Category: Music News

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Music News

Super Bowl Halftime: Shakira and J. Lo

I’m going to be honest here, I wasn’t really all that excited for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. I know and enjoy the couple of songs I know by Shakira and J. Lo, but I thought they were strange picks for this performance. But, of course, when halftime rolled around I sat attentively in front of my TV to watch.

And boy, was I astounded. What. A. Show. I couldn’t comprehend how I thought I was going to be unimpressed by their performance! I personally believe this was the best halftime show in years. While I had been stoked for Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and Maroon 5, I can’t say I was enthralled by any of them. But these two ladies? My eyes were glued from start to finish, my head bopped along, and my brain started to consider taking belly dance classes.

Let’s cover some of my favorite parts. We were gifted with Shakira playing both the electric guitar and the drums. J. Lo put to use those pole dance skills she worked so hard to aquire for Hustlers. Some guys played the horns and danced at the same time. We had female empowerment. We had Latin pride. We had two confident women dancing and singing together on stage. The energy never died. And my favorite moment? The very end when both Shakira and J. Lo flipped their heads around and had huge smiles on their faces, like they both just had the time of their lives in that performance. The joy radiated from them and made me smile, too.

Check out the show below, and maybe watch it again (like I did). And if you’re unfamiliar with these artists, maybe also go check out their entire discography (like I’m doing). And lastly, let us know what your favorite part of the show was!

(Featured photo by Kevin Winter)

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Music News

The Women of the 2020 Grammy Awards

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Controversy over Grammy nominees have been swirling around since the situations involving the Recording Academy’s recently appointed CEO, Deborah Dugan, who had opened up conversation about misconduct, discrimination, and even voter rigging that could’ve potentially resulted in the rescheduling of the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards Show. As the day continued on, incidents following the tragic news of the passing of athlete, Kobe Bryant and other passengers during a fatal helicopter crash left the world somber and mournful. However, as the night was also for celebration of achievements, we wanted to recognize the winners that took home the trophy and also played a role as advocates for women in the music industry.

If you haven’t heard yet, Billie Eillish took home five Grammy awards in major categories from, ​Best New Artist,​ ​Best​ ​Pop Vocal Album,​ to ​Best; Record, Song, Album of the Year​ awards, making her the youngest person ever to win in Grammy history. Even if you don’t listen to her music, at only eighteen years old, this is something that is incredibly impressive to accomplish for someone this young.

Artist and DJ Tracy Young had just made history being the first ever woman to be even nominated in this category for Best Remixed Recording for her remix of Madonna’s ‘‘I Rise.’’ Young, who had been working in the industry for over twenty five years reflected on her journey in the industry when she was awarded the Grammy in her speech, stated, ‘‘I proudly accept this on behalf of all female producers who have been overlooked.’’

For our folks in the audio world, we know the name Leslie Ann Jones. For those of you who do not, she holds her title as Director of Music Recording and Score at Skywalker Studios along with her previous work experiences at Capitol Records and ABC studios. Jones made a name for herself back then and still continues to be a role model and advocate for women engineers at sixty-nine years old. Jones holds an impressive list of accomplishments and firsts. From being the first woman as assistant engineer ever to be hired at ABC Studios to the first female national officer for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Her legacy continues as she took home her 5th Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical in Riley: Sun Rings.

Behind the scenes, Soundgirl member and fellow Women In Audio advocate Loreen Bohannon shared that she was the one mixing monitors for Lizzo during her opening performance at the awards show.

It is the victories like these that create opportunities for women everywhere. We continue to support those in the industry and hope to see more women winning at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards!

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Music News

A Night Of Music At The Best Venue In The US

Photo taken by @aldenbonecutter

Red Rocks Amphitheater located in Morrison, Colorado has been, year by year, named the best outdoor venue in the United States. Every year, new shows and experiences are announced for fans from all over the world to come to Colorado and experience what the locals call “Red Rocks Season.” Mid April through September, with a few shows sprinkled in between, Red Rocks brings the best artists and fans to come together in a beautiful venue located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Red Rocks is the world’s only naturally occurring acoustic amphitheater has hosted iconic shows such as The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Stevie Nicks and more. The venue brings in dozens of artists from every genre, making it easy to find a show that would work for anyone in your crew. 

Along with the concerts at the venue, there are numerous trails for day hikes, incredible views of the foothills and downtown Denver, as well as “the lots” – gravel parking lots that come to be full mid day of a show for the infamous tailgates. If you have extra time, there’s a museum inside that includes tons of local art and posters from years past of your favorite artists who have played the iconic venue. 

After so many announcements of some of the schedule this year – we’re thrilled to share some shows we’re most excited about! I’m a firm believer that no matter what show you go to here, it will be an incredible time – just for experiencing the venue alone. For a full list of events happening in 2020 – head over to the calendar on their official website: https://www.redrocksonline.com/concerts-events/calendar

Wobble Rocks:

Ganja White Night’s first official headlining show on the rocks, and they’re bringing insane talent to back them up. For two nights this year in April (could be a bit chilly!) we’re going to dance the night away with some of our favorite electronic acts such as Boogie T,  Dirt Monkey, The Widdler and of course, GWN. Playing two nights, the first night will be more of their newer sound and music as well as some artists that share a similar sound. Night two is specifically a throwback set, which long time fans are so excited to hear some of their favorites from back as far as 2010. This is one of the first shows of the season and is sure to bring in lots of excitement and dancing for the summer to come.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise:

After a successful show last year, RKS is scheduled to come back to Red Rocks with Mt. Joy. After night 1 sold out so quickly, they added a second date. With their popularity rising, this will be a great show to catch on the rocks. Rainbow Kitten Surprise has also partnered with PLUS1, donating $1 to every ticket towards securing Equality NC. The weather will be warm, the stars will be out and the music will be great (but aside from the weather this goes for any show you’d catch there!)

Reggae on the Rocks:

A local year-to-year favorite, Reggae on the Rocks is bringing a stacked lineup for this year. Bringing in household names to those who love reggae such as Rebelution, Steel Pulse, Innercircle, and newer names that we’re excited to learn about, this show isn’t one to miss. For two nights this year, you can go experience the good vibes of Reggae on the Rocks. 

Of course there are many shows throughout the year we’re excited about, and this doesn’t even cover most of them. We highly recommend checking out the website and seeing who all is coming! There is truly something for everyone, and it’s a night you won’t forget! Local’s tip: if you’re in the area and the show isn’t sold out yet – head to the Denver Coliseum on Saturdays from 11-3 to grab a ticket without the online fees! 

See you on the rocks!

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Music News

2020 GRAMMYs: Music Videos

The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards take place on Sunday, January 26. While I’m most certainly excited for all of the other awards, as a visual artist I’m partial to the music video categories. Let’s go through the videos up for Best Music Video, Short Form.

Glad He’s Gone – Tove Lo

Entertaining the whole way through, Tove Lo takes us on a journey to show us how far she’d go to be there for a friend. Her casual walk and nonchalant expression contrast impeccably with the wild scenes behind her, and every expression on her date’s face at the diner is perfection. With scenes as short as a couple seconds, I’d be worried information would get lost, but the timing keeps everything interesting and brings a few chuckles along the way.

We’ve Got to Try – The Chemical Brothers

Starting off dark and moody, you think you’re in for a serious music video. But then it becomes humorous, then wacky, and then back to serious. And somehow it all works. I don’t know how we went from training the dog to drive a racecar to fly a rocket ship, but I’m ok with it. I loved the edits back and forth between the flight and the video game screen, the ride the story took my emotions through, how they used different people to sing the words, and, of course, that it stars a dog. A big round of applause to the credits at the end, too!

This Land – Gary Clark Jr

I loved the shots at the beginning of this video; the arrangement, lighting, and sound effects reeled me in. The use of children is powerful, made even more so by the matching outfits. The part that lost me a bit, though, is the scene with the window, hands, and the galaxy. I feel that section deterred too far from the style of the rest of the video, and the change in editing pace was much more effective at the end than it was there. But I’m so appreciative to see another video with some end credits!

Cellophane – FKA twigs

Well this video certainly did not feel like it was nearly four and a half minutes long. I highly enjoyed the sound effects of her shoes across the floor, and I give all the respect for anyone who can walk in those heels in the first place. Another bit I loved was the women crawling up in the masks and how that moment went from frightening to loving. But the things I did not appreciate include the sped-up motions while she was dancing and the sequence where she was falling. The too fast body movements threw me off and took away from the beauty of pole dance, and the falling scene was so chaotic that I thought it was slightly overdone. I will say I adored the quick second where you could see she was holding onto someone’s hand!

Old Town Road – Lil Nas X

Ok, what isn’t there to love about this? A country western, dance battle, street race, Bingo, and line dancing? What more can you ask for? A perfect balance of comedy and production quality, and with lovely cuts away from the music, this video was pure enjoyment.

So who is going to win? With each of these songs and videos being so different from each other, It’s hard to make a decision. And while I’m a dog lover and Tove Lo fan, my pick to take home the Grammy is Old Town Road.

What do you think? Vote in the poll below to let us know!

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Music News

New Artist Alert: Molly Lovette

Molly Lovette is an up-and-coming country pop artist. She’s making big moves this year and so enlisted the help of our own Lauren Hayes to make a video to kick off 2020!

Shot in her hometown in Missouri, Molly showcases her voice, guitar skills, and a wardrobe with just enough sparkle (which we love). We’ll be keeping our eyes on this lady as she’s sure to be releasing new music soon.

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Music News

Where Are The Women Photographers?

Here are our thoughts on iHeartRadio Music Award’s Favorite Tour Photographer Category and the lack of (any) women nominated in the category.

First of all, it is absolutely incredible that an award show is recognizing the photographers who not only put in hard work every day on tour but are a huge promotional asset to artists and providing constant content for the fans to see. We love when any sort of behind-the-camera role gets recognized for their work, and this is no exception. This category premiered during the 2019 awards, so I’m glad it returned for this year.

The 2019 nominees for iHeart Radio Music Awards – Favorite Tour Photographer

Except, what. Excuse me, not one woman?? Literally not one?!

Ok, now that we’ve taken a moment to be hyped about the significance of this category existing, let’s complain. Women were nominated last year, so who let this happen? It seems pretty hard to have 11 nominees and each and every single one of them be a man. There’s truly no explanation, and all of Twitter came out in force to give suggestions of incredible female photographers who were on tour this year:

These photographers and their work speak for themselves, yet we still can’t help but wonder why, amidst an award season that will get torn apart for not representing minority groups, a female photographer would fail to get nominated. That’s a recipe for bad press, and the lack of ladies was immediately noticed. Here’s to hoping that 2020 progresses us toward a world in which women the recognition they deserve, especially in the music industry.