Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Eva Cassidy

Eva Marie Cassidy was an american vocalist, and she was known for her beautiful jazz voice. She was born on February. 2 1963, and grew up in Oxon Hill in Washington D.C. Ever since she was a little girl, she was interested in music. At the age of 9, her father taught her to play the guitar and at family gatherings, she started to sing and perform. To years later, she joined a band called Easy Street, and they performed in weddings, corporate parties and pubs.

She was very shy, and because of this she struggeled to perform in front of strangers. In the summer of 1980, she performed six days a week at the local theme park, Wild World.



Her actual music career, started when a high school friend,  David Lourim, asked her to be a singer in his music project. This led her to Black Pond Studios, where she met Chris Biondo. She got a job as a session singer, and after a while Al Dale became her agent. She mostly did a lot of covers of known songs, and "Over the Rainbow" became her signature song.

In 1993 Eva removed a malignant mole from her back, but three years later she felt some aching in her hips. The pain didn't stop and shen she took X-rays, they revealed that the melanoma had spread to her lungs and bones. She had aggressive treatment, and her final performance was in september 1996. She died quietly in her family home in Bowie, November 2 1996, at the age of 33.

Her first album was a duet album with Chuck Brown, and it is called The Other Side. It was released in 1992 by Liason Records. A year later she was honored by the Washington Area Music Assosiation, and she went home with a Wammie for Vocalist Jazz/Traditional category. Her other album, was released in 1996, LIve at Blues Alley. At the same time, she was working on another album, Eva by Heart, and it was released in 1997. Time after Time, No boundaries, Imagine and Wonderful World are albums that was released in the years after her death.





She has a lot of other famous songs, and among them are Fields of Gold, Autunm Leaves, Wonderful World and Time after Time etc.

Here is a video of one of her performances :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMznNlfLXP4&feature=related

You should really listen to this song, it's amazing!


What's your favourite song ?

Monday, December 6, 2010

Fields of Gold

Hey guys!
Sorry I haven't updated lately, but I'm back now. Today, I thought I'd talk about a song and an artist that really means a lot to me. Eva Cassidy. Alot of you probably haven't even heard of her, but she's an amazing artist. Her songs have such a deep meaning, and she reminds me of my mom. My mom died when I was about 6 years old, and in the later years, I've found out that she really loved Eva Cassidy. So, whenever I hear a song from Eva, I think of her.
I think this is her most famous song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGwDYBWEDSc

Later this week, I'll write about Eva Cassidy in general :)

Stay tuned!

Have you ever heard of Eva Cassidy ? 

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon is an American band from Mount Juliet, Tennesse. The band was formed in 1999 by the three brothers Anthony Caleb Followill (lead vocals, rythm guitar), Ivan Nathan Followill (drums, percussion, background vocals), Michael Jared Followill (bass, backing vocal) and their cousin Cameron Matthew Followill (lead guitar, backing vocals).

In the early years, the three brothers used to travel around the southern United States, with their father, Ivan Leon Followill, and their mother Betty-Ann. Their father was a United Pentecostal Church preacher, so wherever he was scheduled to preach, the family followed. When the parents divorced in 1997, the three brothers went back to Nashville, Tennesse, to begin with their music. They met with songwriter Angelo Petraglia, who helped them write songs and introduced them to musical influences like Thin Lizzy, Rolling Stones and The Clash.

Six months later, Nathan and Caleb signed with RCA Records, and they commanded that the two brothers recruit more members, so their cousin Matthew and little brother Jared joined the band. They named the band after Nathan, Caleb, and Jared's father (Matthews uncle) and grandfather, who were both named Leon.

Until now, they have come out with five albums. The first one was in 2003, and is called "Youth and Young Manhood". The second one came out in 2004, and is called "Aha Shake Heartbreak". "Because of the Times" came out in 2007, and the year later the band came out with "Only by the Night". In October this year, their new album "Come Around Aundown" came out.








The last album "Come Around Sundown" : I LOVE IT.
Their albums are usually the same, I mean, the songs are so alike. But this album, I don't know what it is, but I just really love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuOuBtcG0Bw
click on it, and see what you think!
What's your favourite song from Kings of Leon?

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Use Somebody

Hey guys!
I thought I'd show you a song that's been played A LOT on my Spotify lately, which is "Use Somebody" from  "Kings of Leon".

Here it is ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnhXHvRoUd0. I really, really love this song!

 I'm going to write about Kings of Leon the next time, so stay tuned!
 

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Killers part 2

Hey guys!
Sorry I haven't been able to update until now. Here is The Killers part two!

Albums


HOT FUSS
The first album that they came out with was Hot Fuss, which came out in 2004. This album reached number 1 in the UK, Canada and in America. "Somebody Told Me", "Mr. Brightside", and "Smile like you mean it", are some of the songs that it contains.







SAM'S TOWN 


Sam's Town came out in 2006. This album sold over 706,000 copies world wide the first week it was released, and with a number two debut on the Billboard chart. Brandon Flowers said that it would "be the best albums people would remember 20 years from now"." When you were young", "For Reasons Unknown" and  "Read my Mind" are some of the songs on the album.





SAWDUST

This album came out in 2007, and it contains "Romeo and Juliet" (which was a cover of a Dire Straits song), "Tranquilize", and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town".








DAY & AGE 
This album came out in 2008, and this was The Killers' third album that came number 1 in the UK and Ireland, and it reached number sic on the Billboard 200 album chart. It's featuring "Human", "Losing Touch", and "Joy Ride".







These are the albums they have come out with so far, and I must say that my favorite album is probably Sam's Town or Hot Fuss!

What's your favorite album/song ? 

Monday, November 8, 2010

The Killers

So, here is the post on The Killers. This is the first part which is about the history of the band, and the band members, and in the second part I'm going to write about the albums they've come out with, and some of my favourite songs and such. 
Hope you guys enjoy it, and I'll talk to you soon. 


History
It all started when Brandon Flowers was abandoned from his other band, which was a synthpop band called "Blush Response". The band members moved to Los Angeles, but Brandon didn't come with them. After seeing Oasis play on Hard Rock Cafè, he desided he wanted to be in a rock band. In his search for a guitar player, he found a guy from an ad in the newspaper. His name was Dave Keuning. They started to play together, and in the end of 2001, a demo tape was recorded. Their first concert was at the Cafè Espresso Roma in 2002, and by fall in the same year, two new members joined the band; Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vanucci. 

 The band started playing in small clubs in Las Vegas, mainly in drag shows. They sent in alot of demos to the major record labels in the US, but was turned down by all of them, except a British representative for Warner Bros. He passed their demos over to Ben Durling, who worked at Indie Lizard King Records, in the UK. The band were quickly signed, and they moved to the UK for a little while. They issued a limited-edition for "Mr. Brightside". The Killers is an indie rock band. 

The band members 

Brandon Flowers (singer/keyboard)  ; 
Brandon Flowers was borned 21th of June, 1981, in Las Vegas. 
He is the lead singer of The Killers, and he is the one, together with Dave Keuning, who created the band. Brandon grew up in Las Vegas, but when he was 8 years old, he moved to Utah with his parents. Eventually, he moved back to las Vegas, and finished High School there. He got a job as a bellhop at the Gold Coast Hotel. 
Brandon grew up with four sisters, one brother, and his mom, Jane, and father, Terry. 



Dave Keuning (guitar) ; 
Dave Keuning was borned on 26 th of March in 1976, in Des Moines, Iowa. He created The Killers with Brandon, and he is also co-writer of the song 'Mr. Brightside'. Dave is originally from Pella in Iowa, and he his of Dutch descent. He moved to Las Vegas in 2000, and is the only band member that is not orignially from the area. 
As a kid, he loved Aerosmith and AC/DC, and eventually, he got in to U2. Dave owns a very rare Fender Starcaster, and he initially started to use it when the band recorded their second album.




Mark Stoermer (bass) ; 
Mark Stoermer was originially borned in Texas on the 28 th of June in 1977. He went to Chaparral High Scool in Las Vegas, where he also played in the jass ensemble. 

Before Mark joined the band in 2003, he worked as a medical courier delivering body parts due for transplantation to hospitals. He is known for being tall and very quiet, and is sometimes called the bands "gentle giant". In addition to playing the bass, he is also able to play the guitar. 




Ronnie Vannucci (drums) ; 
Ronnie Vannucci was borned in LasVegas on 15 th of February in 1976. He is half Italian and half German. At the age of six, he was in a band, and that made him the youngest band member in Las Vegas.
He went to the University of Nevada and to York University. Before he joined The Killers, he and his roomate let other bands play in their garage. 
When he was little, he would go around the house, and bang on virtually everything as if it was a drum. Also, when Mark was in the fourth grade, he won his school's talent show. 








Here is the original music video of "Mr. Brightside". I love this song! 



Monday, November 1, 2010

Hey guys!
I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what I'm going to be writing about on this blog;  I'm basically going to talk about the bands that I like, and give you recommandations, maybe I'll even post the song of the day ?
The first band I'm going to write about is The Killers, which is my absolute favourite band. 
So, stay tuned for the blog post on The Killers, and I'll talk to you very soon!

- Jeanineb