Cover Stories: Bob Dylan

It’s time to revive a feature I haven’t done in a while…in fact, besides the Christmas-themed edition a few months ago, there’s only been one Cover Stories post in this blog’s history (on a few terrific covers of Bonnie Raitt’s heartbreaking classic “I Can’t Make You Love Me”). This post is a little different from that one (and may indicate a shift in direction regarding this feature in general, but we’ll see), in that it focuses on an artist, rather than a song. Which artist? Oh, just a little-known singer/songwriter. You probably haven’t heard of him. His name is Bob Dylan.

Despite Dylan being probably one of the most legendary musicians of all time, I have to admit I’ve never quite taken to his music…or at least, his original versions…at first listen. However, thanks to the numerous times his songs have been covered, I’ve really come to appreciate his songcraft…the man is an absolutely brilliant songwriter. And through those covers, I’ve been able to appreciate Bob Dylan a lot more. For all those who decry covers, they can really do wonders in helping build a bridge from the old to the new. I’m sure I would have come to my senses sooner or later regarding Dylan’s incredible body of work (which I know I’ve only scratched the surface of) regardless, but hearing other artists’ stellar takes on his songs certainly helped speed up the process.

Two of the first Dylan covers I ended up falling in love with were songs that on initial listen, I wasn’t aware were covers in the first place: Adele’s passionate “Make You Feel My Love,” and Madeleine Peyroux’s gorgeous, nuanced reading of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” I discovered pretty quickly that these two recordings weren’t Adele or Madeleine originals but rather tributes to Bob Dylan, but when I first came across them, I wasn’t aware of their origin, being the young, less experienced music listener I was then. Both these covers do a beautiful job of honoring the source material while putting their own stamp on the song…Adele imbues “Make You Feel My Love” with her now-trademark raw vocal power, but keeps the proceedings bracingly intimate, backed by little more than a piano and a string ensemble. It’s a beautifully emotional performance. You’ve likely heard Adele’s studio recording of the song by now (and if you haven’t, you’ve possibly been living under the largest of rocks, and should remedy that immediately), so here’s the music video of the song, a departure from traditional song video clips in that it consists of Adele actually singing the song live, rather than lip-syncing to the recording. (The effect is quite powerful.)

Meanwhile, Madeleine Peyroux (a fine jazz-fueled vocalist whose work has taken a very nice singer/songwriter-oriented turn as of late) brings things down even more with her version of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” Her phrasing is captivating here, and the result is a song that rides the balance between heartbreak and acceptance wonderfully. It’s a bit slower than Dylan’s original, but that brings out some of the nuances in the song in the best ways.

Another Bob Dylan cover I heard around that time was a version of “Lay Lady Lay” by Norwegian musician Magnet and Irish singer/songwriter Gemma Hayes, that ended up appearing on the soundtrack to “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” I hadn’t heard this cover in a few years, before I listened to it once again just now prior to embedding it in this post, but I still really enjoy it. The vocals are very fragile and almost nonchalant in a way, but the track as a whole creates an intoxicating atmosphere that really plays to the song’s strengths, I think.

Jazz vocalist Kate McGarry, an innovative and engaging interpreter, covered “The Times They Are A-Changin’” on her 2008 album “If Less Is More…Then Nothing Is Everything.” (I finally got around to putting the song in my iTunes library a day or two ago. No idea why it took that long, to be honest.) Her percussive, almost frenzied take on the song brings out its urgency (and for me, highlights just how applicable it can be to today’s cultural climate, despite the fact that Bob Dylan wrote it for another era of change altogether) wonderfully. I couldn’t find a way to embed the studio version, but here’s a stellar live performance of the song by Kate and her trio. It’s first up in a 3-song set here:

Finally, there’s a recent charity project that has added many fine Dylan covers to the musical landscape: Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary compilation, “Chimes of Freedom,” featuring a large host of artists singing songs from Bob Dylan’s sizable catalog, and in many cases paying tribute to an undeniable influence. Much like Amnesty International’s last high-profile tribute collection, “Instant Karma” (which took on the songs of John Lennon), there’s quite a few unexpected gems to be found here…particularly in the case of two much-maligned pop-artists.

Ke$ha is one of my least favorite artists by a long shot, and she’s the last person I would expect to do well with a Bob Dylan cover…and that’s why her version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” shocked me so much. It’s heartstoppingly raw, and hearing the usually AutoTuned-to-death Ke$ha in such a naked, stark setting certainly catches you off-guard. (Reportedly, the vocal was recorded on Ke$ha’s laptop without any professional recording equipment, in a demo-type setting, and rather than re-recording it, they ended up using that first take, feeling it was more powerful that way. You can even hear her crying in some parts.) Singing a cappella for a good chunk of the song, and accompanied only by soft, almost ominous strings for the balance of it, Ke$ha has quite honestly never sounded better. In this cover, she relies on the undertone of sadness and heartbreak inherent in the song (something that Dylan’s original only touched on), and the result is almost spine-tingling. It’s a cover that certainly has the potential to be polarizing, but I for one was thoroughly impressed. The imperfections, the flaws, the unpolished nature of it only make the song better, I think, rather than worse. If only Ke$ha would stick to this kind of music. (Unfortunately, with how well she’s doing currently, I doubt she will…it’s sad what it takes to be a successful female pop artist nowadays.)

The other cover that surprised me? Another take on “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go,” by none other than Miley Cyrus. Her vocals have never struck me as particularly strong in the past, but as demonstrated on this song, she really shines in an acoustic setting. The studio recording is very nice, but really caught my ear was her performance of the song on “Ellen,” accompanied by only a guitar. I’ve never seen her actually dig deep into the meaning of a song as much as she does here, and it’s a wonderfully refreshing change of pace. She acquits herself exceptionally well, and much like Ke$ha, it would be much better for her artistically to stay in this setting (and also much like Ke$ha, she likely won’t).

Three other standouts from the album? Ximena Sariñana’s subtly haunting but beautifully uplifting version of “I Want You” (I love how she really brings out the longing in the song), Diana Krall’s spare, piano-driven take on “Simple Twist of Fate,” and Oren Lavie’s deliciously atmospheric reading of “4th Time Around.” I hadn’t heard of any of these songs before these 3 fine artists took them on, but now I’m quite curious to hear Dylan’s originals. (See how covers do good?) Hear them all for yourself here, then be sure to check out the rest of the compilation on your favorite musical outlet, and support Amnesty International while you’re doing so…it’s a great organization. (Note: I could only find a truncated version of Oren’s cover to embed. However, it’s a great way to get acquainted with his cover, and if you want the whole thing, then you can go buy it…a course of action which I highly recommend.)

Whew, that’s a lot of Bob Dylan covers (and that’s not even the smallest part of the tip of the iceberg). I’m sure there’s quite a few more great ones out there. If you have any recommendations, feel free to share in the comments. Thanks for reading and listening!

My Music: “Look No Further”

So I just watched “The Sing-Off” finale, and it was indeed a treat. But before I get to my recap (which I shall commence writing right after I post this), here’s a new cover I recorded just today. It’s a stark, low-key ballad from British singer/songwriter Dido, who’s probably best known for the song “White Flag,” which was so big a hit it’s still playing on most adult-contemporary radio stations to this day. (Funny story about that song: For about 2 years I kept hearing it and loving it, but it being before the widespread advent of lyrics sites, and also due to the fact that I couldn’t quite understand the chorus whenever it came on the radio, it was a long time before I finally discovered what it was called.) This song is off her most recent album, “Safe Trip Home” (highly recommended), and its name is “Look No Further.” It’s admittedly a bit in my lower range for the most part, but it’s such a beautiful (and simple) song that I couldn’t resist singing it. Hope it strikes your fancy…and stay tuned for a “Sing-Off” recap coming later tonight. Thanks, as always, for checking my blog out.

“The Sing-Off” Season 3, Episode 3 Recap: Never Say Never

Sorry this came a bit later this week than the past two…I had a family event going on last night, and thus I missed watching the show live. Thanks to the folks at Hulu, I was able to catch up on it both before and after work today. (There were of course a lot of ads, but eh, that comes with the territory.) Things started off strong last night with an incredible opening group performance of “Somewhere Only We Know” (by the severely underrated Keane). The group performances they have every week are always pretty stellar (how can you lose with a bunch of talented singers and some pretty nice song choices?), but this one, I think, may have been one of the best I’ve ever seen on the show. Every single soloist sounded terrific (the song really brought out their good qualities), the arrangement built in a very stunning way, and the harmonies were just…mmmm. So good. It’s a beautiful, emotional song, and the 6 groups (in unison) really brought those aspects of it out in such a terrific way. It showed them all off outstandingly, and I just loved it. Now, to the main part of the show…the individual performances (of which there were 2 for each group last night…one current hit, and one inexplicably from the 60s):

• Vocal Point (performing “Never Say Never” by that one kid with the iconic hair and a legion of teenage girls obsessed with him and who pretty much sounds like a girl himself and wow, I am going to great lengths to not type his name here… OK, fine, Justin Bieber): I’m going to go with Ben here and say that I never thought I’d enjoy a group of Mormon guys singing Justin Bieber. (Or anybody, really, regardless of religion or gender in this case.) I’m also going to go with Ben here in that I really did enjoy this performance. It was tons and tons of fun…something that Vocal Point really seems to specialize in. I will say that the 1st soloist’s tone was a bit thin and that kind of detracted from the performance for me, and there were a few moments where the blend sounded kind of weak as well, but those are hopefully issues that won’t come up again for the group. Full disclosure: I got a kick out of the kicks the guys did towards the end. (See what I did there?) That was a fun touch. Also, per Sara Bareilles’ comment, I vote that Vocal Point be renamed the “Wholesome Thundercats” immediately. Who’s with me?… (*Crickets*)
• Delilah (performing “Whataya Want From Me” by Adam Lambert): Wow. Just wow. They really rocked it. The rehearsal package had me a bit scared, seeing as it was one of those pesky “we don’t know if we’ll be able to pull it off” things, and well, I got nervous, since Delilah did so well last week and they had a high bar to clear last night. Despite the high expectations, they really pulled it off with this performance. Building the arrangement the way they did…singer by singer…was an outstanding choice, and like the judges noted, it went miles in exposing the emotional core of the song. Kendall (formerly of high school group Eleventh Hour, from last season) has really grown as a vocalist in many ways, and she nailed the opening solo, I thought. Delilah also showed some great depth on the bench…Amy didn’t even come in until the late-middle part of the song, and yet it never felt like it was missing anything, because the other soloists were holding their own and getting their chance to shine. (I do agree with Sara that Amy was just a tiny bit sharp at times, but it didn’t really detract from the performance, I thought.) It was a tour de force and showed a bit of a different side of Delilah than last time, and it showed that this group really has the potential to be the first all-female ensemble to make it to the finals, even with such heavy competition this season.
• Urban Method (performing “Just Can’t Get Enough” by the Black-Eyed Peas): There were a lot of things I really, really liked about this performance. The female lead who started off the song was just pitch-perfect. It was so nuanced, distinctive, beautifully sung, and sultry…I actually said out loud right after she finished, the following: “Wow, her voice is sexy.” The other lead vocalist, Troy, also showed some very impressive range, and I thought he did a great job and really brought power to the song. The ‘studio’ effects in the arrangement were also evident as they were in their previous number, and those were nice touches. That said…the rap part hung me up again. This time around, it wasn’t as integral to the song as it was in their last performance (“Love The Way You Lie” is at its heart a true rap song, and a rap song with a message. “Just Can’t Get Enough” could have the rap part removed and it wouldn’t change it much at all), and it just felt tacked-on at the end. I’m just not a rap fan, too, so as long as rap’s a part of Urban Method’s act, they’re going to be a tough sell for me at times. I also didn’t dig their abominably cheesy choreography…Troy and the female vocalist holding hands throughout was silly, and that weird moment where he bent down to her midriff area was awkward. That said, I really enjoyed this performance (rap aside), and I thought it was a lot better than “Love The Way You Lie.”
• Afro-Blue (performing “American Boy” by Estelle): I was quite impressed by Afro-Blue the first week (as you can probably tell by my gushing about them in that episode’s recap), but even though I came into last night a huge fan of them, I was blown away by their take on “American Boy.” (In fact, it would be accurate for me to just fill this portion of the recap with Shawn’s speechless, excited reaction to the performance, which I wish I could properly replicate here.) The opening, where they were all sitting in little groups and the lead vocalist (well, one of them, I believe they used a few) was scatting and the bass was imitating an upright, was just so dang cool. From there, it only got better, as they built in such a terrific way, just slaying a jazzy arrangement of the song, and then shifting to a more modern feel (effortlessly, I might add) at the end that really brought the performance home. It was inventive, it was smooth, the vocals were amazing, the choreography was classy, everything just worked. In other circumstances it might have been hyperbole for Shawn to say that there was nothing wrong with the performance. In this case, though, it was spot-on.
• Yellowjackets (performing “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz): You may remember in my Week 1 recap how I expressed my mixed feelings about the Yellowjackets, and how they may be my college group to irrationally dislike this year. That feeling was pretty much cemented this week, I have to admit. This performance just felt like too much at once…the arrangement was certainly trying too hard, and the Yellowjackets didn’t quite have the finesse to hold it together. The “everything but the kitchen sink” approach has worked well for some groups in the past…for example, take Street Corner Symphony’s rollicking version of “Down On The Corner” last season…but it just didn’t gel for me here. Instead of getting excited over the change to a Latin groove at the very end (I love those kinds of things), I just groaned. The arrangement felt disjointed, the soloist wasn’t quite up to scratch, and the blend was off and a bit thin. Any energy the performance had felt like it was coming from the song itself and not from the group nailing anything particularly well, I thought. (Could I be making this stuff up? I don’t think so, but possibly. Maybe I’m just programmed to hate male college groups that aren’t Vocal Point…but it’s my blog, so I can nitpick if I want to. )
• Kinfolk 9 (performing “Price Tag” by Jessie J): I thought Kinfolk 9 did a great job here, and developed on some of the potential that they showed last time around. The song did feel a little sleepy in the first half, as the judges noted, and I think that was due to the song choice. “Price Tag” is a fun song, but the groove is kind of static and low-key, and so it’s hard to translate the vibe that it carries into an a cappella setting without it sounding too bland. However, the performance kicked off nicely in the latter half, and there were some really cool harmonic moments throughout. The arrangement had some nice touches, and Kinfolk 9 showed off a better blend…but I think it still needed to be a little bit more distinctive. I couldn’t quite get the grasp of their sound just yet, and that’s something important for the listener to have when it comes to a group using just their voices.

Now, on to the 60s portion of our evening (how silly was it that Nick changed outfits for it? He’s a funny one, that Nick Lachey…):

• Delilah (performing “(Love Is Like A) Heatwave by Martha & the Vandellas): This performance kind of flew by me for some reason. The harmonies, I thought, were tight, it was fun, and it worked very effectively. I didn’t quite agree with the judges in their sentiment that it wasn’t quite up to scratch for Delilah’s usual standard, but I will say that it seemed a bit different from what they’ve done so far. It was kind of a stylistic 180, and maybe it would have been cool to see the group put a little modern flair on the song, though they really nailed the 60s atmosphere, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. A small nitpick: Kendall didn’t shine as much on this song, I thought, as she did on “Whataya Want From Me.” I think she’s a bit stronger in the ballads, but she wasn’t bad here, I suppose. (P.S.: Nick’s 98 degrees pun was, as things tend to be with him, incredibly cheesy, but I got a chuckle out of it. Even though he’s like a fish out of water sometimes when he attempts to ad lib, it’s still fun to see him go off script once in a while. Especially when said script features more stale plays on words than a recap written by yours truly. )
• Urban Method (performing “Dance To The Music” by Sly & The Family Stone): I didn’t see this coming. I didn’t see this coming at all. Urban Method broke free of the rapping for the first time this competition, and I’m pretty sure it was one of my favorite performances of the night, hands down. I was completely, utterly impressed. The arrangement was just so inventive, the vibe was a party, and they nailed so many different aspects of it…the vocals, the choreography, the blend…that there wasn’t really any nagging issues that might have taken away from the overall effect. Ben was astute in noticing that this song pretty much has only one chord, and that Urban Method really did wonders in expanding on that one chord in numerous, exciting ways. He also noted that it really sounded like the group had a band backing them up, which I totally agree with. There was so much sound, and it was executed to a T, and you really couldn’t tell that there were no actual instruments. I know the “rapapella” concept is Urban Method’s hook, but this performance showed that without rap in the mix, they really shine…and I wish they would keep it out as much as possible in the future, because I think I love them much better that way.
• Vocal Point (performing “The Way You Look Tonight” by pretty much every jazz singer & their dog, but arguably most famously by Frank Sinatra): (Yes, I like to split hairs sometimes in my song descriptions. ) Now this is how you handle an “everything but the kitchen sink” arrangement. Vocal Point changed grooves in this performance like they were changing their socks, but it never felt anything but seamless…the deliciously smooth lead vocal, along with the group’s killer blend, kept this sleek jazz-fueled train chugging along at an exhilarating rate. (And Brandon has officially let his metaphors run away with him. What else is new?) I was literally smiling throughout this performance…broadly. Very broadly. It was tons of fun, it was polished but not stiff, and it just popped and sparked and had lots of life. Simply put: I loved it.
• Afro-Blue (performing “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye): I don’t get what the judges were expressing about this arrangement being too ambitious, really. I thought it was innovative in just the right ways…it turned the song on its ear, but was tightly executed enough for things to not fall apart. The lead male vocalist nailed things, and that transition to a very modern groove at the end was 1-800-Absolutely Delicious, with a cool repeating end tag by the ladies to boot. It was the kind of performance and take on a song (a 60s classic, mind you) that for me, kind of went beyond this competition…it showed that Afro-Blue has a future outside performing random covers on a TV show…that they have the potential to make truly engaging music.
• Yellowjackets (performing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli): (Note to Nick Lachey and whoever wrote his script…this song was around LONG before “Jersey Boys” ever came to Broadway.) Was this probably the Yellowjackets’ best performance to date? Probably. Was the Aaron-loves-Sara-somewhat-obsessively angle a hoot? Certainly. (During the 60s intro package where the group pointed out that he’s in love with Sara Bareilles, I blurted out, “Who ISN’T in love with Sara Bareilles?” Also, Aaron, back off. She’s mine. ) But, as pretty much everything by the Yellowjackets is now doomed to be, it just didn’t click for me. The arrangement was fun and very energetic (and for once, that can’t be completely attributed to the song, since although this is an upbeat number, it doesn’t bring down the house on its own by any means), but there were some blend/intonation problems that it exposed. If the competition wasn’t so stiff, the Yellowjackets might have been able to coast with me on what they have, but it’s just not cutting it. Being a ‘fun’ college group full of guys isn’t enough for this competition, and I have no idea why it seems to be for the judges.
• Kinfolk 9 (performing “Let It Be” by the Beatles): I agree with Ben, Sara, and Shawn that this was definitely Kinfolk 9′s best performance to date. Moi delivered a passionate, beautiful lead (with some nice runs that expanded on Paul McCartney’s iconic original vocal), and the harmonies behind him were strong and complemented the whole effect very nicely. Kinfolk 9 brought the sound in a way they haven’t thus far, and it really built into an excellent performance, full of heart and soul, but also not too short on technical skill.
• So who went home? This is where it gets to be a bummer. The Yellowjackets were called safe the same time as Afro-Blue did (bittersweet…), and thus Delilah and Kinfolk 9 were the last two groups standing. In my mind, I knew Delilah had to stay, as they’ve certainly given a stronger body of work thus far, and they’re the only all-female group in the competition to boot…but it was hard to see one of these groups getting cut. Kinfolk 9 was really starting to grow into their potential last night, and I wish they had gotten more time to do so…but hopefully this can be a springboard to greater things in the future. (P.S.: Their swan song was WEIRD. I guess I’m not too familiar with Beck’s work…which makes sense, I’ve heard his name and his fine guitar playing, but not much of his solo catalog…but I was quite bewildered by the strange lyrics and the lack of much melody. Moi really sold it, though.)

Last night was an incredibly solid bunch of performances, and this competition feels like it’s just heating up. (There’s still 3 more weeks of the two-bracket division, I believe, before all the groups combine together and the gauntlet is really thrown down. This will be interesting.) As always, we close with a poll, and see you soon with more posting, and more recapping:

My Music: The Park

Here’s a quick post in honor of Feist’s new album (her first in four years!!) coming out tomorrow worldwide. A while ago me, my sister, and her/our friend (hope that’s remotely close to proper grammar) did a summer series of covers. Here’s a gem from Feist’s last album (which was “The Reminder”), called “The Park.” My version is from a different viewpoint than Feist’s original, and hopefully I communicated that OK. Enjoy!

P.S.: My “Sing-Off” recap for the week will be a little late this time around, due to previous engagements.

Artist Spotlight: Alyse Black

Hey, I’m back with a new Artist Spotlight. Alas, as always, it has been too long. This post is a milestone for Harmony Avenue…it’s this blog’s 50th post. More celebration of that to come…but first, let’s jump right into talking about an artist I’ve been wanting to spotlight for quite a while now, the amazing…

Alyse Black!

Alyse is a dynamic indie singer-songwriter with a very engaging, interesting artistic vibe. Her music is warm, playful, passionate, unique, alluring…sometimes all at once. I stumbled upon her music while on a road trip with my family through California and Washington up to Spokane (where I lived when I was little for about 4 years, and where a good portion of my family still lives). I was in our hotel room in Spokane, after a long day which included a whirlwind 2-hour visit to Seattle. (Not. Enough. Time. City. So. Awesome.) (Oh, and trying to get out of Seattle traffic when you’re in a hurry? NOT fun.) Since I’m the Wikipedia-browsing fiend that I am, I was looking at the article for Pike Place Market, and since I had seen a few really cool buskers on the street while we were walking to Pike Place, I took special interest in that section. Alyse’s name was mentioned among the many performers that have graced Pike Place, and for some reason (maybe the description of her of “alternative jazz-pop singer-songwriter,” AKA “a combo of genres that Brandon adores”?), I clicked through to her own Wikipedia article, and subsequently started dipping my toes into her music. (There’s also some interesting biographical info on her Wikipedia page…such as the fact that Alyse actually worked in the corporate world before deciding to pursue her passion, music.) Thanks to the fact that the article mentions it “won the 2007 Billboard World Song Contest in the jazz category,” this was the first song of hers I listened to (seen here in a live version, as the studio version isn’t quite embeddable here):

That was the only interaction I had with Alyse’s music for a bit, until late in the fall of 2009, when I was starting out my freshman year at BYU, she came up with a special offer for her fans…to buy one or both of her CDs (“Too Much and Too Lovely” and “Hold Onto This”) for any price. Being a college freshman at the time (I rarely had any money to buy new music), I jumped on this, wanting to hear more of Alyse, and soon I was hearing her two albums for the first time. I really loved what I heard, and as always, the rest is history.

Alyse counts the likes of Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple, and Norah Jones among her influences, and while you can certainly hear that sort of atmosphere in her work, she’s created a sound that’s really all her own. Her rich voice is full of character and charm, and it’s a key to bringing her music to life. “Mesmerizing” would be a great word to describe her music…it’s captivating and Alyse really puts her all into every song she creates, even when it’s something more upbeat, such as this fun little number from her debut album, called “Complete With Sound Effects” (sorry for the pictures of random people…you don’t really need to watch the video, per se…but this was the only way I could embed this song):

One of the press quotes on Alyse’s homepage says, “Boy, she’s got a sexy voice” (that would be courtesy of Back Beat Seattle). She uses it to devastating effect on the very slow-burning, breathlessly inviting “Willowing.” (Alyse herself has described it as a song that requires a shower afterwards. )

Some of her other ballads take a different kind of flavor…they’re similarly stripped-down, but they’re also very vulnerable and introspective as well. Take this beauty from her second album, a song called “B-17 Bomber Girl”:

Here’s another example of that captivating sense of vulnerability and honesty, taken from (naturally) her recent extended-play called “The Honesty EP.” (It’s so named partly because of the concept behind its production…Alyse essentially went back to basics and often sings on it with little more than a piano backing her.) The song is “Dim The Lights.”

One of the many reasons that I love Alyse’s music is that her whole artistic sensibility is very uplifting and positive. Her song aren’t always “happy” songs, per se…but they bring a smile to my face (or heart) in some way. Here’s two songs that embody that quality very well…”Wild Child” from her second album, and “Watch Me Jump,” the opening track off “The Honesty EP.”

Finally, even when she’s taking on others’ songs, Alyse’s passion and love for music, as well as her top-notch, authentic artistry, really shines through. Last year she did a little covers series on her YouTube page, and here’s her stunning version of a Regina Spektor tune you may be familiar with:

Alyse is that special kind of artist with the type of music that just begs to be explored and listened to again and again. It’s very individual and unique, and it’s definitely not like much out there in the music world right now, but it speaks to the listener in a very profound way, and that’s a quality that shouldn’t be taken for granted. I highly urge you to check out more of her music, and you can find her website here.

So this is my 50th post on Harmony Avenue. Months ago back in October, when I was starting this little experiment off, I never could have imagined I’d make it all the way to 50. Being the small operation this is (it’s just me, blogging, whenever I feel the fancy to), and looking at my past blogging activities (none of my previous blogs have ever had this many posts or been updated this regularly, at least for this amount of time), that’s a huge milestone for me. It’s been a terrific experience running this site, and although I’m planning to leave on a mission before the year is out, I hope to continue sharing music (and my thoughts on it) for a long time to come. A special thanks to those who have helped get me to this point:

• The good folks at WordPress, who of course host this blog (for free!), and make it as easy as pie to post, share, and shape this blog into exactly what I want it to be.
• Sites like YouTube, SoundCloud, and Grooveshark, that help make sharing music simple, universal, and incredibly accessible. Harmony Avenue wouldn’t be the same without them.
• Although I thanked her at the end of last year (in my end of 2010 spiel), I’d like to take another opportunity to give a shout-out to the amazing Julia Barry, who helped set up an interview AND give-away here on Harmony Avenue (as well as inspiring an album review I did of her last album, “Once, or Twice”). That was back when this blog was still in its infancy (well, even more infant than it is now ), and it really gave me a boost of confidence, and a feeling that this music blog endeavor could actually be worthwhile. Thank you, Julia, for the terrific music you create, and for seeking me out on Twitter in the first place.
• Any of you who have ever read this blog, even if it’s just been a post, a paragraph, or a sentence. I harbor no illusions about my readership…it’s rather small, spotty, and potentially nonexistent, and I’m pretty sure at least half of the views I get are by spammers and the like…but I know at least some of you reading this are humans, and I’d like to thank you for taking your time to read what I have to say (and share, music-wise). It means a lot to me.

Making it to 50 posts is great, but I won’t stop here. I hope to continue making this blog better, and finding lots of new artists, songs, and music to share. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for listening. See y’all soon with a new post, and for now, Happy 50!

Cover Stories: “I Can’t Make You Love Me”

How about I skip the usual “aaah, I haven’t posted in a long time” nonsense and just skip to a new feature I’ve been meaning to debut? Yeah? Here we go.

I’m calling this one “Cover Stories”…every so often, I’ll highlight a well-known song, and share a few choice covers of said song. I’ve always been a huge fan of well-done cover songs–and thus they populate my iPod and listening habits quite heavily. And I’ll probably write about them a bit. And that’s pretty much it…if you guys have any suggestions of how I can spice this up, let me know, but hopefully the beauty lies in its simplicity. The first song? Let’s go with a gem originally by Bonnie Raitt…

“I Can’t Make You Love Me”

In case you haven’t heard it, its music video is embedded above. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking song about the end of a romance…but rather than being simply being something depressing and sad, it’s completely powerful and riveting. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about the song, explaining some of its early origins:

“The idea for the song came to Reid while reading an article about a man arrested for getting drunk and shooting at his girlfriend’s car. The judge asked him if he had learned anything, to which he replied, “I learned, Your Honor, that you can’t make a woman love you if she don’t.” Reid and Shamblin were both country music songwriters, who according to some accounts originally wrote the song as a fast, bluegrass number. Upon slowing down the tempo considerably, they realized the song gained considerable power. It then made its way to Raitt.”

Bonnie also reportedly recorded the song in just one take, saying that she couldn’t recapture the emotion in the song again in the studio.

With such a singular, almost magical song, how could any other artist add on it? Jazz vocalist Sophie Milman did just that, with an absolutely gorgeous take on the song on her most recent album, “Take Love Easy.” The arrangement is stunning, her vocal is passionate and beautiful, and a few terrific reharmonizations within the chords bring the song to even more life:

Another great cover I’ve heard of the song is from a somewhat unlikely source…a contestant on “American Idol.” And in this case, someone who in my opinion is one of the best the show has ever had…season 8′s Allison Iraheta. She injects the song with tons of raw fire, and almost an effortless-sounding sense of the emotional core of it all. Add to that the fact that at the time she performed this, she was only 16 years old, and prepare to be impressed. The studio version of her live performance is embedded here (a quick YouTube search should turn up the just-as-terrific live version, which I wasn’t able to embed):

Finally, here’s probably one of the most unconventional takes of the song I’ve heard…a version by indie artist Bon Iver (the stage name of Justin Vernon), performed on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” that mashes up a bit of the song with the classic Donny Hathaway tune “A Song For You,” and another Bonnie Raitt hit, “Nick of Time.” It’s something that seems like it wouldn’t work on paper…but thanks to the stark, lovely piano backing, and Justin’s committed, wonderfully unique vocal, it all clicks together very nicely.

So there we go. The test drive of the new Cover Stories feature is complete. Let me know your thoughts about it. I’ll see y’all soon with a new Artist Spotlight, on the amazing singer-songwriter Alyse Black. Thanks for reading!

Artist Spotlight: Jamie Cullum

Apparently now “tomorrow” means “many days later, while Brandon is slowly recovering from wisdom teeth removal surgery.” Anyways, here’s my long-promised new Artist Spotlight, on…

Jamie Cullum!

Jamie is a singer-pianist from the UK with a very unique angle. His music is very grounded in jazz (not just influenced by jazz, like straight-up jazz-driven music)…but it also takes elements from pop, rock, even a tiny bit of hip-hop at some points. But before we get into that…how did I come across Jamie in the first place? That would be thanks to the dear, departed Star 97.5, what used to be our local vocal jazz radio station. It only lasted about a year or so in about 2007 (it met an untimely end due to ridiculous reasons that I will refrain from ranting about here), but while it was around, it was BRILLIANT. They played a mix of jazz-centered music that seemed to be tailor-made for me and my musical sensibilities. One of the songs that was playing one day was this gem, “All At Sea,” from Jamie’s second album (and major-label debut, if I’m getting my facts right), “Twentysomething”:

This is one of Jamie’s more pop-influenced songs, as most of his original stuff tends to be. The piano is simply gorgeous, Jamie’s voice complements the music almost effortlessly, and the lyrics are fine too. Naturally, this got me hooked on Jamie, and although it was a painstakingly slow and steady process, I started checking out more and more of his music. The rest is history. Ish.

Notice how I mentioned the piano first. Jamie is, as briefly mentioned in my intro, an accomplished pianist. What boggles my mind is…he’s not formally trained. It’s all done by ear, pretty much. Seeing as I myself can’t play piano that well with music smack dab in front of me, Jamie being able to do that off the top of my head…it’s not something I ever take for granted as a listener. Here’s another nice example of his killer piano chops, on a jaunty version of the classic standard “I Get A Kick Out of You” (also off the “Twentysomething” album):

As with pretty much any artist I end up spotlighting, I could pretty much just have you listen to my entire Jamie Cullum collection and call it a day. Which I’ll kinda probably end up doing. But anyways, as you may have heard a bit from his version of “I Get A Kick Out of You,” Jamie has a real knack for taking extremely well-known songs and completely reinventing them in a very dynamic way…not to mention the songs he ends up choosing are often quite all over the place genre-wise. Case in point…here’s his cover of “Singin’ In The Rain” off “Twentysomething,” and then a take on Rihanna (yes, you heard that right) off his most recent record, “The Pursuit.”

And, as I talked about earlier, his original compositions are terrific as well. He really was firing on all cylinders with his latest album, “The Pursuit”…two choice cuts off that disc, the buoyant “I’m All Over It” (which interestingly enough, seems to be about a breakup) and the deliriously catchy “Mixtape” are two of my absolute favorites:

And just so I’m not leaving his excellent sophomore major-label effort “Catching Tales” out, here’s a song from that record called “Catch The Sun” (which is actually a cover, of an English alternative band called the Doves). The piano (as always with Jamie’s music) is absolutely terrific:

I could go on and on about him (for example, did you know he has his own BBC Radio show? or that he and his wife just had a baby? or that he was the singing voice of the main frog in “Meet The Robinsons”?), but I won’t. Jamie just has a knack for taking jazz music, a genre that people often see as old-fashioned or one-sided,  merging it with his own outside influences (as well as his own clear love for jazz), and creating something fresh and vibrant that both celebrates the old and embraces the new. I honestly couldn’t think of a better sign that the jazz genre will be thriving for years to come than Jamie’s endlessly inventive and incredibly accessible music. To close, here’s a rollicking performance of his song “You and Me Are Gone,” with the BBC Heritage Orchestra at a 2010 Proms performance (the fact that he’s a jazz/pop/rock artist and was invited in the first place to play the Proms is a major recognition of just how versatile he and his music can be):

See y’all soon (and “soon” hopefully won’t change into a similar meaning as “tomorrow” ) with some more new posting. I hope to get my cover-centered new feature off the ground, and we’ll see if that ends up happening. For now, thanks for reading!

Song of the Day: “The Truth”

Here’s a lovely Song of the Day, the first in May…I say.

“The Truth” by Catherine Papworth!

(Unfortunately, I can’t get the widget to embed correctly right now from ReverbNation, so here’s the link until I can figure the technical problems out:  http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_5560589) (UPDATE! The link to the widget is below. Either click that link, or the link above. Either one should work fine.)

http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/swf/40/pro_widget.swf?id=artist_240888&posted_by=&skin_id=PWAS1008&font_color=333333&auto_play=false&shuffle=false&song_ids=5560589


I was lucky enough to see Catherine perform at an informal little open mic night in someone’s backyard last week, and although I had heard a lot about her due to her connections with Noteworthy (the awesome women’s a cappella group at BYU that she was in and eventually co-directed during her time there) and Arizona and everything, I hadn’t really heard much of her music. The few songs she played were absolutely gorgeous…ranging from a stop-you-in-your-tracks cover of the Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love” (which apparently was free a few months ago, but now is completely unavailable, which makes me a bit sad) to one or two excellent originals to, of course, this lovely number (also an original). It’s the title track off her recent EP, and it’s uplifting, beautiful, outstandingly crafted…it’s heartfelt, but refreshing at the same time. (The way the piano starts off, and the delicious harmonies, get me every time.) I can’t get enough of it, and thanks to the songs she played that night, and the songs I now have on my iPod, I’m now one of Catherine’s biggest fans.

See y’all later in the week with some new posting. As always, whoever you are…thanks for reading!

My Music: Samson

Two posts today! Both of them kind of…ahem…involving me. (Cue “It’s My Party.”) Anyways, here is another YouTube cover I did recently. Once again, it’s a tender Regina Spektor ballad (and again one of my favorites of hers), this time off her second studio album, “Begin To Hope.” Those of you familiar with the song might notice that I changed the lyrics a bit…I’m singing it from the viewpoint of the “Samson” in the song, since y’know, I’m kind of a guy. (I did mess up the lyrics a bit, though. The line that “I told you that I’d done alright” that I sing is supposed to be “I told you that you’d done alright.”)  I would have rather done something completely different this time around, but I had “Samson” ready, I deeply love it, and I can actually play & sing it. So there. Hope you like it! Look out in a few minutes for another video post. Thanks for reading!

My Music: Somedays

Remember how I keep saying I’ve been wanting to post a cover or song or something by me that’s music-related for a while? Well, up until a few days ago, I hadn’t been able to get around to it. Finally, on…Friday? Saturday? whatever day it was, I sat down and went over a few songs (all covers, of course…I need to work on writing some more stuff soon…) I could play/sing pretty well, and then got my trusty old camera out and started recording. Unfortunately, I was only able to get one song down before my camera stopped working (battery trouble…thankfully, it’s back up and running again), but the good news is, it turned out pretty good, so there we go. Here’s my cover of an early Regina Spektor ballad that I absolutely love, called “Somedays.” I do mess up a little, but the sound is pretty balanced (at least for a random YouTube cover), and of course, with this song it’s pretty hard (even for me ) to go wrong. I hope y’all like it.

So, my plan is to do a cover (or, in the future, an original or two…or as many as I get written) every so often. Not so much that this blog becomes “Hey! Look At Brandon Sing Stuff And Play The Piano!”, but from time to time. Feel free to give me feedback…and as always, thanks for reading and watching.