Hello, music lovers (which I’m pretty sure is everybody on this planet)! Welcome back to the Skinner Music Blog! I’ll be writing about four artists that I feel associate with the word “redemption” in one form or another. These artists are Diana Krall, Brytt, Trombone Shorty, and Miley Cyrus.

Diana Krall

Diana Krall is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer who has been in the game since 1993. We’re in the year 2017, she is 52 years old, and yet she is still making hits that are selling across the U.S. Krall has sold more than 15 million album copies worldwide, and is regarded as one of the top jazz musicians of her time. She is also a Grammy award winner. She has been playing piano since the age of four and playing jazz since the age of 15. She is mostly known for her contralto vocals. She recently released an album titled “Turn Up the Quiet”. Featuring songs such as “I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You)”, “Sway”, and “Moonglow”, this album as a whole conveys a message of love and romance. Krall continues to please ears of listeners with her beautiful contralto voice and her equally beautiful piano playing while featuring guitar, bass, and violin throughout the album. I don’t know about you all, but I’ve surprisingly never heard the latter instrument be used in any form of jazz music. The violin has gone from being used in classical music only to being incorporated into other genres such as hip-hop, r & b, electronic, and rock. I personally love the violin’s sound in “Turn Up the Quiet”. It produces such an expressive and elegant sound that made the instrument popular in classical music. Through this album, Krall is redeeming contemporary jazz music, with the most notable elements used being her use of sixteenth notes on the piano to make the piano talk and her use of vibrato in her voice.

Brytt 

I’ve been noticing how lucky I am to have all these musical connections. I wrote about two of them last week, and I am about to write about another one in the form of 26-year-old pop recording artist, Brytt. Music has been a passion of hers from a young age. As a matter of fact, she started singing before she even started talking. Music is in her blood, seeing as that most of her mom’s side of the family sings, plays piano, or plays guitar. Brytt started singing in her church choir at a young age but didn’t start writing her own music until college. Describing her music as holistic, pop r & b, and honest/vulnerable, she strives to glorify God by redeeming the gift that he gave us that is music. Having said that, she recently released an EP titled “Confetti”, which conveys a message of general positivity through her soprano voice, the major key, and positive lyrics. Featuring such songs as the eponymous song, Superman, and Meant To Be, it covers such topics as togetherness, confidence, and happiness. You can also hear the electronic sounds and beats that are characteristic of pop music.  I say Brytt is doing a pretty good job redeeming music. Her music can found on such platforms as YouTube and Spotify. She doesn’t perform at many functions these days because of being a Fellowship of Christian University Students (where I know her from) apprentice in Denton, Texas, but expect her to perform at more functions in the near future. She has the drive and abilities to follow through with her goals. As a matter of fact, she could very well become the pop r & b version of Diana Krall, the previously mentioned singer. Brytt’s advice to any musicians out there trying to make it: “Know what you want to do. Ask people for a lot of advice about personality, skill, and talent. Be committed to what you’re going for. Don’t let other people derail that.”

Trombone Shorty 

How interesting is a modern trombone virtuoso? I say very! That describes jazz artist, Trombone Shorty. Don’t let the name fool you. In addition to the trombone, he also sings and plays the trumpet. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, he has been playing the trombone since the age of four and has participated in many parades and festivals. He has even performed for the Obamas at the White House. He has worked with some of the biggest artists in funk, pop, jazz, and hip-hop. Since 2009, he has toured with his own band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Now 31 years old, Trombone Shorty still hasn’t missed a step in his career. He recently released an album titled “Parking Lot Symphony”. I say the title is fitting with the trend among New Orleans’s musicians of performing on subways, street corners, and outside venues. Most of the album itself has what I like to call the typical contemporary New Orleans jazz funk vibe that is characterized as upbeat, energetic and a complex-sounding percussion. Exceptions to this include “Laveau Dirge No. 1”, “Laveau Dirge Finale”, and “No Good Time”. These three songs have more of a chill vibe. The album also features Trombone Shorty soloing on the trombone and trumpet and singing. You can’t help but feel the energy in the musicality of “Parking Lot Symphony”. I bet it makes most of y’all want to get your groove on! Trombone Shorty has redeemed not only the New Orleans music scene but also the potential virtuosity of instruments that are less commonly played than the guitar and piano.

Miley Cyrus

Y’all might know her as Hannah Montana from Disney Channel. Ever since the show ended in 2011, Cyrus has gone on to perform under her own identity. Y’all also might know her for her song “Wrecking Ball” from 2013. While that song was a multi-platinum award winner, it also marked the beginning of a drastic image change for Cyrus. Incidents such as her twerking at the 2013 MTV VMAs have led to people labeling her in a negative light, and she began to act however she felt she needed to act to stay relevant. However, she recently released a new single titled “Mailbu”. This is significant in more ways than one! First, this song drops the typical use of electronic sounds that are characteristic of Miley Cyrus songs in favor of the use of authentic electric guitar. Also, this song is very simple and peaceful, so it marks a return to her country roots and a step in the right direction. “Malibu” redeems the bad reputation that she built back in 2013 by incorporating appropriate lyrics and a message of peacefulness.

There you have it! I hope everyone like and reflect on this! Stay tuned for the next Skinner Music Blog Post!

Welcome back to the Skinner music blog! I’m going to present to y’all two solo artists and two bands that are either just flying onto the radar or staying on the radar via differentiation from the past. I am talking about Lecrae, JC Stringz, Paramore and the Slo Smoked Band.

Lecrae

If you have heard of Christian rap, then Lecrae is often the first artist you hear of. That’s not surprising considering the impact he has made in his 13 year-long career. He has made hits such as “All I Need Is You”, “I’m Turnt” ( a personal favorite of mine), “Outsiders”, and “Say I Won’t”. What immediately stands out to me about his style is that he incorporates both biblical references and clarity as to what message he’s trying to convey. He had a difficult upbringing, and he goes in-depth about it in his songs. Lecrae recently released a top ten single with Ty Dolla Sign titled “Blessings”. What stands out about this song is that it tells us that we should feel blessed that God gave us breath on this earth, and that we should live life while we have it. Another aspect that stands out to me about this song is Lecrae’s rapping style. He altered it from his usual straight-forward, normal-paced style to a fast-paced style while still maintaining a steady flow and annunciation. “Blessings” has received lots of support from fans everywhere. However, Lecrae has also received backlash from the conservative Christian community for working with Ty Dolla Sign, a singer and rapper that’s known for glorifying drugs. I see it as a discipleship opportunity because Lecrae can potentially build a long-term relationship with Ty Dolla Sign and show him the gospel through “Blessings”. Therefore, I fully support this.

JC Stringz

How often do you guys hear of a 16-year-old who has been working to perfect his craft on multiple instruments since the age of eight? That’s an accurate description of JC Stringz. He’s a local musician from Killeen, Texas. He got his start when he asked his parents to play the guitar when he was eight years old. His parents said yes, as long as he practiced. This subsequently led to him taking violin lessons age ten and picking up the piano at age 12. He plays a variety of genres on these instruments, such as hip-hop, r & b, jazz, gospel, rock, and soul. That shouldn’t be surprising, considering that his musical inspirations are B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix. If you look him up on Youtube, Google and Facebook, y’all will hear covers that he has done on guitar and violin. These include “Hotline Bling” by Drake, “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap, and “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. JC performs at church, local restaurants, family reunions, and festivals. We actually play guitar at the same church together. We play at Greater Vision Community Church in Killeen. Therefore, I can personally hear how hard he works on his instruments every day. That’s because like most aspiring musicians, he’s not complacent, and he’s never satisfied with what level he’s at despite being so young and having so much talent and potential. He wants to be a music teacher in either college or high school when he gets older. I say the sky is the limit for someone like him!

Paramore

I’m pretty sure y’all have heard of Paramore. Paramore consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. They have been pleasing ears with their grunge pop rock style for the last 13 years. They have made such hits as “Misery Business”, “That’s What You Get”, and “Ain’t It Fun”. They recently released a new album titled “After Laughter”. If you listen to this album and their past albums, you’ll notice a sharp contrast style-wise. I like to describe “After Laughter” as more like ’80’s new wave pop. It’s very synth-heavy and has a little bit of a disco feeling to it. Two songs from that album, “Hard Times” and “Told You So”, use marimba instrumentation, something that is not common in Paramore’s music. Also, all the songs from this album are ironic in the sense that they are in a major key (happy sounding), and yet the themes of these songs are negative. These themes include depression, anxiety, and exhaustion. I applaud this! I’m a fan of irony! I can relate this to a plot twist in a movie. What can y’all relate it to?

The Slo Smoked Band

The Slo Smoked Band is a band from Moody, Texas that plays blues and rock music. It consists of Johnny Grusendorf on rhythm guitar, Kirt Hibbitts on drums, Bob Austin on bass and James Skinner (My dad!) on lead guitar. They have only been a band for four months, and yet they played their first gig three weeks ago! I got the opportunity to play some blues songs with them and watch them rehearse this past Saturday, and I witnessed this band’s unity and connectivity inside and outside of rehearsal. They seemed to know each other really well in their short tenure as a band, and that, in turn, transitions into how they rehearse. They are able to easily pick up on what one another is playing and how they are playing it, and play in unity with them to make great, quality music! Be on the lookout for the Slo Smoked Band because they have a lot of potential!

Thanks for reading, and please be sure to keep up with the Skinner Music Blog!