ABCNetwork YouTube Channel video: "Rayna's Daughters Perform Sound Check" - Lennon & Maisy Stella (as Daphne & Maddie Conrad ) get to perform a cover of The Lumineers' song "Ho Hey" for sound check at their mom Rayna's concert in New York City. Uploaded April 4, 2013. http://youtu.be/PTNGVCqsZCA
Pitch-perfect 'Nashville' is only getting better: ABC-TV's 'Nashville' continues to enchant me with its great music, terrific cast and compelling storylines with moments large and small that ring true in every episode, reaching right inside your heart and your head; Lennon & Maisy Stella (as Daphne & Maddie Conrad ) cover The Lumineers' song "Ho Hey"; Rascal Flatts "Changed" video featuring "Nashville's" Charles "Chip" Esten
ABCNetwork YouTube Channel video: Rascal Flatts "Changed" - ABC Music Lounge. Rascal Flatts video for "Changed" featuring 'Nashville's' Charles "Chip" Esten. Uploaded April 3, 2013. http://youtu.be/6d2iDPm5Foc
ABCNetwork YouTube Channel video: Rascal Flatts "Changed" - Making of video- ABC Music Lounge. Rascal Flatts and 'Nashville's' Charles "Chip" Esten. Uploaded April 3, 2013. http://youtu.be/tUA3Al28b2c See also: The New Republic Connie Britton: The Blue States’ Red State Dream Girl By Noreen Malone October 12, 2012 http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/108426/connie-britton-the-blue-states%E2%80%99-red-state-dream-girl Ivy League Small-World-Afterall Trivia: At the same time that Connie Britton was an Asian Studies major at Dartmouth, next door in Massachusetts, Mira Sorvino was an East Asian Studies major at Harvard. Seven years after graduating, Connie acted with Mira's father, veteran actor Paul Sorvino.
My last blog post on 'Nashville' was on February 25, 2013, titled, Sweet, sweet music to our ears: the 'Nashville' soundtrack album; 'Nashville' star Hayden Panettiere (Juliette Barnes) sings "Fame" and "Consider Me"; Clare Bowen (Scarlett O'Connor) and Sam Palladio (Gunnar Scott) sing "If I Didn't Know Better," and cause a ripple to turn into a wave; #ABCNashville, @haydenpanettier http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/sweet-sweet-music-to-our-ears-nashville.html My last blog post on Rascal Flatts was December 19, 2012, titled, Two great new songs from Jill Johnson - "A Woman Can Change Her Mind," and her duet with Rascal Flatts, "Come Wake Me Up" http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/two-great-new-songs-from-jill-johnson.html
ABCNetwork YouTube Channel video: 'Nashville' star Hayden Panettiere (Juliette Barnes) sings "Fame" at the Ryman Auditorium. Uploaded February 24, 2013. http://youtu.be/X2hnCfrIxyA
Listened all day Saturday to the amazing 'Nashville' soundtrack album. That is, before and after watching Melodifestivalen's Fourth Heat in Malmö on SVT Play Saturday around 2 p.m., 8 in Stockholm, by far the worst group of songs performed so far in this year's contest. I even had to mute the sound for some!:-( http://www.svtplay.se/video/1033650/deltavling-4
'Nashville' stars Clare Bowen (Scarlett O'Connor) and Sam Palladio (Gunnar Scott) sing "If I Didn't Know Better" (entire song) Uploaded October 2, 2012. http://youtu.be/gAI_1FsJ8rE
poriel2 YouTube Channel video: Jill Johnson - A Woman Can Change Her Mind (Live @VärldensBarn2012) Benefit concert for Children of the World. Uploaded October 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/6Uccl5cWwxA jilljohnsonmusic YouTube Channel video: Come Wake Me Up - Rascal Flatts and Jill Johnson. Uploaded December 7, 2012. http://youtu.be/1a4cTBCe25A
Rascal Flatts' new album, CHANGED (Deluxe Edition) will be officially released in Sweden on January 3rd by LionheartSweden
jilljohnsonmusic YouTube Channel video: TV ad for Jill Johnson's latest album, A Woman Can Change Her Mind. Uploaded November 7, 2012.
Unfortunately for me, based on the latest information I've seen from her record company, except for a TV performance for SVT in Göteborg slated for Wednesday January 16th, unless something really crazy happens, I won't be able to see Jill perform LIVE next month while I'm in Sweden because her tour doesn't start until Spring. Which sucks for me, to say the least.
uris1 video: Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (SVT's Skavlan, Taped 2012-11-08, aired 2012-11-09). http://youtu.be/0BfqvpdFpCQ
Another guest on the very popular Skavlan show, which is usually taped in Stockholm on Thursday afternoon for airing in Sweden and Norway on Friday nights, but here was done in London, is actress Elizabeth McGovern who of course plays Lady Cora on blog fave Downton Abbey, and whose segment starts at 31:49. In it, McGovern, a member of a band called Sadie and The Hotheads, sings LA Dayshttp://www.svtplay.se/klipp/573109/elizabeth-mcgovern-la-days Lady Cora rocks! Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern on her REAL passion – gigging in pubs with her barnstorming band http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2155918/Downton-Abbeys-Elizabeth-McGovern-REAL-passion--gigging-pubs-barnstorming-band.html McGovern's segment segues into Taylor's at 44:39, which begins with an interesting chat about her life and her own creative process for songwriting and how she uses songs as a way of making sense of the world, with the singing starting after her goodbyes at 54:30.
You can watch the entire show or go to the particular segment via the show's SVT Play website for 43 more days as of today, Saturday. Be sure you click Program 10 at http://www.svtplay.se/skavlan For best viewing, as always, click the opposing arrows in the bottom right corner of the video box for Fullskärm, i.e full-screen. My three previous posts on Taylor Swift were a.) November 25, 2011, Taylor Swift shows why she's so beloved by her fans in profile/interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes" with Lesley Stahl; Amazing times ten! http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/taylor-swift-shows-why-shes-so-beloved.html
To quote myself, in my concluding pargraph:
FYI: As of five minutes ago, Taylor had 9,399,700 Twitter "Followers." According to the CIA World Factbook, their summer 2011 estimate for the population of Sweden was 9,088,728. So, put another way, imagine the entire population of Sweden, plus, the cities of Denver and St. Louis. THAT is how many people FOLLOW Taylor Swift's tweets. Now that is some perspective you can wrap your arms around!
Years from now, Taylor's fans will still remember that concert in Washington like it just happened: the sounds, the scene, who they were with, what they wore... and they'll remember the lyrics to the songs as if there was never a time in their life that they didn't know them by heart. That's Taylor's genius.
As a beloved music icon begins to leave the stage for good, due to Alzheimer's, we stop and wonder if a more beautiful song could possibly be sung about two such incongruous words? "Wichita Lineman," et al - Glen Campbell's Long Goodbye makes us so very sad and wistful; see him while you can...
Allansmix YouTube Channel video: Glen Campbell Tribute - 45th CMA Awards 2011 on ABC-TV, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville Tennessee, November 9, 2011. Medley: By the Time I Get To Phoenix - Vince Gill, Wichita Lineman - Keith Urban, Galveston - Brad Paisley. https://youtu.be/gTWxvJndGDc
In a career that has spanned five decades, his last concert ever in Los Angeles was held Sunday night, at The Hollywood Bowl, and I'd have given anything to have been there to see that. Do I even need to tell you here that Glen Campbell won't be playing in South Florida?
No, because you come here so often, and you know how things are down here in South Florida and quite naturally, assumed that he wasn't, as well you should, because the closest he'll be coming to a city and region like Miami that thinks it's so important in the larger scheme of things is Panama City.
How do you like those apples, Miami?
Glen Campbell's final tour, ever, and the closest he's coming to me is the part of Florida that's just eastern Alabama -on July 15th. http://glencampbellmusic.com/tour/
If that doesn't say it all...
RockShorts video: Glen Campbell performs three songs on the Mike Douglas Show. September 23, 1965. http://youtu.be/FqRqGGOwDdI
Glen Cambell March 2, 2012 interview on WBUR-FM, Boston
officialglencampbell video: Glen Campbell -"A Better Place" (Official Video) June 14, 2012.From the "Ghost on the Canvas" CD. http://youtu.be/JMh78jF-fMQ
As a young kid growing-up in Memphis when Jimmy Webb's Wichita Lineman came out in 1968, not just a huge hit in the U.S., but an international hit by someone from next-door Arkansas, I personally knew SO many women who cried whenever they heard this song.
"And I need you more than want you..."
officialglencampbell video: Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (Live, CBS-TV's "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour") January 29, 1969. Uploaded March 12, 2009. http://youtu.be/-HFCuBLAjXo
It was only when I asked one of the aunts of the kids I always played with, who frequently visited on weekends, that I learned why that was so, at least in their case, since I just didn't understand it.
One day, remembering that I'd asked her before about that, she had me sit on a swing outside and there, standing beside me, told me that she wanted to answer my question. But that I had to promise to keep it a secret, most especially from her nephew, my friend.
She explained to me that her sister-in-law, my friend's mom, like many other families living in that nice, new apt. complex, and even that particular part of Memphis, had husbands, fathers and uncles who were serving in Vietnam.
I've never forgotten the way that whole scene played out that day, because the woman who told me that also eventually revealed that she'd already lost one brother in Vietnam, and had another brother, my friend's father, still over there.
And that it weighed on all of their minds -all the time.
She told me that was why his mother always seemed so sad and yet so high-strung.
I filed that away in my little kid's mental notebook, so that when my friend's mom would sometimes make a big deal about something relatively minor, be over-dramatic for no particular reason, esp. about his safety, and start crying, I'd know that it was probably more than just the situation that was weighing on her mind.
That it was actually everything else that she was thinking of. And that try as she might to keep it all bottled up inside, so her son wouldn't worry all the time, sometimes, it gets out.
After my family and I moved to South Florida that summer, and eventually found ourselves living in North Miami Beach, I know that one of the very first things that I noticed once school started for me was something that I'm sure most other kids I came to know probably never thought about. All of them had their fathers and older brothers around
Like nearly everyone we met in NMB, they seemed remarkably unaffected and disconnected to what was going on over there, and didn't seem to actually know someone who was directly connected to the war. Especially compared to how it seemed like nearly everyone we knew in Memphis, regardless of race or age, even families like ours that had moved there from somewhere else -for us, from a big military town like San Antonio- knew many guys involved in the conflict in one way or another.
But here, well, not so much.
Make of that what you will, but over the years I've often found myself in social situations where the majority of the group I belonged to, while thinking it was typical, was, in fact, quite atypical, maybe even somewhat elitist. And sometimes, when you get to the heart of it, one of the things that was clear to me was that they didn't know anyone who was directly involved in the most controversial issue of the past fifty years, nobody who had a direct connection to the war.
To them, it was like an abstract idea.
We all saw that that political disconnect very clearly with the rise of Reagan Democrats in 1980 and '84, and it's one of the reasons that the national Democratic Party of today now holds so little favor with such large chunks of this country, especially in The Plains and The South. It's no accident.
SaraEvans video: Sara Evans - Donna Summer Tribute Webisode. Larry King Cardiac Foundation, Washington, D.C. May 19, 2012. http://youtu.be/1afOHzHbBuI
There's so much I could say and write here about Sara Evans. About how this short video is like a small snapshot of her wonderful personality and amazing talent. A video I've been planning on posting for weeks.
And the thing is, having just loved her to death for years, when I was still living and working in the Washington, D,.C. area and finally had the opportunity to see her perform in-person -and wound-up with some really great seats, too- despite everything I'd read and thought I already knew about her, oddly enough, the thing I was most unprepared for is that she's even more drop-dead beautiful in person -heartbreakingly so in fact.
So when she comes bounding out onstage beaming that infectious mega-watt smile of hers that brings the crowd to its feet, then stops smiling and starts singing with that amazing unaffected voice, she literally has the ability to make you (or at least me) feel physically dizzy.
It's just so VERY MUCH to take in...
It's just like what I'd seen before for myself when I was around actress Sela Ward. People are just literally overwhelmed by her in the flesh.
Sometimes, it's hard to believe that it's been so many years since... she first rocked my world.
saraevans VEVO video: Sara Evans "Born To Fly" October 2, 2009 http://youtu.be/8xvhutWc67k My record for playing that CD over-and-over without stopping -while driving- is 5x's.
Because I knew in advance that I'd be at the important HB City Commission meeting on the Boardwalk proposal last Wednesday, and knew they'd be appearing and performing at the same time, the last thing I did before I left the house was set up the DVD recorder to tape the 2012 CMT Music Awards. So it wasn't until early Thursday morning that I saw both Jana Kramer -#8 on the iTunes album chart last week- and Sara perform. http://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2uH6WiBoVk
Sara's most recent hits...
SaraFan1971 video: Sara Evans sings the National Anthem before Game 2 of the 2012 NBA Finals, Oklahoma City, OK on ABC-TV, June 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/NvTKOf2OZX0
JanaKramerMusic video: Jana Kramer - "Why Ya Wanna" (Official Music Video). February 6, 2012. http://youtu.be/Ho5HV_9_o_E
Prepare to meet another amazing musical talent -and Jana Kramer's talent comes with a twang! Jana Kramer's new self-titled Country album drops today; "Why Ya Wanna"; @kramergirl
Jana’s debut Country album, Jana Kramer, is officially available in retail stores today and is also available at some of the usual reliable online spots like iTunes and Amazon.
Jana's touring this summer with Brad Paisley as part of his Virtual Reality Tour of North America, so check her website out for updates on whether she will be appearing in your area as part of his tour or at a festival. http://www.janakramer.com/
I can already guess that she won't be in South Florida, since he won't be going south of West Palm Beach on Sept. 29th, but maybe I'll be proven wrong.
Jana Kramer on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" morning show's All American Concert Series, New York, June 1, 2012 http://youtu.be/9Bu9dYRD28E
Here's a Fox 45video of Jana from earlier this morning in Baltimore at WPOC's studios for the announcement of who'd be performing at their big Sunday in the Country show on September 16th at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland, not far from my sister. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4AgtlQ7xkc List of performers at : http://www.wpoc.com/pages/sitc-2012/?cmp=dl_sitc
shell4270 has uploaded a couple of performances of Jana yesterday at the the WMZQ Festival. to her YouTube Channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/shell4270
CBS News 60 Minutes: Taylor Swift: A young singer's meteoric rise. November 20, 2011. Correspondent Lesley Stahl profiles and interviews the dynamic 21-year old singer who keeps her feet firmly on the ground while entertaining and charming her millions of fans all over the world.
Country music sweetheart Taylor Swift rocked Washington, D.C. Tuesday, even as the Washington Post runs out of adjectives to describe this well-grounded superstar.
Great photos of Taylor and a concert review that positively swoons.
The Washington Post
For Taylor Swift and a sea of squealing fans, Verizon Center show is a lovefest
By Jessica Goldstein
Wednesday, August 3, 11:02 AM
On Tuesday night, the sparkly-dressed and curly-tressed masses swarmed the Verizon Center. They had to come to see her, she whose name is never just spoken but is squealed, gasped, breathed: “Taylor!”
They were speaking, naturally, of Taylor Swift, the country-pop star whose “Speak Now” tour has a two-day stop in Washington. Swift’s disciples arrived in homemade T-shirts and cowboy boots with moms and best friends in tow. They expressed nothing but love — omigosh, LOVE, hands in a heart shape held over the heart for double-hearting emphasis love — for the current poet laureate of puberty.
My previous blog post on Taylor Swift, on October 12th, 2010, featuring lots of behind-the-scenes videos of her and her band and friends from an NBC-TV special many of you probably never saw, was titled, Taylor Swift's impression of "Minnesota Soccer Mom" on BBC 1's Switch with Annie and Nick; Dateline: On Tour With Taylor Swift
“She’s so normal,” said Abby Sisson, 16. “You can imagine her being your best friend. ... Every situation that you’re in, there’s a Taylor Swift song for it.”
Years from now, Taylor's fans will still remember that concert in Washington like it just happened: the sounds, the scene, who they were with, what they wore... and they'll remember the lyrics to the songs as if there was never a time in their life that they didn't know them by heart.
I've been meaning to post this clip for awhile now since it's so clear that Taylor is channeling Frances McDormand's Oscar-winning turn as Marge Gunderson in "Fargo" that so captured the nation's imagination. I'm not entirely sure that everyone in the Radio One studio with Taylor caught that, though. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116282/
Over the Memorial Day Weekend of 2009, May 31st to be exact, I watched the NBC NewsDatelineone-hour special on Taylor promoting her Fearless CD, titled simply, "On Tour With Taylor Swift" It was amazing, and only served to confirm what I have thought about her from the very beginning -she's the very definition of "the real deal." Anyone who doubts her talent, drive and resolve is simply ignoring what is right in front of them.That Taylor's only 20 makes it all seem a bit stranger, true, but as was proven over-and-over in this particular show, and which has been said about her for years by very talented people in Nashville in a position to know from past experince, her confident demeanor, work ethic and level-headedness -which makes her seem much more mature than many if not most entertainers who are twice her age- also makes her more able to grasp the great possibilities that are her's for the taking.
And is there any entertainer right now who connects more with their audience than Taylor does? These videos hardly begin to tell the tale of her fans devotion to her.
That she combines such a keen and growing talent with such a relentless drive to satisfy her fans, each and every night, knowing that they've been looking forward to those few hours together with her for months, makes her the kind of old-fashioned star that people held onto most loyally, year-after-year. Plus, Taylor's audience will NEVER outgrow her.
