In his weekly Indie Mixtape email, music critic and author Steven Hyden introduced the idea of a Record Label Draft. This is how it works: You are starting a record label. You get five picks. You can pick them in any order, but you must have one of each category, as listed below. Also: This... Continue Reading →
When you say the name “Santana”, people of a certain (elder) age will immediately think of songs like Black Magic Woman, Evil Ways, and No One to Depend On. Oh, but wait. Other people of a certain (younger) age will immediately think of songs like Smooth, Maria Maria, and Game of Love. Five decades of... Continue Reading →
Saturday night is my #JazzurdayNight, and as the clock went past midnight on this recent Saturday to become Sunday and Father’s Day, the time drew near to play my favorite father-related song, Cannonball Adderley’s One for Daddy-O from the five-star album Somethin’ Else. At some point in my jazz-fan lifetime, I had heard OF Miles... Continue Reading →
Ahead of tonight’s big cuts where we will lose three of the remaining eight Idolists (approx. 40% for the math-inclined like me), I want to write a bit about My Girl We´Ani. I am choosing to believe in a conspiracy theory of my own making, which is that the Evil Genius Producers (EGPs) are tired... Continue Reading →
This will be much shorter than the six hours of Idol coming on Sunday and Monday. With the first cuts coming as voted on by Americans, I am taking a moment to give you my Top Six So Far plus a few more not their level but are worth paying attention to. You will notice... Continue Reading →
I’ve been doing some deep musing on 21-year-old Caroline Baran, the Idolist also known as Kaeyra. My introduction to her was in the final round of auditions. I was of two minds about that audition. Mind One thought her slow, jazzy-bluesy-soulful, and fearless take on Chris Stapleton’s Cold accompanying herself on piano was a bold... Continue Reading →
What if I told you that from The Bachelor premiere, I would pick a group of four women that would include someone that would get a Hometown visit or more? That would be pretty good, right? Well, that happened. In my blog for The Bachelor premiere, I highlighted four women out of the 30 who... Continue Reading →
Ray's Musings 