Mark Whitfield...and his guitar of wonder

My new favorite station to listen to at work is the Easy Listening channel from Music Choice...I know, I know...Easy Listening?  What tha?  But seriously, don't knock it till you've tried it!  I never knew how much instrumental music could help me stay focused throughout the day, and not just any instrumental music - like Classical...it just does not work for me...but the musical lineup on the Easy Listening channel is just the ticket!

While listening to my new favorite station yesterday, I happened upon a jazz guitarist that instantly made me smile...Mark Whitfield!  His version of Isn't She Lovely is truly a joy to listen to...you should take a gander...go ahead, I'll wait...  :)

I look forward to listening to my favorite channel each day in hopes of hearing this little gem again :)  While he has released 4 albums, so far the one I like best is Songs of Wonder - which is a tribute to the amazing Stevie Wonder.  So, if you're looking for some laid back, comfortable tunes definitely check this guy out...I'm so glad I did!

James Vincent Morrow has the luck of the Irish!

Five months ago, I was introduced to the musical stylings of this Irish lad; while I couldn't understand most of the lyrics (even though I have excellent hearing, I'm convinced my ears hear in a Southern dialect) I was instantly drawn to the subtle music and honest vocals.  Thanks to SoundTracking I was able to find out the name of this captivating song...We Don't Eat by James Vincent McMorrow. 

One of the best comments I've ever seen was found on his YouTube channel "his voice is like the smell of campfire and the taste of chocolate :)"  I totally and completely agree...man, I wish I had come up with that!  So, if you're partial to campfires or love chocolate, give Mr. McMorrow a listen!

PS - if you have Southern ears like me and need the lyrics, I've included them below the video :)  Also, if you're interested, here is an interview with James discussing his lyric writing and more.




Lyrics to We Don't Eat :

If this is redemption, why do I bother at all
There's nothing to mention, and nothing has changed
Still I'd rather be working at something, than praying for the rain
So I wander on, till someone else is saved

I moved to the coast, under a mountain
Swam in the ocean, slept on my own
At dawn I would watch the sun cut ribbons through the bay
I'd remember all the things my mother wrote

That we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you, I'd have a little trust

Two thousand years, I've been in that water
Two thousand years, sunk like a stone
Desperately reaching for nets
That the fishermen have thrown
Trying to find, a little bit of hope

Me I was holding, all of my secrets soft and hid
Pages were folded, then there was nothing at all
So if in the future I might need myself a savior
I'll remember what was written on that wall

That we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you, I'd have a little trust

Am I an honest man and true
Have i been good to you at all
Oh I'm so tired of playing these games
We'd just be running down
The same old lines, the same old stories of
Breathless trains and, worn down glories
Houses burning, worlds that turn on their own

So we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you my friend, I'd learn to have just a little bit of trust

If this is redemption, why do I bother at all
There's nothing to mention, and nothing has changed
Still I'd rather be working at something, than praying for the rain
So I wander on, till someone else is saved

I moved to the coast, under a mountain
Swam in the ocean, slept on my own
At dawn I would watch the sun cut ribbons through the bay
I'd remember all the things my mother wrote

That we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you, I'd have a little trust

Two thousand years, I've been in that water
Two thousand years, sunk like a stone
Desperately reaching for nets
That the fishermen have thrown
Trying to find, a little bit of hope

Me I was holding, all of my secrets soft and hid
Pages were folded, then there was nothing at all
So if in the future I might need myself a savior
I'll remember what was written on that wall

That we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you, I'd have a little trust

Am I an honest man and true
Have i been good to you at all
Oh I'm so tired of playing these games
We'd just be running down
The same old lines, the same old stories of
Breathless trains and, worn down glories
Houses burning, worlds that turn on their own

So we don't eat until your father's at the table
We don't drink until the devil's turned to dust
Never once has any man I've met been able to love
So if I were you my friend, I'd learn to have just a little bit of trust

Gabby Rae rocks...oh yes, she does!

Tonight, a fellow soulful friend on Facebook posted a video of a 14-year old artist named Gabby Rae that kinda knocked me off my chair...ummm, yeah.  While many people can carry a tune and may even sing a couple of notes well, some people were just born to sing and it doesn't matter how old they are...when they were made to sing, you just know it!  My friend, Dan, posted a video of Gabby singing Valentine...I decided to see what other covers she had done and boy, was I happy to stumble upon her version of Walking After Midnight :)  Can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

So thankful that tonight my musical inspiration came from Dan on Facebook...hooray, Dan!!!  Enjoy!

SoundTracking - a music lovers best friend

Have you ever been in a store, or in the car, or in a restaurant or watching a movie and heard a song you just had to know the name of?  As someone who finds musical inspiration almost anywhere, my ears are constantly on the lookout.  Enter my favorite musical app - SoundTracking!  This app is a God-send and not only allows me to find out what a particular song is, but it also allows me to track that song so I can bookmark it for later.  I know there are several other apps that may do something similar, but SoundTracking is by far my favorite.

Several times, I've soundtracked a song while driving only to discover I soundtracked the exact same song several days before...which cracks me up...but lets me know that when I like a certain sound, I really like it!

If you so desire, you can follow my soundtracking feed here...check it out!  I find the more I drive, the more I soundtrack...thus the reason why most of my activity seems to revolve around holidays or weekends :)  So, if you're looking for an excellent way to capture the music you hear, try SoundTracking...you'll be glad you did!

Nathan Angelo - the one and only

January 7, 2008 - this is a day that would forever change the musicality of my life...ok, ok maybe not that dramatically, but it is certainly a day I will never forget...it is the day I first heard of Nathan Angelo.  I had become acquainted with a young new musician named Jake Smith and his record had been named one of the Top 10 Albums of 2007 from The Celebrity Cafe:

"Okay the criteria is simple. It's not albums released in 2007, but simply albums we got to review in 2007. It's not the biggest albums of the year in terms of sales, but the albums that while reviewing we couldn't take out of our CD player. They are not specifically one genre, but everywhere. On top of that, we were simply looking for the top 10 you've probably not heard of."

I figured if Jake was one of their top 10, I should probably take a listen to the other 9 to see if any struck my fancy...enter number 4 - Nathan Angelo.  Here is what the review had to say:

"It took about four months before I figured out that he wasn't Lenny Kravitz. Okay, it might not be politically correct, but the man sings like he has a soul. It took us four months of listening and a Google search to figure out his ethnicity. He sings with powerful raw emotion but it's all acoustic strong rock."

I promptly found his Myspace page (oh yes, Myspace was the shizz "back then") and had to physically keep myself from falling out of the chair after hearing just a few bars.  Attempting to describe the level of encapsulated soul and sheer amazingness in Nathan's voice would be pointless as I simply cannot find the words.  It look me about 5 minutes to order his first album and I have been a fan ever since.  Not only is his voice stunning but he also writes his own music (sometimes collaborating with other uber talented musicians); you can find truth, fun, soul, emotion and love in every one of his songs.  Selah!

I decided to take my niece (who was 15 at the time) to one of Nathan's shows a couple of years ago and had played his albums on the way there to give her a crash course in the awesomeness she was about to hear.  After his first song of the show, she turned to me and said "Wow, he sounds even better than his CD...it doesn't even sound like he used auto-tune!"  The fact that we have a generation of yougins who are amazed at the absence of auto-tune is sheer madness!

Nathan is in the process of working on a new record...a Motown inspired record...oh yeah, baby!  He's got 9 days and just over $3,000 left on his Kickstarter goal; let's help him reach that goal and make some more incredible music!  Here is one Nathan's newer songs...the only song he has ever written for a guy :)  Check it!

**UPDATE:  He made it!!!  Goal was met and project was funded...woohoo!!!**