in the melody, expressed so clearly by both the instruments and Yasmin Levy. This song is five minutes and one second of heartfelt, soul-felt music. 😎 Each of the eight candles are counted as the song continues, showing the importance of each one. 😎 Each day was a miracle. 🙂 Each day is a miracle. 😎 We have so much to be thankful for – no matter how much we may feel we have to complain about in daily life. There’s lots of stuff we have to deal with in our everyday lives that we’d just as soon not have to be bothered with, right? And some things are way beyond irritating, maybe even very extreme problems – but there are still things for which to be thankful. All you have to do is give it a moment’s thought to find many such things. If you can walk, you can be thankful for that – not everyone can walk. If you are in a wheelchair, you can be thankful for that – not everyone can sit in one – some are stuck in bed. If you are stuck in bed, you can be thankful for that – some are in the same position, but cannot move. If you are in bed and unable to move, you can be thankful – you still have the power of the brain the Creator gave you. You see? 🙂 Thankfulness is something we can feel despite circumstances. Blessings abound and the Creator continues to bless us with miracles every day – never give up, never stop hoping, never stop praying, never stop trusting in the Creator. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. Sometimes you ask and wait. “But I’m still waiting!” you say? You’re still here; there is time enough. 🙂

“Sleigh Ride” is one of my favorite songs on the radio this time of year; it sounds so happy, cozy and cheerful! 🙂 One of my favorite renditions of the song is by The Ronettes. 🙂 A good imagination is all you need to go on a fun sleigh ride like they sing about in the song. 🙂 😎 If perhaps you have never had the pleasure of hearing this song, I will tell you a little bit about it. The setting is a snowy, wintry night with the stars shining up above, maybe some moonlight filtering through the trees in a soft light. A guy and a girl who are sweethearts are snuggled up next to each other, sitting in a wooden sleigh which is pulled by a fine horse, sleigh bells attached to the reigns ringing prettily in keeping with the horse’s brisk, clip-clop pace. 🙂 Enjoying the pleasant solitude on the country lane with snow sparkling all around you in the moonlight as you sing “a chorus or two” of a happy song like this one, your voices blending together harmoniously. Comfy and cozy sitting next to your sweetheart, you enjoy the ride regardless of the cold, wintry air. 🙂 Of course, sitting in front of a nice fireplace indoors afterwards with cups of hot cocoa is a good idea, too. 😉 🙂

One of the most beautiful renditions – and most melodic – of “Away in a Manger” is the gentle and reverent singing of Celtic Thunder. You can easily see the scene the lyrics sing of the sweet preciousness of the babe, Yeshua/Jesus, as He lifts his sweet head from His lowly cradle. His big eyes looking up toward the Heavenly Father. It’s an amazing thing. 🙂 Whether you are a descendant of Isaac or not, you can be a child of the Creator. He chose Israel to be His people and through their line provided a way for all the nations of the earth to be blessed. He offers eternal life through the promised Mashiach/Messiah, Yeshua/Jesus, to not only the Jews, but also to all nations – every person, regardless of your location, ethnicity, religious practices, current beliefs or where you stand on various issues debated in this world: the Creator Who made you, gave you life on Earth, offers you peace with Him so that you may have everlasting life in Heaven with Him. 😎 He loves you. He is perfect; mankind is not. So He made a way to reconcile the two, by coming down to Earth in the form of man, born to Mary, lived as a man, taught and performed miracles for those who put their faith in Him, allowed Himself to be betrayed and killed by man and died on the cross, taking on all of our sins that mankind has been born with since Adam and Eve first sinned in Eden, Yeshua/Jesus died especially for each human being who ever lived or ever will, and then rose again and walked among mankind before returning to Heaven until the day He returns for us. The Creator of the universe did that for you. For me. For each person that ever was or ever is. All any of us have to do is to believe He did that for us, put our faith in Him, ask Him to forgive us and save us – and He will. He gave us that promise, just like He promised to never flood the Earth again even though mankind does very bad things sometimes – that’s why we get to see that beautiful rainbow in the clouds. He kept that promise, He kept His promise to send a savior, and He will keep His promise to forgive you, save you and give you eternal life if you put your faith in Him to do so. I hope you will. 🙂 I’m praying for you, for joy always. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 12/12/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 16 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 17: Supercool December Holidays Music – Part A

Holidays greetings! 🙂 (Yes, I did two plurals on purpose. 😉 ) For this month, I have decided to review some of the coolest and most uniquely good songs related to some of the holidays celebrated in the month of December. My two articles will feature a collection of songs – not just one. My next article, Supercool December Holidays Music – Part B, will include Paul Revere & the Raiders, Big Time Rush, The Ronettes, and more! 🙂 I hope you will read my reviews for each song and not only the ones featuring the holiday(s) you celebrate. Music is music. It speaks to the heart. It can affect and effect our lives in so many ways. Please read on; I hope you enjoy my gifts to you! 🙂

Chanukah (also sometimes spelled Hanukkah) came first and begins first, so it is fitting that we start with a song by Matisyahu with the title, “Happy Hanukkah”. 🙂 An amazing beat and rhythm are just two of the things you will hear in this song! 🙂 😎 This is one of the coolest Chanukah gifts ever; it is a song of supercool proportions that comes directly from the gifted heart of music artist Matisyahu. 🙂 In fact, near the start of the song he says that this is a gift of love to you. 😎 I have enjoyed the unique style of Matisyahu’s songs since I first heard him; it is what could be partially described as Mediterranean Reggaeton. Very cool, lively music with honest heart. This song, “Happy Hanukkah”, is beautiful. Every instrument lends its beauty to the song with melodic power; it’s very cool. 🙂 Not only does it have a great overall sound, but also, it has so much profound truth in the lyrics, sung with the heart of a man who seeks to honor the Creator in all things. I appreciate that element so very much. It gives depth to a song like nothing else can. 😎 There are so many cool things in this song; I hope you will go listen to it so that you can hear it for yourself. Peace and love are two of the main things in this song and are treasures that we all desire. Very true are the words that Israel brings love to the world – “from Mount Zion this is what we do”. Israel exemplifies the Creator’s love in the way they so selflessly go help any country who needs their skills (such as medical help after natural disasters) – even if that country scorns them on a daily basis. The Creator loves each of us, whether we love Him or not. He doesn’t base His love on what we do; He loves us because He loves us. Simple as that. 🙂 That’s why He sent the promised Mashiach (Messiah) to give us eternal life through faith in Him and what He did for us. Selfless love. A gift of mercy (not giving us the bad things we deserve) and grace (giving us good things that we don’t deserve and haven’t earned – couldn’t earn on our own if we tried). Faith and trust in HaShem, believing on Yeshua (Jesus) who fulfilled the prophecies of old, this is the greatest gift ever.

You haven’t heard how cool “Jingle Bells” can sound until you have heard Paul Revere’s Raiders’ rendition of it! 🙂 😎 They bring their own originality, fun-lovin’, energetic, highly-skilled musicianship to it, making it a standout to be admired. 🙂 They perform this at their live show, Rockin’ Christmas, bringing visual as well as audible entertainment as only they can. 😎 After a great instrumental intro by Tommy Scheckel on drums (his drums really make this rockin’ version rock!), Ron Foos on bass (bringing those groovy, deep tones), Paul Revere on keys (he played not one, but two instruments in this song! 🙂 ), Jamie Revere on guitar (I love his awesome guitar playing – its tones can be felt), Doug Heath on guitar (he’s got some supercool stuff to wow everyone with in this song), Danny Krause on keys (the man has gifted hands, what more can one say?), lead singer Darren Dowler sings lead with power, finesse and gusto! 🙂 😎 Each performance is special, with variations now and then. For example: Paul Revere would sometimes sing the second verse; I always enjoy hearing him sing – you can hear the fun and happiness in his vocals. 😎 Another example: Darren, instead of singing the lyrics “a one-horse open sleigh”, he sang “a ’57 Chevrolet”; both versions are cool and highly enjoyable for this Chevy girl to hear! 🙂 Paul said he really enjoyed doing that version after hearing another artist, Brian Seitzer, do that kind of a rendition. Paul and his boys Raidered it! (To see what I mean by that, please check out my article Meet Paul Revere’s Raiders! 😉 🙂 ) Midway through the song, the spotlight moves to Doug Heath at center stage as he plays a superb guitar solo while the rest of the band rocks on – Tommy Scheckel’s cymbal playing finesse adding another dimension of delight to this groovy rendition. 😎 Almost a half a minute later brings the song to its next verse of toe-tapping fun; Ron Foos is going to town with style as he strums that bass! On the last chorus, Darren belts out the words with even more umph, Doug does a groovy run along the frets, Jamie radiates joy as he plays that guitar so well, Ron keeps rockin’, Paul’s playing the jingle bells instrument, at the perfect moment Tommy uses his drumsticks to direct attention to Danny Krause who plays a beautiful flourish on the keys – accompanied by Jamie on guitar (maybe Doug and/or bassist Ron played, too, but I couldn’t see them in that shot so I can’t say for sure 🙂 ), then the rest of the guys all join in on an instrumental closing of very cool proportions. Paul Revere’s Raiders, akin to the original Raiders whose songs they perform faithfully, are a supercool live band who never fail to entertain, satisfy your need to hear good music, bring a smile to your face that doesn’t quit, and allows you to relax and gave a great time – every time! 🙂

One song, “Silent Night”. 🙂 Two very talented as well as gifted artists, Elvis Presley and Taylor Davis. 🙂 I’ll start with the first recording, Elvis Presley’s classic tune backed by the deep tones of a grand piano as well as melodies provided by male and female vocals. 😎 Then I’ll review the next-recorded rendition, Taylor Davis’ beautifully melodic tune backed by a well-chosen and well-played orchestration of sound. 🙂
*When Elvis Presley sings “Silent Night”, he conveys the peace, comfort and joy of the Creator’s gift to us so genuinely with each tone and inflection of his voice. He sings from his soul, from his heart, reverently. “All is calm.” The Creator can bring peace and calm to us if we trust Him to. He can help us feel a true peace and calm in our hearts and minds through Yeshua/Jesus if we just ask Him sincerely. You can have peace in your heart anywhere and in any surrounding circumstances. Yes, even right there where you are right now. “All is bright.” He brings light even where there is darkness – whether the darkness is physical, mental, spiritual, or any other kind of darkness – He can bring you light. 😎 He made the sun shine for about a whole day, standing completely still overhead, when the Israelites were fighting their enemies back in Joshua’s day. The Creator is the same Being He has always been; He cares about each one of us, whether anyone else does or not. I think that’s really cool. 🙂 😎
*The very talented violinist, Taylor Davis, plays “Silent Night” so very beautifully, speaking to the heart and soul without the need for words. Drawing the bow sweetly across the strings with steady beauty, she brings the story of the song to life through music, touching the soul in a calm and gentle way. Timing is important and the heart of the musician comes through when they are playing their selected instrument. Listening to her music, I believe that Taylor Davis has a gentle, sincere heart that feels the depth of meaning through music. It is how she conveys the message of the song so exquisitely. 😎 “Silent Night” is a gentle lullaby melody, as the human birth of Yeshua/Jesus our Mashiach/Messiah is celebrated; He is the Son of the Creator, all-powerful, yet He came to Earth in human flesh to bring us light, joy, peace with the Creator and life everlasting. That’s real love. 😎

Along with the upbeat tune of Klezmer, Chanukah is sung about in this song with great, warm, deep lively vocals from the illustrious, warm-hearted Theodore Bikel. 🙂 😎 In “Oy Chanukah”, he sings about the reason for celebrating Chanukah, lighting candles for eight days on the Chanukiah (a special, beautiful candlestick that holds eight candles – four on each side of a center candle that is employed to light the others. Kind of like the Creator is the Light Who has the power to give light to each of us if we’ll just stand still long enough to listen to Him. Chanukah is observed “to remind us of days long ago”, as the song says, and to especially remember the Creator’s provision – which continues today and always. 🙂 After fighting for freedom from oppression, winning, and cleaning up the Temple from the evil destruction by the enemies who had previously taken over, there was only enough pure oil to light the Temple’s candlestick for one day – but the Creator made that oil last for eight days and nights (which was the time needed for there to be more of the required oil made and ready). Miracles! 🙂 Way cool. 😎 This song tells it well and sounds great throughout! 🙂 I love the finishing lyrics, “you can dance with hope!” Hope is a priceless thing; it encourages you to be brave and stay strong through whatever you are going through or dealing with in your life. The Creator loves us and gave us precious promises that we can count on Him to fulfill; we can depend on Him – He loves us and cares about everything. 🙂 Hope is a strong thing, a knowing in your heart and soul that even if you can’t see it, it’s there. As it says in the Scriptures: you can’t see the wind itself, but you can see what it does. 😎 The Creator is present everywhere; you may not see Him, but you can see His Hand in the many blessings, big and small, in your everyday life – if you take time to notice them, you’ll find it is easy to see them. 😉 Anything good is a blessing from the Creator; He gives good and perfect gifts. 😎

A doo wop group established in 1991, Stormy Weather, teamed up with the illustrious Ronnie Spector to sing a Christmas version of the 1960’s song, “Creation of Love”. 😎 And the result was quite beautiful! 🙂 Sung acapella, the poignancy of the lyrics are all the more powerful with only the human voice and some tasteful, time-keeping finger snaps being heard. Ronnie sings lead as Stormy Weather provides the perfect background – all of them sounding great! 🙂 The song tells the story of a girl and boy who met at a dance, walked hand in hand out into the winter wonderland and soon realized that love was there, created in their hearts for each other. 🙂 They kissed, their hearts dancing in the night. 😎 They walked along for a while, smiling, then as he held her tight, they pledged their love to one another. 🙂 “I love you and you love me – think how happy we will be. I know, now I know – that’s the creation of love.” A very nice love story. 🙂

Did you know that Mark Lindsay sang a solo of “What Child Is This?” as part of a special recording? 🙂 Now, this treasure was made available at W. T. Grant stores on a vinyl LP titled “A Very Merry Christmas Volume IV”; Columbia Special Products produced it exclusively for them c. 1967. You can hear it, like I did, from YouTube. 🙂 A beautiful instrumental melody begins, and then Mark begins to gently sing of Yeshua/Jesus’ birth. The soar in Mark’s excellent voice as the chorus begins. I love the way he sings with strength and conviction; he consistently sings every song with true heart. 😎 The question is asked – why was he born in such a low estate, where animals fed? It was to show, in part, that He didn’t come to be popular or bring admiration from others. That wasn’t His purpose. The lyrics continue to explain, “Nails fierce shall pierce Him through – the cross be borne for me, for you”. He suffered and died in our place, so that we wouldn’t have to pay for our own sins – that’s how much the Creator loves us. As the song says from Scripture, He is the Word (“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotton of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Book of John, chapter one, verse fourteen. 🙂 ) in human form, come to save us. When He created us, He gave us free will – we can choose our own path. He won’t make us accept His gift and put our faith in Him; it is our choice alone. We can choose to believe or choose to deny; it is one or the other. Rejecting His gift means choosing to pay for our own sins forever with the Devil who made that same bad choice. Accepting the Creator’s gift of salvation through His Son, Yeshua/Jesus, means instantaneous forgiveness and the promise of eternal life in Heaven with the Creator Who loves us. Which choice do you want to make? It’s not too late; as long as you have breath, you have choice – but please keep in mind: no one is guaranteed they’ll take a next breath. Some things are too important to put off; this is one of them.

Jean247

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Posted on 11/30/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 14 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 16: “Louie, Louie”

From their Columbia debut album, “Here They Come!” by Paul Revere & the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay, we find the subject of this review: “Louie, Louie”. 🙂

“Louie, Louie” is a cover of the 1957 tune originally written and sung by Richard Berry. Paul Revere & the Raiders performed this song at their live, in-studio concert on September 24, 1964 at Columbia Records in California. This song is likewise available for purchase on the highly collectible original vinyl as well as compact disc and digital download.

The track starts off with lead singer, Mark Lindsay, announcing, “Here’s a thing called ‘Louie, Louie!'” Drummer-extraordinaire Smitty is making the cymbals sing, adding speed to the shimmering tempo as it continues. The audience cheers with great enthusiasm as Mark brings his instrument to his mouth and immediately launches into the unmistakeable “Louie, Louie” beat on his saxophone with depth, energy and clarity. You can hear right away that it’s going to be another awesome performance! 😎 You can hear the rest of the band getting into with boisterous shouts of “Hey!”, “Alright!” and “Alright, yeah!” The guitar, bass and keys join in seamlessly and Smitty calls out his famous introduction line to this song from behind his drum set, “Grab your woman; it’s ‘Louie, Louie’ time!” Leader Paul calls out, “All right!” and Smitty swings into his amazing drum work with strong precision and energetic finesse.

These guys are excellent musicians who not only play their respective instruments to the instrument’s greatest capabilities, but also, they feel the music from their soul. This adds a whole ‘nother dimension to the great sound we hear. 😎 There’s a big difference between playing all of the notes correctly and playing it with heart in addition to that. Amazingly different sound that radiates beautifully.

At thirty-five seconds in, Mark’s powerful, gutty vocals begin! 🙂 What a great voice! 🙂 He sings with endearments about the girl waiting for him across the sea. Keeping to the calypso style of the song, in singing of his need to be where she is, he sings “me got to go”. It rolls right off his tongue. 😎

Mark adds his own words to the very danceable song when he sings, “O let’s stomp and shout and work it on out” following it up with a gutty, “Hey!” 🙂 😎

From 1:19 to 2:01 Drake’s guitar takes over the lead singing with bluesy intricacy – check out that hand-blurring guitar work at 1:27!! Amazing! 🙂 What a guitarist! 🙂 😎

While Drake was wowing the crowd with his guitaring talents, Mark had gone directly from singing lead to playing more great sax, Smitty’s drumming continued in its strength, Doc’s bass kept that groovy tone going and Paul kept rockin’ on the keys. 😎

From sax to singing again, Mark tells it like it is then adds some more dance coaching with the low and gentle words, “Hey, baby, just a little bit of soul now.” A little later in the chorus the instruments quiet some as Mark instructs, to the delight of every girl listening, “Stomp and shout, child, and work it on out, chile.” You can hear the rest of the guys in the band cheering – and you can hear Drake whistling, as well. 🙂

The song concludes with loud, enthusiastic cheering from the happy audience who got to enjoy this live performance of an amazing level of talent. 😎 As the guys strummed some notes and prepared for the next song and the cheering din lowered some, Mark graciously thanked the crowd. 🙂 What a great concert! 🙂 Although I have listened to this so many times, I can hardly wait to listen to it again! 🙂 Now that feeling, without a doubt, is a sign of good music. 😎

Please share any good comments you have in the box provided; I would appreciate knowing you enjoyed reading my review. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 11/13/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 10 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 15: “Perfect” x 3

“Perfect”. 🙂 I love the overall sound of this song. It’s great on the album and it’s downright amazing in concert. Excellent musicality! 🙂

The overall theme of the song: he (the character in the song) might not be her idea of perfect and he isn’t good at making promises, but they might be perfect for each other. In the chorus, he explains how this can be. Some examples given, that if they both enjoy these things, this could work out well for both of them. He asks her if she likes causing trouble up in hotel rooms, having secret rendezvous and doing things you shouldn’t do. As you can see in their cool b&w music video for this song: causing trouble by playing football/soccer in a hotel room is definitely something you shouldn’t do. He asks her if she likes midnight driving with the windows down, going places they can’t even pronounce, and if she wants to do whatever she’s been dreaming about. If so = he thinks they are perfect for each other.

There’s the story; now here’s the true beauty of the song. 🙂

Shimmering music, including quiet guitar, begins the song then, with the bass thrumming increasingly, Louis Tomlinson’s excellent vocals are heard as the lyrics begin. 🙂 The drums make their great presence known as the second part of the verse is sung by another great voice, Liam Payne. The piano adds its matchless sound to the song as the wonderful vocals of Harry Styles sings the chorus. Niall Horan’s priceless Irish voice has full command of the second verse. Then there are cool extra vocals doing an echoing fade in the background as Liam sings his part again. Harry sings the regular chorus again then time seems to stand still as the music is hushed and Harry sings intimately in deep, gentle tones, my favorite part being when and how he sings, “oh, yeah”. 🙂 The Creator blessed him with a great, husky voice. 🙂 Back to the song: the music rushes back in, amping it up to an even stronger chorus than it already had been earlier in the song – quite an accomplishment!

There are two more versions of “Perfect” available: the acoustic “Perfect (Stripped)” and the keyboard-infused “Perfect (Matoma Remix)”.

“Perfect (Stripped)” starts off with the gentle tune of an acoustic guitar. I like how you can hear the vocals so clearly with the melodic guitar being the only manmade instrument joining them on the first verse. When the chorus arrives, the guitar music is exchanged for the keys then both instruments blend as the intensity picks up. It’s back to the guitar for verse two then for the second chorus the piano takes over again, this time adding more chords as the song builds its momentum. The guitar gently plays for Harry’s solo then the piano joins in as the vocals pick up again.

The “Perfect (Matoma Remix)” features a different backing track with a touch of the original instrumental melody here and there. It has a lighter, bouncier sound. Some parts of it makes me think of dappled sunlight shining in a tropical setting. 🙂

The album version of “Perfect” is my favorite of the three. This is a great song to listen to while cruisin’ down the road; it’s perfect for it, really. 🙂 It has amazing sound. The studio production is great – the sound really jumps out of the speakers. 😎 I especially love the pause then strong startup right in the chorus when it gets to the “And if you like midnight drivin’ with the windows down”! 🙂 And as I have noted before about truly talented artists: no matter how great they sound in the studio, they sound even better in concert! 😎 And in the One Direction concerts you have four exceptional musicians in addition to the supercool guitar work of Niall Horan. 🙂 There is Jon on keys, Dan on guitar, Sandy on bass, and Josh on drums! (As much as I love watching One Direction, if Josh and his drums can be seen in the footage, I’m drawn to that area of the screen. Magnificent drummer!) This song sounds tremendously good in concert with the band; the whole sound of it is so excellent! 🙂 You have to hear it yourself to get the full appreciation for how powerfully good it is. 🙂

Thank you for reading! 🙂 If you enjoyed my review and would like to add some of your own good comments about this great music, please type it in the box provided below. 🙂 Thank you! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 10/31/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 16 Comments

Supercool Music: A Living Article© Part 14: Nobody Can “Drag Me Down”

Track #2 – “Drag Me Down”
This song begins with a quiet instrumental crescendo. Right after the cool bass’s voice is heard, even better voices are heard as Harry begins to sing, his voice ringing out, followed by the heart-touching vocals of Louis, followed by the quiet, deep tones of Liam, followed by that powerful voice of soul – Niall’s. 🙂 They sing of the love and support that makes them strong and helps them to be their best. 😎

As the song builds up to the chorus, they sing that with that love, nobody can drag them down – “nobody, nobody”, as Louis so perfectly vocalizes the strength of this assuredness. The chorus is so strong, reverberating the strong truth that nobody can drag you down when someone cares enough to stand beside you always.

It’s good to have someone who always cares; often, it is parents, friends. Sometimes we might feel alone and think that no one cares at all, but that isn’t true. Even if we don’t have a person who seems to care – the One Who created each one of us cares. 🙂 The Creator is always near, ready to help us if we trust Him, helping us even when we don’t ask. We don’t even know how many times or in how many ways the Creator has protected us. 🙂 For example: how many times have you been less-than-pleased because traffic was slow and was going to cause you to reach your destination later than you had planned? It’s happened many times, to many of us. Sometimes it’s just slow traffic – sometimes it’s a life-saving maneuver from up above. 🙂 Some of those times, there are traffic light malfunctions or cars with mechanical failures just minutes ahead of us that, had we been there sooner (if the traffic hadn’t been so slow) we would have ended up in a collision. That avoidance of an accident was no accident; it was the Creator watching out for everyone. There are so many ways and so many times that the Creator has showed us that He cares. The sun breaking out from behind the clouds after a long rain might be a reminder that there is hope beyond any gloom we might be going through. Likewise, the shelter that the clouds provide from a burning sun is a blessing of shelter and protection that signifies the Creator’s mercy and grace toward us. In every situation, good or bad, the Creator sees and cares. He never fails us. Not ever. 🙂

Niall leads off the second verse with smooth finesse, then Harry sings the next part with gutty soul, with the others echoing parts of the verse in strong unison. A good woman helps her man be his best. 🙂

In the second chorus, they bring it down, with Liam singing words of gratitude from the heart. The tempo picks up again as the chorus continues, growing in intensity then evening out in deep soulfulness, ending with the words: “Nobody can drag me down.” 🙂

As powerfully good as this song sounds on the single/album, it cannot compare to the musical blessing it is when One Direction sings it live! 😀 (And that’s really saying something!) Here’s one of the many cool things from their concert performances: on the second part of the second verse, Niall and Louis do the vocal echo in super-deep voices. 😎

Another cool in-concert treasure: the band! They’re always great as well. 🙂 Jon on keys, Dan on guitar, Sandy on bass and Josh on drums adds up to one awesome sound. 🙂 Josh is an amazing drummer; I love watching his strength, accuracy and seamless drumming. 🙂 The height the drumstick reaches as he tosses it up into the air – right before catching it on the right split-second to play the next note – is supercool! 😀 One Direction and the band are a great team, putting out some of the best music ever! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 10/21/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 15 Comments

One Direction has a great sound, and their fifth album, “Made in the A.M.” is no exception – as you can easily hear right away with Track #1, “Hey Angel”. 🙂

The orchestration of the entire song, including the excellence of the playing of man-made instruments and the magnificence of the use of gifted voices made by our Creator, is superb. 🙂 The tune is uplifting and inspiring. The lyrics encourage thought and address some very intriguing ideas.

First, I’ll address the man-made musicality of this fascinating song. 🙂 With quiet, reverent-sounding notes “Hey Angel” begins. The drums, guitars, keys and strings soon add their depth and upbeat notes. I think it sounds quite summery; I can see the bright sunlight shining on creation. 🙂 The strings are a very important part of this song and their presence is especially clear and strong in the chorus.

Now to the best part of the music: the magnificent vocals of One Direction, given to them by the Creator. 🙂 Shortly after the man-made instruments begin, a sound much more uplifting and inspiring begins, a human voice singing a very beautiful melody of Ooo’s. 🙂 (This is repeated throughout the song. 😀 ) Soon, Harry opens the first verse, singing with genuineness and serious conversation; his second-verse vocals are yet more intense and turn to a more gutty soulfulness. All of the vocals sound great; they are sung with meaning and heart. 🙂 These are aspects that, given the consistent presence of these musical elements in every album they have given us thus far, you can expect from One Direction. 🙂

The lyrics make some very good points just by asking a few questions. The character of the song is addressing one of the Creator’s angels in contemplative conversation; I will talk about some of the topics here. 🙂

The first – my favorite 🙂 – question is if the the angel knows why we look up to the sky. I know exactly why: we are drawn to our Creator. 🙂 We inherently know that we need Him in both good times and bad. He blesses us with many good things in our lives and helps us through any rough times. When He created us, He gave us free will – which means we can make our own decisions in this life. With freedom comes responsibility (I know – not a popular word, right? 😉 ). Each decision we make effects not only ourselves, but also many other people. It’s really an amazing and powerful thing. With this power, we can help so many people! 🙂 However, if we make bad decisions, we can unintentionally harm a lot of people. That is one of the many reasons why it is good to talk with the Creator – you can just look up toward the sky and talk to Him. 🙂 Knowing He loves us and gave us a way to be at peace with Him (by accepting His gift of salvation and life everlasting by putting our faith and hope in His only begotten Son, Yeshua/Jesus. He died in our place so we could be forgiven of our natural sin that we are born with. We can know with certainty that we are truly forgiven and that we have a future home in Paradise/Heaven. 🙂 ), makes it easy for us to respectfully communicate with Him. He listens to His children, which are all who put their faith and hope in Him. 🙂

The next question recognizes the unwise habit we often have of holding on to the past. Which is not to be confused with the importance of remembering the past – the good to encourage us, the bad to keep us from making and/or repeating dangerous mistakes. Both things are very important to keep in mind. The unwise kind of holding on to the past is things like:
1. Clinging to any of our seemingly failures in life – those will drag you down.
2. Holding grudges against anyone instead of forgiving them in your heart and moving on. Holding grudges (which turns to bitterness) hurts yourself way more than the other person, so it doesn’t punish them, it just hurts you, stealing your peace and happiness.
3. Reliving incidences where someone hurt your feelings. They already hurt you then and you already suffered then, too. Why continue to relive it, letting it continuously hurt you? Let it go. You can be free. 🙂
4. Reliving incidences where someone angered you greatly. Why keep thinking on it, wasting time and energy on it? Forgive and let it go. I know it isn’t always easy and sometimes you have to keep making yourself let go of the anger – but you can. 🙂 Don’t give up. Don’t let them win. Claim your freedom and hold it tight. 😎

Another one of the questions asked is if the angel ever cries when someone wastes away their life? Each person is important and are here on Earth for a reason. Everyone has at least one gift with which to make the world a better place. Doing what you can to help others in good things helps yourself as well as them. 🙂 A person doesn’t have to be physically strong or wealthy in order to be of good help to those around them. One cheerful smile can go a long way in helping someone who is having a difficult time. Praying for someone is the best gift you can give them. Any time we help someone else in a good way, we are showing rachmonis – helping make the world a better place. Helping one person is the same thing as helping the world, because it’s not about numbers, it is about importance – and each person on this planet is important to the Creator. He loves each one of us. No exceptions. In the Scriptures in the book of John chapter 3 verse 16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That means everybody. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 09/28/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 14 Comments

Our first glimpse into this great album was the surprise release of the hit single, “Drag Me Down” – which is actually about NOT being dragged down. 😎 This is maybe their best song ever – yes, even better than that one! 😉 🙂 With such a great song – music-wise and lyric-wise – leading the way, we could hardly wait to hear the rest of the album! 🙂 Each new song they released for digital download as the album’s release date approached added to our enthusiastic wait for the rest of the record! I think it is very nice and very cool that they shared so many of their new songs pre-album-release-date! 🙂 At last the music treasure was available in its entirety – and it sounds great from track one and straight on through! 🙂

With this album Niall, Harry, Louis and Liam enjoyed a little more leisurely writing time – that is of course in comparison to the very, very limited time they had to write before. Yet quality is a factor that threads throughout their music, regardless of how much – or how little – rest the group had. Each album of theirs has consistently provided a great sound; this album adds abundantly to that collection. 🙂

They have performed seven of these album tracks in concert so far – and they all sound excellent! 🙂 Their albums have great sound and their concerts even more so! 🙂

Here’s a list of the tracks on the “Made in the A.M. (Deluxe Edition)” along with a one-word overall description of each song that came to me as I listened through these excellent tracks. 🙂

Track #1 – “Hey Angel”
Thought-inspiring

Track #2 – “Drag Me Down”
Encouraging

Track #3 – “Perfect”
Cruisin’

Track #4 – “Infinity”
Truth

Track #5 – “End of the Day”
Melodic

Track #6 – “If I Could Fly”
Love

Track #7 – “Long Way Down”
Brokenhearted

Track #8 – “Never Enough”
Music!

Track #9 – “Olivia”
Summertime 🙂

Track #10 – “What a Feeling”
Chorus

Track #11 – “Love You Goodbye”
Poignant

Track #12 – “I Want to Write You a Song”
Tender

Track #13 – “History”
Family

Track #14 – “Temporary Fix”
Temporary-rescue

Track #15 – “Walking in the Wind”
Reassuring

Track #16 – “Wolves”
Gold!

Track #17 – “A.M.”
Friendship

I look forward to reviewing selections from this great-sounding album! 😀 I plan to intersperse them with reviews of other artists’ music. In my next article you will see one of the songs above featured. 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 09/14/201604/19/2018 by Jean247 · 11 Comments

“Girls Talk Boys” by 5 Seconds of Summer is an excellent blend of musical voices and man-made musical instruments. Every audible element within this song is essential to its greatness. 😎 This song, like the group who performs it, is very cool. 😎

5 Seconds of Summer is one of my most-loved complete bands (they sing as well as play all of the instruments = complete band). 🙂 😎 Their newest release, from this Summer, is a good example of the group’s strong rockin’, soulful, funky, can’t-get-enough-of-it sound and the individual uniqueness of a singular recording of theirs. 🙂 “Girls Talk Boys” 🙂 😎

I first heard this song while watching footage from their first in-concert performance of it. Its concert debut was July 15, 2016 at Madison Square Garden during 5 Seconds of Summer’s New York stop in their Sounds Live Feels Live Tour. 😎 I liked it immediately. 😎 Having heard their great music already, I had a good feeling that this song would be great, too. And it is. 🙂 😎

Ashton starts off the song with his lively drumming. Luke is playing an upright piano instead of guitar this time. Calum is making that bass vibrate like only he can. And Michael. Michael is stroking that guitar with the style, flare and ease of a guitar great.

Their instrumental music starts out loud, strong and already in the groove. 😎 They don’t have to work up to an engaging elevation – they start out that way from the get-go. 🙂

Seconds into the song, Luke gets up from the piano and walks over to the center-stage microphone. A smile is playing about Michael’s lips; you can tell he’s loving performing this song. You can hear it, too, as he, Ashton and Calum continue that awesome musical tune. Luke reaches the mic, takes it, and begins to sing some musical notes as he walks over to stage left, past Calum, who’s moving to the groove. These guys are good at making sure they perform to the entire audience, covering the whole length of the stage, making sure everyone is having a great time and feeling a connection with the music. 😎 And this crowd is connected: once 5 Seconds of Summer starts the verse, the audience is singing the song so well, they couldn’t have done better if they had practiced it! 🙂 That’s cool. 😎

The verse begins with the song title, all four of the guys singing strong, loud, and clear. Such a great sound! 🙂 After a very masculine, “Hey!”, from the group, Luke solos, starting the question about when the girl is talking to her friends – then Michael takes the lead and asks if she talks about him. Ashton and Calum each sing parts of each verse, too, adding their own individual styles, respectively. I love how the verse is sung by the whole band, each with solo sections and also portions in which they sing in unison. 🙂 It’s a great vocal arrangement that adds an extra element of cool to their already-great-song. 😎 They continue this throughout the song; Michael, Luke, Ashton, and Calum are all blessed with great voices. 😎

The next part of the song has them hitting some amazingly high notes and sounding very good. 😎 They sing high notes while maintaining their strong, masculine sound as well as keeping the words discernible so that the story is not lost within the melody. 😎 That’s impressive.

Ashton does a great series on the drums as Luke heads back over to the piano. 😎 Up to this point, the music was fast-paced, high energy. Now it calms to a gentle tune as Luke sings in heartfelt tones about talking with his friends about how she takes his breath away. The slow-down in the song is perfectly placed, adding poignancy to the lyrics. Then Luke’s hands pause over the keys, Ashton’s sticks race along the drums, and the beat quickens. The band kicks it up another notch as the pace progresses to new heights with the sudden amplification of sound at the loud, rockin’ “Hey!” I love the music of Michael as he plays that guitar like no one else. 😎 Calum’s bass is sooo good. 😎 Ashton’s drumming is powerful. 😎 Luke’s playing of the keys is graceful and strong. 😎

The next section of the song begins, following the same pattern, being the second verse 😉 , continuing the story with a constant, driving sound that is in tune with the depth of importance of the heartfelt, heart-searching lyrics. 😎 Michael gets the crowd clapping to the beat as he moves about the stage, continuing to sing and going back to that awesome guitar work he’s been laying out this whole song (nothing new there 😉 😎 ). 😎

The song is over way too soon; I feel that way every time I listen to/watch their stuff. 🙂 😎 (So, yeah, nothing new there, either! 😉 😎 ) 5 Seconds of Summer’s music style – and performance thereof – is cool, fun and very entertaining to the senses. A good, rockin’ sound that you just can’t get enough of – yet is satisfying, too. 😎 They can be proud of their great sound and I can be proud to say: I love 5 Seconds of Summer’s music! 🙂 And that’s all true. 😎

The studio recording, which I bought as soon as I could after seeing that great performance, is excellent, too – three minutes and thirty-six seconds of rockin’, musical bliss 🙂 – but you just can’t beat the sound of a live performance when you’ve got a band this good at what they do. 🙂

There are treasures of music unique to the studio recording and to the live performances, respectively. Both are solid examples of what great rockin’ music can sound like when you put the right elements together. 😎 They are very good at that, to put it mildly. 😉 🙂 😎

As I listened through the song on this hot, humid, sultry Summer night, the katydids and other summertime singers were amped up pretty loud outside in the woods. 😎 However, I could hear 5 Seconds of Summer without any trouble. 😉 Yeah, they’re loud, too. 🙂 The song was over before I was ready for it to be. As the song reached the finish, I longed for more – an extended version. I hit the play button again. Great song. 😎 As soon as it came to the finish, you know what I did, right? 😉 Yes, I played it again. 🙂 This song is one of those satisfying-yet-keeps-you-wanting-more kind of things. 😎 Smart artists. 😉 😎

I love every vocal in this song – the solos, the unison, the background, those supercool notes and comments throughout the song behind the verse. Listening to the recording, it sounds and feels live even though it isn’t; that’s because Michael, Ashton, Luke and Calum perform the song full-out no matter where they are. On stage. In the studio. They put everything they have into it. 😎 I appreciate their musical integrity. 😎

A casual listening is enough to tell a person “Girls Talk Boys” is a great song. 🙂 However, if one focuses on the song as they listen to it, blocking out all other sounds, they will find the gratifying depth of each musical element that is present. 😎 I highly recommend doing this. 🙂

The timing is perfect in every instance. The pace is always exactly right at each specific point of the song. I think it’s a masterpiece of music. 😎

Every time I listen to “Girls Talk Boys” – which is multiple times a day 😎 – I notice the same thing: Wow, this song’s great!!!!! 🙂 Musically satisfying in every way. Solid. Amazing. A musical treasure to be sure. 🙂

So, overall, what would I say “Girls Talk Boys” sounds like, feels like? 🙂 The song of the Summer!!!!! 😎 And of every season following. 🙂

If you haven’t gotten to hear this one yet, I believe you should give it a listen whenever you can. 🙂

I can’t say enough about this song, but this article must be concluded for the time being – how else can I publish it? 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 08/23/201604/19/2018 by Jean247 · 15 Comments

One of the coolest – and hottest! – performances I have ever seen on stage took place on July 27, 2016. 😎 That’s when Michael Clifford and Luke Hemmings did their epic guitar battle for “Castaway”, one of the best songs on 5 Seconds of Summer’s newest record, “Sounds Good Feels Good”! 🙂 Every time they have had this battle, it has been amazing to observe and to hear. This is one of my favorite pieces of footage that I have gotten to see, although I love them all. 🙂 Please spend a few minutes with this Cherokee girl so I can give you a glimpse of this amazing 5 Seconds of Summer musical battle in which we are all winners. 🙂 😎 I can only give you a glimpse through my words – because the performance is so spectacular, you really need to experience it for yourself to get the full effect. 🙂

The setting: Summertime at The Palace of Auburn Hills, in Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S.A.

The scene: 5 Seconds of Summer’s Sounds Live Feels Live Tour 2016 concert in front of thousands of very happy music enthusiasts.The band has arrived at the instrumental finish of their song “Castaway”.

The story unfolds: Bandmates Michael and Luke stand in front of the elevated drum set, facing super drummer Ashton Irwin, waiting, as he pounds out a beat that sounds so good it could go on forever and no one would complain. Supercool. 😎 Calum Hood stands solidly alongside the drums, playing his bass so well you can feel as well as hear its power. His strong arms seem to be containing that power, as if the bass, in his hands, has come alive for this very moment. Both the drums and the bass, with the voice of the other guitars speaking up now and again, are ready for the duration of the approaching battle. 😎

Luke turns to his left, briefly walking forward before heading over to the ramp and elevated landing on stage left, strumming a few notes on his golden guitar along the way, calm, cool and collected. 😎

Michael strides comfortably over to the ramp on stage right, his confidence and readiness for the ensuing guitar battle evident in his body language. 😎 He turns and continues his ascent backwards, facing his “opponent” across the stage as the start of the battle nears. 😎

A strong and beautiful melody begins to sing from Luke’s guitar. His calm, sure hands play out a soulful, bluesy tune with a good rock edge to it. The battle is on. 😎

Across the stage on an equal-level landing, Michael is set and ready to soar. At the perfect moment, he faces the battle straight-on, laying out an amazing melody, intense, strong, faster paced and awesomely good. 😎

The battle intensifies – the respective guitars barely able to maintain silence as the other speaks its piece.

Luke lets it be known that this battle will not be so easily decided as he amps up the tune, playing the fastest chords yet. Very, very cool. 😎

And all of this is not merely a “who’s louder and faster”. It’s a musical battle – and the music they are putting forth is enough to make a person awestruck. 😎 All the while, Ashton and Calum keep a steady, groovin’ battle beat going as the background music – that is literally centerstage – to the guitar battle. Wow, do they all sound good! 🙂

And then Michael blows the contest right out of the water. 😎 His section of the song is so skilled it is of supercool proportions. 😎 Both hands are playing at an amazing, thrilling speed! 🙂 His fingering is astoundingly fast and absolutely accurate. 😎 If guitar picks get tired, his must be exhausted after this! It is mesmerizing to watch Michael play this tune – and at an increasingly speedier rate than seconds before! I love the sound and I love watching his hands as he plays that guitar with near-unfathomable talent. 😎 WOW!

The spectacular, epic guitar battle is over, but the music continues as the highly-skilled participants leave their separate stages – Luke at a fast stride, Michael’s high-energy steps at nearly a run. They come down the ramps, guitars going strong. Michael calls out something to Luke with a good-natured grin as they walk toward each other, just before they turn at the front portion of centerstage. They walk out onto the extended front stage with purpose, heads held high; they both did amazing guitar work in that battle. 😎 Excellent job. 😎

The smile on Michael’s face says it all. 🙂

The heart-aching-yet-continuing-onward melody peals out into night, soaring up beyond the clouds to the starry skies in the heavens above. The music shines bright and soon hits another level whose sheer brilliance no proverbial sunglasses could withstand. With over half a minute yet to come in the song, Michael does his thing – playing that deep, mach-like speed guitar music like none other. 😎 Luke, Calum and Ashton are rockin’ out on their respective instruments – what an amazing band these four are! 🙂

The melody changes from that awe-inspiring, fast-paced guitar and drum work to that equally powerful one that Luke began the guitar battle with. 😎

I love the music of this song; it is amazing! It sounds noble and brave; it resounds with my Cherokee heritage. 😎 An aching-yet-still-beating-strong-heart can be heard in the notes of this music.

5 Seconds of Summer like to carry a song to its last note and don’t shy away from adding more notes just to see if the other band members can keep up to the last beat – drummers seem to especially enjoy this musical game. 🙂 Michael, from what I have observed, has managed to outlast Ashton every time he hasn’t chosen to stop at the exact same moment as his drummer friend. 🙂 That said, I also need to point out for Ashton’s sake that a drum beat only takes place while you are hitting the drum – it cannot reverb or carry a note like an electric guitar can. Still, if Michael wasn’t so watchful and determined, Ashton would win those last-note battles. Wow, they’re cool! 🙂 Luke – who stopped perfectly on the last drum beat – is also quite capable in such a battle, as he has often shown, but he will sometimes conclude of his own choosing. Same for Calum, although this time, as the lights go down, he turns to watch Ashton as his bass goes on relentlessly. Ashton is standing as he keeps his cymbals shimmering with music. Michael continues to play the chords of the song as he turns and walks back toward the drum set. He’s ready to take on another battle. 🙂 😎 And a battle it is. Ashton sits back down, no plans to let the guitarist beat the drummer, with both hands moving rapidly to keep sticks and cymbals connecting in musical fashion, a hushed quiet of whispering cymbals. As the footage runs out, I can still hear Michael’s guitar going. 🙂 What an epic performance 5 Seconds of Summer has given us! 🙂 😎 And that’s not a rare thing – for them. 😉

All four members of 5 Seconds of Summer are exceptional; you can tell they love what they do. 😎 And we love what they do, too. 🙂 Amazing talent. Great music. Real fun. 🙂 😎

One more supercool thing I need to mention before I conclude this article! 😎 I got glimpses of it as the concert screens zoomed in on Michael’s guitar work. 😎 Although my eyes were focused on Michael’s hands as he played the guitar, within my field of vision I noticed something familiar about the shirt he was wearing. 🙂 I know he often wears Harley-Davidson T-shirts – he’s got good taste there 🙂 – and this time it was an exceptionally special one! 😎 Michael had on a Rolling Thunder/Harley-Davidson T-shirt! 🙂 😎 😎 That is so supercool of him!! 🙂 😎 I love seeing that. 🙂 Rolling Thunder is a great and honorable thing to support. 😎 Thank you so much, Michael! 🙂

On that note, my thanks also to Luke, who has worn a POW/MIA T-shirt before as well as other U. S. Military and first responders shirts. 🙂 😎

Just because I haven’t gotten to see Ashton or Calum in such shirts doesn’t mean they haven’t chosen to wear them as well, so my thanks to each of you whenever you did or do! 🙂

5 Seconds of Summer – already respected them and my respect rose even higher yet! 🙂

Wado equa (“Thank you very much” in Tsalagi/Cherokee) for your great music, your kindnesses, love and your support for freedom/rescue for our faithful military family who have not yet been repatriated – prisoners of war and/or missing in action. May the Creator bless you for these good things. 🙂

(If you would like to see the main piece of footage I reviewed, you can find it on YouTube by searching this title: “5 Seconds of Summer // Luke & Michael Guitar Battle // SLFL Detroit”. It is about 1:57 in duration. 🙂 The audio is very clear. 😎 The footage up on the concert screen is exceptionally well done and you can see 5 Seconds of Summer on the stage as well – you’ll probably want to watch it at least twice so you can catch all of the action. 😎 My thanks to the kind individuals who shared their great concert footage with us all! 🙂 )

Jean247

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Posted on 08/08/201605/08/2017 by Jean247 · 14 Comments

The great Paul Revere (the one from our time period 😉 ) always had a gift for bringing good, likable, fun, highly talented music artists together to make exceptionally good music and perform amazing concerts. One of the best is the group now known as Paul Revere’s Raiders. 🙂

Recorded live in concert – and available at popular online stores in the digital download format for your listening pleasure – are these Raider singles performed by Paul Revere’s Raiders: “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”, “Hungry”, “Kicks”, “Just Like Me”, and “Good Thing”. And whenever you can, I believe you’ll want to go see for yourselves why I refer to Paul Revere’s Raiders as one of the most fascinating bands to watch in concert! 🙂 They perform all across America and also do an annual cruise to the Caribbean. 🙂 😎

The more footage I get to see of these wonderful men, the more I like them! 🙂 And that’s saying a lot! 🙂 I love them all already. 🙂 I have always known they must be good guys, because Paul Revere carefully chose each one of them to be in his band. Recently I had the opportunity to see some footage from their concerts and I was beyond happy with their character and their talent. They truly keep the musical integrity and rockin’ good time of Paul Revere & the Raiders going strong. They are a blessing from the Creator.

The sound. The correct tempo. The cool moves. The fun atmosphere. The energetic performances. The warm friendliness of the group. The brotherhood of the group. The cool (and hot!) uniforms they wear. The showmanship. The respect for the people. The patriotism. The love of music. The rhythm. The stage presence. The good humor. The overall style. The heart. The tradition. The enthusiasm. The musicianship. The good rockin’ fun. The full entertainment. The genuiness. The love and respect for their original leader, Paul Revere. All of it resounds with the spirit of the original Paul Revere & the Raiders of the 1960’s when these hits were first recorded and performed so exquisitely by Paul Revere, Mark Lindsay, Mike “Smitty” Smith, Drake Levin and Phil “Fang” Volk. And I don’t give this compliment lightly. You see, Paul Revere & the Raiders are who I call my favorite complete band (complete, because they sing as well as play all of the instruments). Paul Revere’s Raiders keep this great legacy going with magnificent prowess. They give it all they’ve got and I love them for it. Two of the greatest bands ever! 🙂

Paul Revere’s Raiders play the music and sing the music with such an amazing ability because they feel the music from within. They are genuine; each one of them has a true Raider heart.

In alphabetical order, by surname, here is a brief description of the on-stage presence I observed while watching performances by these six guys I believe you’d love to meet:
Darren Dowler 🙂 – The lead singer, he has a gifted voice, is a cool guitarist and talks well to the audience with great friendliness.
Ron Foos 🙂 – The showman bassist – I’ve seen very few with such style and flare, a happy smile, keeps the crowd entertained.
Doug Heath 🙂 – He’s quite the guitarist, a good dancer with seemingly boundless energy; he has an ever cheerful disposition.
Danny Krause 🙂 – He’s the man on the keys, playing the piano and organ with amazing talent, gifted hands and full heart.
Jamie Revere 🙂 – He plays the guitar like it is as much a natural part of him as breathing is, a blessing to all, and the son of Paul – with his own talents and his own intriguing personality.
Tommy Scheckel 🙂 – The drummer! 😀 That really says it. 😎 He’s a magnificent drummer – beyond cool, as amazing as all get out.

All of these guys lend not only their superb instrument-playing abilities to the overall sound of the group, but also their strong, masculine vocals in true Raider fashion. I’d love to hear – and see! – them sing “Don’t You Just Know It” just like the 1960’s Raiders did in their September, 1964 concert! 😀 I think they would enjoy doing that one. 😎 I know everyone could greatly enjoy that performance as much as their other ones; Paul Revere’s Raiders are super-talented.

They “Raider” songs – that means that whenever they play another artist’s song that already sounds distinctive and great, they do it even better! I have noticed this over and over with any song the Raiders cover or even if they only play a sampling thereof. I first made this audible observation while listening to the original 1960’s Paul Revere & the Raiders recordings and, watching footage of Paul Revere’s Raiders, I can easily hear that they have this same gift in regards to non-Raider songs. So cool! 🙂

Something else about them that is supercool: Paul Revere’s Raiders are very patriotic. 😎 They started The Ride to the Wall Foundation and for years have participated in Rolling Thunder every Memorial Day. 😎

Having a rough day? Watch some Paul Revere’s Raiders footage and you’ll surely be feeling happier before long. 🙂 They are great entertainers and very cool guys. 😎 If you have the opportunity, I recommend you go check out their concert in person; to see and hear the band playing live must be an amazing thing. 🙂

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…” as The Scriptures record Shlomo’s words in the first part of Proverbs 17:22. No matter what level of pain (a constant companion since I was little) I might be in on any given day, Paul Revere’s Raiders consistently bring a smile of delight to my face and to my heart. Wado equa (“thank you very much” in Tsalagi/Cherokee), Paul Revere’s Raiders, for your dedication, determination and long-lasting goodness that never ceases to amaze, entertain, please and bring joy to those who have the honor, privilege and pleasure of seeing your performances (in person and/or through recorded footage). May the Creator continue to bless you as you bless others. 🙂

My heart overflows with gratefulness for the many kindnesses and great performances by the six members of Paul Revere’s Raiders.

One of the performances I love most, although I truly love them all, is from their concert in Deland, Florida on 11-11-2014 at the Volusia County Fair. It was right on Veteran’s Day. 😎 Which is always the eleventh of November, the day directly after the birthday of the U. S. Marine Corps. 😎 😎

Tommy took the stage first to start the music; his expert drumming set the theme of great music as the rest of the band joined him on stage. 😎

From the crowd around the kind individual who filmed the show to share with others, I heard the enthusiastic cheers to greet this great band as well as the question, “Where’s Paul?” For some, this was when they first found out that our beloved Paul had been promoted to Heaven the previous month. Darren did a beautiful job of gently breaking the news while keeping an upbeat attitude that kept everything in perspective. He noted how Paul is dearly loved, his earthly presence missed, then he said, “But we’re not sad, because we know where he is.” And he pointed Heavenward. It was beautiful. Later, when he said, “God bless you” to the Veterans there at the concert, the tears threatened to spill. Paul would be so proud of his Raiders. And he is, as he looks on from Heaven. 🙂

Another exceptional part of their show is the respect and heartfelt “welcome home” to our Vietnam Vets, who didn’t receive the honorable welcome home due them when they made it back from serving faithfully as they had promised to do. Doug explains that as part of their welcome home, the Raiders have a special segment for them. 😎 They play a collection of songs that were played on Armed Forces Radio during the time these brave members of the military were serving over there. And I can tell you something else about these songs when Paul Revere’s Raiders play them: they never sounded so good! 🙂

Each song Paul Revere’s Raiders performed that night was exceptionally well-done. The building rang with good rockin’ music, laughter, fun and gratefulness. They did Raider hit after Raider hit, faithfully doing it like it is on the records, just like Paul told them to – and they have the talent to do it! 😎 I love it that they keep to the 1960’s Raider sound, not jazzing it up or trying to change it. Those songs were hits because they were great music – and great music is timeless. That means that those hits not only “were” hits, but also they “are” hits. Still bringing in the crowds, still selling records/CDs/digital downloads, still getting played on original and replica vinyl as well as every other media available. 😎 This is great music and these guys are a great complete band.

This article is becoming my longest one yet, so I should probably do a couple of quick notes about original Raider/Paul Revere’s Raiders cool stuff that I cannot leave out. I’m looking forward to writing much more on this supercool, super-nice, super-rockin’ band in upcoming articles! 🙂 I must leave room to tell you about their epic last-song-of-the-night performance! 🙂

“Steppin’ Out” – like the 1960’s Raiders, they do a cool move in unison – including the drummer – at just the right musical part of the song. That is just so cool!!!!! They likewise do cool group moves in “Just Like Me” – just like the 1960’s Raiders’ style. 🙂 The drummer of a group has so much to do that often they don’t get in on dance moves, but in the Raiders they do so anyway. 🙂 Yeah, they’re that cool. 😎 🙂 Those who play the keys are limited in how much moving around the stage they can do as well, after all, you can’t carry a double layer of keys around much easier than you can carry around a drum set. 😉 But Danny does the cool 1960’s Raider moves to these two songs as well, as Paul would always do also. 😎 I saw footage of Smitty, that’s how I know about his sharp, cool moves in unison with Paul, Mark, Drake and Phil. He’s something else. 🙂 And so is Tommy. 🙂 Great drummers. 😎

“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” – their voices blend together with powerful, masculine strength as they vocalize the “ahh-AH-ah-ahh” of the chorus. I’m talking about the 1960’s Raiders and the now Raiders. 🙂 Great stuff. 😎

The show finishes with the customized, supercool Paul Revere’s Raiders’ rendition of “We’re an American Band”. As Paul Revere said before: they are an American band. Through and through. 🙂 I love it as Tommy continues to put his whole heart into his drumming – and somehow amps it up beyond that as the song reaches the awesomest part; Danny’s fingers continue to blaze across the keys and Jamie strides with strength of purpose to the front of the stage to join the other three guitarists, Ron, Darren and Doug, in a regimental guitar lineup as they play an electrifying portion of Francis Scott Key’s “The Star Spangled Banner”. Powerful. Poignant. Beautiful. The stuff of legends. What a band. What a blessing. What an honor to hear, to see, to witness the patriotic heartbeat pounding out through these men’s fingertips, to their selected instruments, and out into the atmosphere of this land, mingling with the breath of those in the audience who served faithfully for their country, so that we might be free to live and worship the Creator without fear or oppression. What a beautiful gift. Wado equa.

Jean247

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Posted on 07/28/201610/31/2017 by Jean247 · 19 Comments

A brief explanation about this article’s title in case it’s an unfamiliar term to you:
The phrase “giving your two cents worth” means giving your opinion about someone or something. A shekel is a Hebrew coin, money, that has been used in Israel for thousands of years. 😎 You can find it spoken of in the Scriptures as a monetary value or to convey the physical weight of an item. So, my two shekels worth on Tommy Scheckel’s drumming means I’m giving my opinion – review – on his drumming. 🙂

That said, it wasn’t my original intention to do two articles in a row with references to money – “Money (That’s What I Want)” then this one referencing shekels – but it’s quite fitting, don’t you think? 🙂 Both articles contain information about priceless music and wondrous people; I hope you enjoy. 🙂

This review features the extraordinary drumming skills of one supercool man, Tommy Scheckel of Paul Revere’s Raiders. 🙂 Scheckel – that has got to be one of the coolest surnames ever. 😎

The specific footage that I’m reviewing came from a well-placed drum cam – filmed in black & white – during one of his group’s concert performances of the 1960’s Paul Revere & the Raiders’ hit “Hungry”. 🙂

The drums have always fascinated me; I love their sound. It is amazing how much music you can get from them and how those sounds are brought about. 😎

Every drummer has their own style – their own manner of playing and their own preferences for the setup of their drum set (the various percussion instruments that a drummer has around them). Tommy has his cymbals up higher than I have seen most drummers do, requiring him to reach up to hit them. It is so cool to see him swing those drumsticks through the air, making contact with various cymbals in a flash! 🙂 I could watch him for hours. 🙂

“Hungry” for more details on this excellent performance? 😉 🙂 (Sorry, I couldn’t seem to resist that one!) Let’s go! 🙂

The gentleman knows what he’s doing, that’s for certain! 🙂 Just watch him go at those drums; he’s in total command of the situation. 😎 And – this is very important – he is enjoying his work. 🙂 That adds to the quality of his playing as well as to the enjoyment of those watching and listening. That energy carries and spreads throughout the area, bringing a beautiful symphony of fun, good music to all. 🙂

Drumsticks slicing through the air to ring/smash/crash/clang the cymbals at the right moments, Scheckel shows how it’s done with enthusiasm and fun. The lightning-like speed with which he plays the drums is a delight to observe.

Waving the drumstick side to side, hitting the necessary cymbals to play that awesome tune then hitting those drums with sheer power – the man is impressive. 😎

One of the cool tricks that drummers do is twirling their drumsticks – and Tommy has this down to an art. 😎 His twirling drumstick proficiency allows him to do that cool thing without missing a beat – even when he sneaks it in with only split-seconds to spare! 🙂

Strong arms and a sure grasp of the sticks are mandatory for playing this great Raider tune – and Tommy is indeed well-armed ( 😉 ) for the task. His hands are deft and definite in their work.

At 1:49 we come to my favorite part of the performance. 🙂 Scheckel is playing those drumsticks in a blur of motion when suddenly there’s a brief pause in the music, right at the key point after the lyrics “Hungry for that sweet life, baby, with a real fine girl like you…” Apparently he’s not the kind of guy to sit around and do nothing – even if it’s only briefly – because he takes this opportunity to launch his right drumstick straight up, high into the air it rotates at quick speed and way up, out of the camera’s view! He does this move with such a cool, powerful style of finesse that I have to back it up and rewatch it repeatedly. 🙂 I watch him as he lifts his head to spot his drumstick as it comes back earthward. Time seems to stand still. It’s an amazing, heady sensation. He must have gotten some major air with that drumstick, going by how long it was in flight before it obediently came back down to rest neatly in his capable hand once again. 😎

Watching Tommy Scheckel play the drums, you can easily see that he puts his heart into it. He’s a great drummer, no doubt about it. 🙂

And that’s my two shekels worth on Tommy Scheckel’s drumming. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed reading this article; please let me know by posting any good comments in the box provided below, if you like. 🙂 Thanks! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 07/14/201601/17/2017 by Jean247 · 9 Comments

This review features “Money (That’s What I Want)” – the second track from their Columbia debut album, “Here They Come!” by Paul Revere & the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay. 🙂

“Money” is priceless. 🙂 And I’m not referring to dollars and cents; I’m referring to Paul Revere & the Raiders’ top-notch cover of the song originally recorded in 1959 by Barrett Strong. 😉 This is another song that Paul Revere & the Raiders performed at their live, in-studio concert on September 24, 1964 at Columbia Records in California. This song is also available for purchase on the highly collectible original vinyl as well as compact disc and digital download.

At the start of the track you can hear the audience clapping, cheering, waiting for more great Paul Revere & the Raiders music. 🙂 Paul doesn’t keep them waiting as he hits the keys with equal parts energy and talent; he’s got a huge amount of both! 🙂 Mark’s already into it vocally. 🙂 Then Smitty’s super magnificent drumming is heard along with Drake’s incomparable guitar playing and Doc’s very cool bass. 🙂 These guys are high energy and extremely great entertainers in personality as well as in talent. 😎

The song, “Money (That’s What I Want)”, as it was originally written, is mostly appreciated for its great rockin’ sound, rather than the rather greedy theme of it. Every song that Paul Revere & the Raiders cover is, I believe, the best that that song can sound. Even when the original is excellent, these guys take it up to a whole ‘nother level! 😎 They usually follow the lyrics, but sometimes you will hear bonus ones. 🙂 “Stomp and shout and work it on out” is a dance-lyric line directly from Mark; it wasn’t in the original. 🙂 He sings that line in other Raider songs as well. 😎 Mark’s voice and singing style is like no other; he’s one-of-a-kind and I don’t believe it’s fair to anyone else to try to compare their singing to his. Yes, he’s that good. 🙂 Each singer should sing to the best of their own abilities – in notes as well as in heart – and stand on that. There is only one Mark Lindsay and there is only one you. 🙂

The rockin’ instruments continuously play at an amazing rate of speed and proficiency throughout this song. 😎 I think it’s amazing that they have enough energy to do a whole concert on this level without taking a good break! And that’s just in reference to their singing and instrument playing; additionally, they’re dancing just as lively as the music that they are playing – and this with those heavy U.S. Revolutionary War styled uniforms on! Can you imagine how hot that is up on stage? With those hot spotlights shining on them? And the heat rising up from the crowd in the packed room? AND the effort the band is putting into their singing, dancing and instrument-playing?! And that’s without handy water bottles to replenish and refresh them.

And they aren’t even at full throttle yet! 🙂 That comes at 1:57 courtesy one Drake Levin on guitar. 😎 Just listen to that amazing guitar work! 😀 His hand is moving at mach-like speed from 1:57 to 2:17 – when he drops back down to the speed of merely a mega-super-talented guitarist. 🙂 😎

You hear all of the guys, at various times, vocalizing the great time they are having. 🙂 Paul is rockin’ it out on the keys, Doc’s bass is right on, you know how great Mark is singing and Drake’s playing, and Smitty – exquisitely talented drummer!!!!! 🙂 😎 Surely those drums and cymbals are the envy of all other drum sets. 🙂 What amazing music! 🙂 This song is filled with supercool musicality from its first notes to the closing ones; Paul Revere & the Raiders have done it yet again. 🙂

The majority of the lyrics in this song aren’t to be taken literally, I think. 🙂 Although it is necessary to have money to pay for food, shelter and to pay required bills, the amount you have above that – or don’t have – isn’t that important in the whole scope of things. Or, more to the point: it shouldn’t be more highly regarded than that. For true necessities (the latest fads aren’t true necessities 😉 ) money is needed, but it isn’t more important than love. The lyrics do say in honesty, “Now money don’t mean everything – it’s true.” Faith and love are what truly counts; with these two gifts from the Creator, we have what our souls need. Faith in Him and His love toward us in sending HaMaschiach/the Messiah to save us is the life-giving source that our souls crave. He’s the only One Who can fill that void that no one and nothing else can fill. He is Who we seek. And as the Scriptures say, if we seek, we shall find. 🙂 The Creator doesn’t hide from us; it is only our pride that delays our putting our faith in Him. In Scriptures He tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” As you can see, “World” doesn’t mean “Earth”; He is referring to people. That means you can put your own name in that spot where the words “the world” and “whosoever” are. 🙂 He loves you that much. 🙂 If you were the only person on Earth, He would have died in your place so that you could live eternally with Him instead of paying for your sins yourself. (This includes everyone – no matter how nice or how unkind they are. Every human since Adam and Eve has been born with a sinful, rebellious nature – no matter how nice a person is, they still need God’s forgiveness to get to Paradise/Heaven. All you have to do is believe in Him and ask His forgiveness for your inborn sin, trusting Him to save you. Yes, that’s all you need. Yeshua/Jesus died for all – it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are. All means all and that’s all “all” means. 🙂 )

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here or, if you’d like to ask non-publicly, just tell me you’d like to talk with me and I can contact you – at your request – by e-mail. 🙂

Did you enjoy this article? 🙂 If you’d like to share your good thoughts about it, please let me know by typing your comments in the box provided below. And thank you! 🙂 I appreciate each one of you who takes the time to read my blog. 🙂 I have more reviews on the way – including “Louie, Louie” by Paul Revere & the Raiders from the 1964 concert, more articles on Paul Revere’s Raiders, and I also plan to begin posting my reviews for One Direction’s newest album, “Made in the A.M.” – I already have three of those ready! 🙂 Lots of great music! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 06/26/201604/26/2017 by Jean247 · 8 Comments

Heffron Drive’s newest song, “Don’t Let Me Go” – and the video for it! – was released on the 24th – just in time for the start of Heffron Drive’s Summer Tour! 🙂

Single artwork
The artwork for the single features the artistic rendering of a man’s fingertips gently resting on a woman’s hand, as if wordlessly asking her, “Please, don’t let me go.” The artwork reflects the theme of the song, as you will see. 🙂

Song
Listening to this song, I find it a fascinating treat, tuning into the vast array of unique sounds that come together under very talented hands. 🙂 It starts its declaration of being another Heffron Drive hit at the very first note, catching your attention and holding it as you await what comes next. More sounds lend their ability to build the anticipation. A deeper tone soon joins in, escalating the the depth. 😎 (Yes, I just used those two words together – “escalating” and “depth” – if you listen to the song closely enough, you will hear what I mean. 😉 )

At ten seconds the vocals begin. He sings with heartbreak in his voice, telling of his loneliness, admitting he made regretful mistakes, asking her for forgiveness for it all. At twenty-five seconds you begin to hear the guitar, lending its soulful tune to the story as only a well-played guitar can. It brings the sound of hope into the song, building up continuously as it soars toward the chorus when the vocals ring out to tell the girl that she means the world to him. And he wants the entire world to know it. Then he cries out the title, “Don’t Let Me Go!” Repeating this a few times, in various levels of pleading tones, the producers (who are Dustin and Kendall – also known as Heffron Drive 🙂 ) apparently had fun with the voice controls. 😛 How can boys resist all of those cool sound buttons, slides and levers? 😉 (And, no, that’s not one of the Chipmunks singing that one part, as a friend of mine commented to me – it’s one of the Yard Squirrels. 🙂 Enthusiasts of the “Big Time Rush” television show can readily tell you what that means. 😉 )

I love the way the drums are in this song! Heffron Drive music would have good drum sounds in them, but now they are using actual drums – a great decision! 🙂 When they announced that the songs they are releasing this year have live drums in them, I was very happy about that. 🙂

The character of the song tells his girl that he can’t find anyone else like her, speaking again of his loneliness and apologizing for what he did wrong.

Although I didn’t get to hear Dustin vocals – I would so much like to hear the God-created instrument of his vocal chords on these songs – his music was heard otherwise, through the manmade instruments and production work that he so adeptly handles. 🙂 Heffron Drive is a duo and both members have excellent singing abilities. I could almost hear Dustin’s vocals joining in on the non-distorted part of the chorus, but was it only my creative imagination?

I do know I heard some great guitar and other music at 2:23, painting an instrumental picture of a hot tropical beach vision with a sultry breeze blowing gently along the shore. 🙂

There are so many fascinating things in this song; I like it. 🙂 The theme is good and so is the song. 🙂

Toward the end of the song Kendall’s beautiful vocals at 3:15-“ooo” and 3:22-“ooo, yeah” are excellent. 🙂

Official Music Video
When the music video began to play, I quickly recognized the video’s setting from DBelt’s Twitter picture he was using these past few months – cool! It was a hallway of lightbulbs hanging like drapes on either side with just the right amount of light. I believe Kevin G. Schmidt directed this video; I recognized his slo-mo technique that he utilized in the “Rain Don’t Come” music video.

The video begins with close-ups of the unlit bulbs then a silhouette of Kendall in that hallway with a light shining from behind then, similarly, it switches to a silhouette of Dustin standing in the hallway, armed with his guitar. 😎 As the vocals begin, a black & white close-up of Kendall takes over the screen as he pours his heart into the vocals. As the tempo speeds up, the scene reverts to Kendall in the hallway, the lightbulbs now pulsing with the music – a cool concept. 🙂 It is a very good choice of brightness as well. 😎 The chorus begins as the scene changes back and forth between Kendall close-ups, him in the hallway, silver rectangles of confetti raining down on Kendall. Now we are a minute into the song. Quick flash sequences follow, another glimpse of Dustin, Kendall, Heffron Drive center stage, another silhouette of the very talented guitarist, DBelt. 🙂 Very cool shots. 🙂

The second verse begins as Kendall continues to implore the girl to forgive and not let go of him. He definitely puts a lot of emotion into his singing; they are not sung as just ambiguous words and notes – he is putting himself into the story. The camera shot switches to Dustin, expertly playing the acoustic guitar as he moves in tune with the music. The chorus begins and Kendall, now the camera’s focus, backs up in two smooth moves as he cries out that she not let him go, as if he is trying to avoid being let go. He solemnly asks again that she not let him go. Then the video gets supercool. 🙂

With those cool, higher instrument notes guiding the camera, the scenes flash by at two minutes into the video. Now Dustin and his gorgeous sparkling gold electric guitar are featured, deep into the music. 🙂 😎 A quick shot without his guitar, yet still deep in the music. 😎 Some of Kendall’s best scenes are right around here as he awaits her reply; you can easily see his hope and longing and his fear of losing her as he moves restlessly about at the forefront of the hallway he has been traveling up, closer to the camera = closer to her as he now implores her nonverbally.

The guitar solo has arrived and it is cool! 🙂

Kendall continues to sing as Heffron Drive now stands back-to-back on a rotating platform, Dustin playing his guitar. Special effects with this really cool various-currents almost lightning-like light flashing by adds to the overall unique style of the video. 😎

The video plays out to the end of the song in varying sequences of Kendall doing his smooth back-step in the hallway, close-ups of Kendall, close-ups of Dustin, Heffron Drive standing on the turntable, DBelt groovin’ with his supercool guitar, Kendall – with various backgrounds including the green and red from earlier in the video – continues to pour his heart into the vocals.

In concert
One day after its release, “Don’t Let Me Go” made its concert debut on the first stop of Heffron Drive’s Summer Tour. 🙂 It was cool to hear the song without the electronic sounds; I like hearing it both ways. 🙂 Dustin’s lead guitar was excellent; his solo later in the song, that tropical part I mentioned 🙂 , was the highlight of the song for me. Kendall was still recovering from a bad cold, but he managed to sing much like he did on the single. He’s one determined fellow. 🙂 I was happy to get to see footage from this debut performance; Dustin and Kendall’s concerts are always personable and fun. 🙂

Thank you for reading my article; I hope you enjoyed it and will return to read more. 🙂 If you have any good thoughts you would like to share in relation to this article, please post it in the box provided below. Thank you! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 06/16/201606/26/2016 by Jean247 · 19 Comments

From their Columbia debut album, “Here They Come!” by Paul Revere & the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay, comes the subject of this review: “You Can’t Sit Down”. 🙂

“You Can’t Sit Down” is a cover (originally by The Dovells) performed at the start of a live, in-studio concert on September 24, 1964 at Columbia Records in California. This song is available for purchase on the highly collectible original vinyl as well as compact disc and digital download.

In case you aren’t familiar with this amazing group, please allow me to give you a brief introduction. 🙂 Paul “Uncle Paul” Revere, co-founder of the original group (he also founded another group – using the same name – in the 1970’s), impressive wit, a ready answer, and blessed with great comedic timing, great musical talent, and a heart for those who fight to keep our country safe so we can live free – faithfully and actively supporting The Ride To The Wall Foundation. Mark “Mad Man Marcus” Lindsay, co-founder of the original, 100% genuine group, Cherokee, wise, observant, energetic, fun, top saxophonist, amazing vocals – soulful and gutty to tender and gentle. Drake “The Kid” Levin, top guitarist, no one can match his talent with the Epiphone guitar, brave, great vocals, cool moves. Mike “Smitty” Smith, Blackfoot, top drummer – amazing skills, peacemaker, deeply wise, entertaining. Mike “Doc” Holliday played the bass guitar for the concert song I’m currently reviewing, and, as you can hear in the song, he’s very talented and was another good part of the band, although he moved on and Phil “Fang” Volk replaced him before this album was finished. Phil is top bassist, very cool, nice, great vocals. Drake and Phil came up with most of the bands’ cool moves.

On the subject of cool moves, the rocking-horse-leg-kick (which Bruno Mars borrowed a few years ago and did in concert with his groovin’ band), is one of the coolest dance moves ever – it goes perfectly with the music and keep in mind – these guys are singing and playing their instruments at the same time as doing this move! :).

The group, as a whole, is amazingly talented in many areas: instrument playing – they get the most out of their instruments, singing, fun antics, entertaining with their wit and humor. Cool, fun and approachable. Great moves to the music. Behind-the-head guitar playing by both Drake and Phil. Songwriters, producers, musicians, singers – no end to the Raiders’ talents! 🙂 And they would do other cool stuff like entertaining the lunch crowds at Columbia Studios – very cool! Wildly popular, even when the record company didn’t have things quite in gear as far as promoting their artists, the guys music: consistently loved! Wherever Paul Revere & the Raiders performed, their records sold out. Their television appearances available on DVD are quickly out-of-stock and any footage of them on the Internet has huge hits! 🙂 Speaking of huge hits, “Kicks”, an anti-drug song their supercool producer, Terry Melcher, got for them from songwriters Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, is one of their most well-known hits. They also did the best cover ever of Richard Berry’s “Louie, Louie”. 🙂 They’re one cool, fun, talented group! 🙂

Paul Revere & the Raiders added “Featuring Mark Lindsay” after their group name after some people mistakenly assumed Mark was the “Paul” since he was singing lead. Their U.S. Revolutionary War era-style uniforms are way cool, too: tricornered hats with gold trim – white feathers along Paul’s hat, velvet jackets (they looked great, but they sure held the heat in), era-accurate white shirts, pants, boots. A note about those boots: Paul Revere & the Raiders’ boot style was later erroneously dubbed “Beatle Boots” by the media. I say erroneously because Paul Revere & the Raiders started wearing this style of boot before The Beatles wore them. Also, it would understandably annoy/irritate Mark Lindsay whenever someone called his haircut a “Beatle Haircut”, because it wasn’t – he had that cut before the Brits, too. Thus Mark grew a Revolutionary War style queue so people would stop saying that. It is irritating when people give credit to someone else for something you came up with – and then say you’re copying them!

On to the featured song in this review! 🙂

Track #1, “You Can’t Sit Down”, begins with the sounds of the big crowd gathered at Columbia Studios for a very fun concert. 🙂 You can hear Paul, Mark, Smitty, Drake and Doc’s good-natured bantering amongst each other. Soon, a few keys of the organ are played then Paul holds with a steady stream of notes. The banter continues, the drum roll begins, and then the emcee grandly presents Paul Revere & the Raiders! 🙂 A three-note cue from the band’s fearless leader on the organ signals the instantaneous response of the rest of the group as they swing into a high-energy, lively rendition of “You Can’t Sit Down” – perfectly together. The sax – with the organ echoing – is the voice taking lead in this instrumental (or, mostly-instrumental, even though many songs labeled “instrumental” contain some vocals as well) version, with a thrumming bass, amazing lead guitar and magnificent drums all being played the very best those instruments are capable of. 🙂

Throughout this energetic piece you can hear the band banter back and forth, whistles (Drake’s a proficient whistler), with plenty of “Yeah!” and “Hey!” vocals as they perform. And, yes, that’s the sax man yelling in between long runs of sax playing – the Creator gave this man an amazing set of lungs!

Partway into the song the individual instruments are highlighted. Sax takes point. Mark is amazing. 🙂 At 1:32 Drake’s guitar work shines; his precision and blur of speed is awesome, without missing a beat ( 😉 ). The spotlight goes from the guitar to the drums at 2:05. 🙂 Yes, you are hearing one man and one drum kit! 🙂 Smitty’s drumming is out of sight! The organ gets some highlight time and the deep bass of Holliday can be heard throughout. 🙂 Warning for anyone listening on headphones: at 3:41 Mark hits – and holds – a very high note on the sax! In the last seconds of the song, super-lungs Lindsay yells with strength and volume that an average person would be hard-put to match after resting quietly – and he just finished that amazing run on the sax! And he was dancing. 😎

These guys are excellent musicians and way cool groovy! 🙂 I love the music of the 100% genuine Paul Revere & the Raiders!!!!!! 🙂 Their albums include: “Here They Come!”, “Just Like Us!”, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere & the Raiders” (also known as “Midnight Ride”) and “Revolution!” (although the album cover doesn’t include all of the original band members who were there for the actual recordings – like Drake Levin). There’s a lot of great music on these albums and they are available with bonus tracks – like the Italian single version of “Little Girl in the Fourth Row” in which Mark sings the song in Italian – from Sundazed and digitally. 🙂

Please feel free to share any good comments you have in the box provided; I would appreciate knowing you enjoyed reading my review. 🙂 More reviews are awaiting posting! 🙂

Jean247

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Posted on 05/06/201604/26/2017 by Jean247 · 10 Comments

I’ll begin by individually introducing the founding members of Heffron Drive, Dustin Belt and Kendall Schmidt.

Dustin Belt. He can calmly coax beautiful melodies from his guitar. He can rock his glasses right off his own face. He can move in rhythmic motion to the music he plays or dance across the stage, guitar in hand – never missing a beat, with the unbounded, barely-contained energy and liveliness of a wild stallion running free in his own territory. A witty tongue. An easy smile. A man whose vocals are mesmerizingly good and a great pleasure to hear. D. Belt writes. 🙂 And rocks. 🙂 Another really cool thing about Dustin that I love is that he wears his glasses – which always look great on him (he has good taste) – instead of irritating his eyes by using contacts. He’s smart and cool. 🙂

Kendall Schmidt. Man of music. He can sing a tender melody. He can sing soulful, deep and gutty. He can hit high notes that soar up to the heavens with pure clarity. An easy-going familiarity that can make each person in the audience feel like they are his personal friend whom he is glad to see. 🙂 His humor is rich. He can play very cool guitar. He feels the music in his soul and it shows. 🙂

As a team, these two gentlemen are Heffron Drive. Proficient. Articulate. Their music is original, unique. The sound that is Heffron Drive.

Dustin and Kendall, who met and became friends in a California neighborhood whose street name you might recognize 😉 – Heffron Drive – are both proud of being from Kansas. I think it is really cool that strong friendship is such an integral part of their music that it is signified in the very name of their group. Already into the music scene, when Kendall signed up for the “Big Time Rush” TV show and recording group of the same name, Dustin was there, too, as the lead guitarist on tour as well as being a key part of Big Time Rush. He is readily recognized as the honorary fifth member of the group and has as strong a fan following as the rest of the guys (the other three members being Logan Henderson, James Maslow, and Carlos Pena, Jr./PenaVega). 🙂 Dustin and Kendall continued to write and perform as Heffron Drive even during the busy schedule of Big Time Rush. There are many fun, entertaining and witty Vines that they have recorded and posted for everyone to enjoy, too. 🙂

Yet another cool thing about these two talented friends is that the love of music inspires them to achieve other challenges using their skillful ingenuity. They have their own recording label – TOLbooth Records – and spend hours upon hours on the work of recording, producing, editing, et cetera. Dustin even works on editing while they are inflight during a tour; Kendall turned his hotel room into a mini-studio before. These guys are very serious about their music – but not so serious that they lose sight of the purpose and the fun. Speaking of fun 😉 – they put their skillful ingenuity to much good use by building their own isolation booth for their California recording studio. From the ground up. By themselves. And these two manly men did an excellent job! 🙂 I love it that they made the decision to build it themselves and followed through with strong determination. It isn’t as easy as one might think; it must be done just right. I’m proud of them for this. 🙂

My words are my own, but I hereby recognize the respected ownership of their own names, the titles to their songs, etc., as belonging to Dustin Belt and Kendall Schmidt, respectively.

The Creator gives us many blessings; music is one of them. Whether a day goes well or not, good music can make it that much better or help make it feel so.

To all who read this: please feel free to post any good comments of your own at the bottom of each part of the Living Article©, while keeping in mind consideration for others and their intellectual property. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Jean247

Note: Any advertisements seen here are not chosen by me.

Posted on 05/03/201604/26/2017 by Jean247 · 8 Comments

I first heard this upbeat, inspiring tune from concert footage when Heffron Drive was in Italy in March. I truly appreciate the hopeful theme of Heffron Drive’s music; Dustin and Kendall’s never-give-up attitude is encouraging to everyone who hears their music. I like the reference to the rain dance and well-placed hope that goes with that. When the tribes of the northwestern hemisphere need rain, we know Who to ask: the Creator. Sometimes the draught goes longer than we like, but we know the refreshing rain will come. That’s what true hope is: waiting with the knowledge that it will come, because He cares for us. In the chorus of “Rain Don’t Come”, Kendall sings that “we keep dancing but the rain don’t come”, repeating this to drive home the right attitude toward this dilemma: “so we keep dancin’!” Don’t give up hope. Don’t take the seemingly “no” answer to your prayer as a defeat. You keep praying (the rain dance is a prayer set to motion, asking the Creator to send rain), trusting it will come. And it does. Sometimes we (all peoples of the world) assume the Creator is saying no when we don’t get an immediate yes to our request, whatever that may be (by the way, if it’s okay to want it, it’s okay to ask for it 😉 ). The defeatist attitude is wrong thinking, though, because the answer might be “not yet” or “that’s not exactly how this problem is going to be best solved.” The keep dancing with true hope can be applied to every part of our life: don’t give up on something good. “Be strong and of a good courage” as it says in the Scriptures.

I purchased this song within seconds of its release on 4-8-16. One of the aspects I appreciate about this song is the never-give-up hope theme. 🙂 Dustin’s guitar solo = supercool. 🙂

On each verse, Kendall uses his voice to convey the feelings of deep loneliness and miserable dearth found in the situation set forth in the song. The tone of each note speaks of his plight and builds in desperation as well as hope as it reaches the chorus. The song tells of wandering, seeking, hoping – and not giving up. It tells of being brought down low, then of hope, a call to rise above, remembering that there have been other times of near-desperation and seemingly-hopeless situations. And that those times were survived. It is important to remember the good times that we have had and also the bad times; we need to remember that we have survived it all. That will help give us strength and encourage our faith through everything else that comes our way. The Creator made us, loves us and provides safety; we just need to accept the truth: we need Him, His forgiveness, and the gift of salvation through faith in Yeshua’s (Jesus’) dying in our stead so we can live eternally. In the Scriptures, John chapter three verses 16-18a explain it best: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned…” The Scriptures are written in old English and their manner of speaking varies somewhat from ours, so I’ll clarify what is meant by “should” and “might” as meant in these verses. “Should not perish” means you won’t perish if you believe in God’s Son, Yeshua/Jesus. “Might be saved” means if you put your faith in Yeshua/Jesus you are saved. 🙂

The chorus of “Rain Don’t Come” carries on the theme of not giving up hope and of being steadfast in heart, continuing to dance in prayer and supplication for rain. I love the keys as they pick up at two minutes, twenty seconds into the song! 🙂 At shortly before three minutes, the band brings it down (this is often my favorite part in any song that breaks it down between the later choruses, especially since this is where the drums are usually the strongest focal point). Kendall’s nonword melodic vocals (I like what he did with this section in concert in Italy for their first performances of the song) were cool, fitting in well with the other instruments musically arranged there. This led into Dustin’s guitar solo. 🙂 It was cool; I would have been happy for its duration to have continued longer. 🙂

Dustin’s and Kendall’s guitar playing is very good. The heart, talent and clean playing (as in: the lack of screeches that make my ears cringe) is something I greatly appreciate from guitarists who can manage that – and these two guys do well in all of those categories. 🙂 A flute adds to the feeling of airy dryness, setting the music scene well. I can hear a little bit of electronic in the break and well-placed bongos. The subtle bass and the drums lend their important musical presence as well. As I mentioned earlier, the keys are excellent! 🙂

The finish of the song is very strong; I like that. It is a good song with a very good theme, although I would have liked to have heard more of Dustin’s super vocals. Both members of Heffron Drive are blessed by the Creator with vocal quality and talent.

While this single was expertly recorded in the studio by Dustin and Kendall (TOLbooth Records), I always love to see and hear songs in concert footage best (when the performers are as solidly good as Dustin and Kendall). There is an extra energy and strength added to each part of the song. Heffron Drive sounds great in the studio and even better in concert. 🙂 That is so cool.

The Official Music Video, directed by Kevin G. Schmidt, was a much-awaited-for event around the world. A friend and I had fun keeping watch of the time as 12:01 A.M. 4-15-16 approached; we were two of many – as shown by the thousands of hits it immediately had. 🙂 Accessing the video through the link Kendall had provided through Twitter (reposted on their website), we watched the video stream on 2G (which means it paused a lot as it downloaded – in about a half-hour’s time, but who could wait for the full video to completely download before starting to watch it?! 🙂

A lot of planning and work goes into a music video from the first thoughts to the finishing touches. My thanks to each person who had a part in making so much of this video an enjoyable experience. 🙂

The location of the video was as excellently selected as the theme of the song. 🙂 The desert is a very fitting place for the song to be filmed: they both speak of thirst yet include hope for quenching that thirst. The location isn’t a destitute place with only sand for miles around. It is a desert with hope; there is sparse green plant life among the desert rock, dirt and sand.

The video is akin to a movie – packed within less than five minutes. Kendall has the majority of the screen time, representing the character of the song as he wanders through the desert, stumbling along in great need of water. Dustin has the coolest part in the video: he appears as a mirage, playing his electric guitar, no less! 😀 I love that part. 🙂 A distance away, a pretty girl on horseback sees Kendall bravely continuing onward. Just moments after he collapses from thirst she reaches him and tenderly cares for him. Cool fact about the horse: borrowed from Challen Cates, one of Kendall’s co-stars from the TV show “Big Time Rush” and also a great supporter of Heffron Drive. 🙂 I wish the female character in the music video had been attired in authentic-looking Tribal clothes, it would have been that much more powerful. She is attired in the typical misconception of what a woman of Tribal heritage would wear: not enough. Although more clothing was present than sometimes is in fictional films, it was still way less than a woman of any of the tribes on this continent would wear in real life. She would have on moccasins, leggings, a long-sleeved dress from neck to below the knees (varying lengths among the tribes yet all with the same result: the only exposed skin would be her face, part of her neck, and her hands).

Kendall and the woman ride and join two men of First Nations (also referred to as American Indian, Native American, Tribal) heritage and soon have a bonfire going. Dustin makes a few more appearances – the mirage plays a very good guitar solo! 🙂 (I had expected to see Dustin involved in the rain dance; I have noticed that his energized, fleet-of-foot movements about the concert stage are akin to tribal dances. [For example you can see Heffron Drive’s performance of “One Track Mind” from CityWalk 2014 on YouTube.] I love watching that.) Back to the video for “Rain Don’t Come”: Kendall and the woman dance around the fire, the rain doesn’t come, so they keep dancing – in accordance with the lyrics. 🙂 Then the rain comes, just as they had hoped it would. I like it that this video ended with the realization of their hopes: the rain came. 🙂

Jean247

Thanks to @dbeltwrites for the single cover art and banner! 🙂

Note: Any advertisements seen here are not chosen by me.

Posted on 04/30/201604/26/2017 by Jean247 · 14 Comments

There is so much good music to review! When you think about how much there has been since the beginning of time, it is truly amazing. 🙂 To start my series, though, I had to make a choice and decided on two unique songs with “Interlude” in their respective titles. One is titled in simple grandeur, “Interlude”, an instrumental work of art by Heffron Drive. The other is the short, a cappella song “The Best Part (Interlude)” by Meghan Trainor; a poetic start to her record. 🙂

So, ladies first? Sure, why not? 🙂 The gentlemen (Heffron Drive consists of/features friends-since-childhood Dustin Belt and Kendall Schmidt – both also of Big Time Rush) won’t mind waiting, deferring to the honor given to ladies and other dignitaries. 🙂 I appreciate that sign of respect.

Twenty-five seconds of sweet singing that does not require any manmade instruments to make it beautiful. Lots of heart. From the soul. Happiness. A cheerful heart. A bright sunny day of melody that overcomes a rainy day with ease. That’s what I hear when I listen to “The Best Part (Interlude)” by Meghan Trainor from her Title (Deluxe) album. It is a pleasure to hear such a good example of how amazing the Creator made the human voice and how beautiful it can sound in song. The clarity and quality of her voice shines in this opening piece, making it clear from the very start that this record holds a promise of good music to enjoy. Thank you, Meghan. 🙂

Thank you for waiting so patiently, Dustin and Kendall! 😉 Track #6 of the Happy Mistakes album is one minute and twenty-six seconds of instrumental art. Each note, each sound, each instrument is precise and joins together in perfect timing to form this musical masterpiece. It starts out low then it starts to grow in wonder and intensity. I like the natural musician, the cricket playing his serenade, being included; it brings an added touch of beauty and depth to the rest of the piece. The keyboard takes it from ground to sky as the song takes wing. The drum beats are perfectly placed, a deep, steadying beat that echoes the heart. And the volume continues to grow. The high, tinkling chime notes that play almost imperceptibly in the background from early on in the song comes closer to the forefront later on, bringing the song to yet another level of wonder and beauty. It keeps a presence of gentleness even as the intensity of the music continually builds in strength and power until, during the last seconds of the song, it levels out into the introduction of the following song in an intriguing welcome. Beautifully done. I would like to especially mention the artistry involved in not only the writing and performance of the song, but also the attention to minute details in the volume of each and every music note throughout the song during its production. Good job. 🙂 I recommend that you go somewhere quiet (or use headphones if no quiet is to be found where you are 😉 ), turn up the volume to a comfortable level of loud, set your player to “Interlude” then close your eyes and just listen. It is amazing how much more you can noticeably hear when you are tuned in to the music. Dustin and Kendall are very serious about their music. It shows. And it is appreciated. 🙂 Thanks, guys. 🙂

I had the pleasure of seeing a few performances of this instrumental piece during Heffron Drive’s Happy Mistakes tour. I believe it is pure genius that they chose to begin their concerts with “Interlude” followed, naturally, by the song it leads into, “Art of Moving On”. It sets the stage superbly for the concert that the audience is about to enjoy. 🙂 Their shows are never cookie-cutter style; there are familiar similarities, of course, but it never has a “if you’ve seen one show you’ve seen them all” feel to it. Each concert is unique from start to finish, because Dustin and Kendall performs from their souls anew each time they take the stage. It is never “just a performance”; it is always music from the heart and soul. Integrity. Honesty. Please allow me to give you a glimpse into their intro… The houselights go down. The keyboardist and drummer begin to play “Interlude”. The atmosphere is electric. Well-timed strobes of light shine on the awaiting scene. The music builds and so do the cheers of the happy audience. The stage lights up when Dustin and Kendall take to the stage. Sometimes they already have their guitars in hand, but some nights, like tonight, one of their cool crew hands each gentleman his guitar of choice. Without breaking the beat, the guys get their guitars set, swinging into the music with natural music grace. During the more quiet last seconds of “Interlude”, Kendall greets the crowd, announces that they are Heffron Drive and gives the title of their first song of the night, “Art of Moving On”. And from there on it gets even better. 🙂 If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing these guys in concert, you might want to treat yourself to one. 🙂

As I was preparing this review for publishing, I listened to the song yet again and there is something else I would like to say about it. “Interlude” by Heffron Drive has the beauty and power of a great work in movie theme music. Now, if only someone could write a movie worthy of this excellent instrumental… Can it be done? I believe Kevin G. Schmidt could. 🙂

Meghan Trainor and Heffron Drive – both acts sing it and play it like they mean it. I have always appreciated that quality in music and look forward to hearing more from these artists. 🙂

Part 3 in my Living Article© for supercool music will be published before long. Please come back and check it out; the song I choose to review could be from almost any genre or date! I look forward to more fun here with you. Please feel free to tell your friends about my series; I appreciate getting to share my love of good music with everyone. Thank you for your time in reading my works and for any good words you might post about them on here. 🙂

Jean247

Note: Any advertisements seen here are not chosen by me.

Posted on 04/26/201604/26/2017 by Jean247 · 18 Comments

I had an idea, a unique one. It is unlike anything I have seen or read before, so much so that I coined a new phrase to describe it: “Living Article”©. No, it doesn’t literally breathe or have a soul, but it is literarily a living thing – it is inspired (to inspire is to “breathe”) and good music has soul. To describe it further, it isn’t merely a one-shot article that lasts the literary reading equivalent of the freshness of bagels. This is a continuing, flourishing article that doesn’t end. Each new part (installment) will show up as a new blog post – although it is one continual article, in essence. (You can also find quick access to specific posts by checking out my “Article Subjects & Links” page from the menu above.)

My Living Article© will feature reviews and information on music by various artists from varying genres. I enjoy listening to a wide range of music – hot-off-the-press as well as from previous months and years. It will be fun to see which song gets featured in each installment! This continuing series is planned to include interesting topics such as: reviews of the artist’s/group’s albums, their exclusive/concert-only songs, cover songs, worldwide concert performances, things that are the same – or different – between their studio album and their live performances of those same songs (this is very cool stuff), behind-the-scenes type of things, and other related information that is cool to know!

My words are my own, but I hereby recognize the respected ownership of the artists’ own names and of those who own or have authored the group names, stage names, song/album/tour titles, music and so forth. To the best of my knowledge, everything in my article is true. If your music is featured and you find something incorrect, please kindly contact me and I’ll gladly tend to it. 🙂

What you won’t find in my Living Article©: I give you my word that there won’t be any profanity; I respect and love the Creator too much to use His Name disrespectfully. You also won’t find any hardcore cussing in my writing; I find that thoughts can be conveyed clearly and strongly without the use of unnecessary language. Nor will you find here any reviews or information on any songs that are labeled “explicit” by their publishers. I cannot review what I have not listened to and I have no desire to listen to any type of hate music, so you won’t find any of that here, either. Music encourages and inspires us – for good or for bad. I choose for good; I hope you do, too. 🙂

Please feel free to post any good comments of your own at the bottom of each part of the Living Article©, while keeping in mind consideration for others and their intellectual property. Thanks! 🙂

Jean247

Note: Any advertisements seen here are not chosen by me.

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