Aww…Monday’s

“But I don’t wanna be a show dog, I wanna be a play puppy!”

Linking with Sandee at Comedy-Plus

Monday’s Music Moves Me

I closed out my July co-hosting duties with a look at the blues. I really like the blues as a genre of music. The whole genre has undergone some serious changes over the years, but thankfully there are still those who practice the pure and simple branch of the music. Today the blues is generally considered a band of several guitars, a drummer, and maybe a keyboard player. Occasionally other instruments are thrown in like a horn section or a harmonica. Back-up singers are always a plus for some of the tunes that need a little more gospel sound. Before amplified guitars and electronic keyboards, the soul of the blues was often provided by a tearful trumpet, sexy saxophone, or the cry of a clarinet, but it all began kind of like folk music, with a few acoustic guitars, maybe a drum and the pure vocals of people who were living the blues daily. My previous post featured some of the most popular male artists of the genre. Today I want to give the ladies equal billing, but first, I want to share with you what the blues looked like in the beginning. Two modern greats reach back and strip the blues down to a pure and simple song. I could listen to this all day. Enjoy.

Now let’s take a look at a few of the ladies who sing the blues. First up is Memphis Minnie. Minnie was active from around 1920 -1950. She was a vocalist and guitar player equal to any male counterpart of her day. Memphis Minnie and her husband, Kansas City Joe wrote and recorded this song in 1929. Minnie is playing lead guitar.
While she wore a sometimes frilly dress and pearls on stage, Minnie was known as a tobacco chewing, hard living woman. You might recognize the song as a Led Zeplin number,but it is straight out of the depression.

Blues legend Etta James burst on the blues scene in 1954. Her music had a little jazz influence and that is no wonder since the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Ertha Kitt, and Sarah Vaughn were popular. Etta sang and toured until 2012. This video is from a 1975 performance.

For those of us who were children of the sixties one of our rock heroines was Janis Joplin. The truth is, Janis was a blues lady extraordinaire and her biggest hits were decidedly bluesy.

The female presence in blues is alive and well with artists like Susan Tedechi. Susan is a first class guitarist and vocalist. Another instrument that you hear has become an anchor in a blues ensemble and that is the venerable Hammond B3 organ.

I am going to close out this post with another current bluesy lady, Samantha Fish.
Samantha is also a lady that can pick a guitar and blow the roof off the place. The blues are alive and well.

Hometown After Dark

Aww Monday

Show Cocker

Linking with Sandee at Comedy-Plus

 

Monday’s Music Moves Me

It’s August already and school will be starting in a few weeks. Here in Northwest Arkansas it is generally hot, somewhat humid, and those “Dog Days of Summer” are upon us. So the theme this week at 4M is those dog days and how to celebrate them with music.

The Mural

 

The Details

 

Street Art – Bentonville, AR

Top of The Stairs

 

End of Stair

Aww Monday

I Need a Nap

Linking to Sandee at Comedy Plus

Monday’s Music Moves Me

As the honorary guest conductor for the month of July, this is my second opportunity to pick the theme for the week. Many of us watch our favorite vocal competition television shows, American Idol and The Voice. There have been a couple of unsuccessful shows, Duets and one featuring country artist hopefuls, but The Voice and American Idol lead the pack. These shows have their roots in an early television show called Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour from the fifties. Finding new talent has always been a popular concept for television and from 1983-1995 Ed McMahon revived the genre by hosting Star Search.

All of us are familiar with the stars that have come out of American Idol, like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood etc. The Voice has yet to launch a true superstar but it’s only a matter of time. Therefore, I would like to know who were your favorite contestants, winners or losers. Remember J-Hud finished back in the pack only to become a Grammy and Oscar winner. While some of my favorites at the time have yet to make it big, I enjoyed them during their run through the competition. So here are a few on my list.

The most recent season of The Voice has produced what I think is a classic female vocalist in Maylen Jordan. Her vocals are flawless and her range is in a class occupied by very few singers. She is the complete package and I believe she may be the first Voice winner to really become a household name.

One of my favorite early contestants from American Idol was Taylor Hicks. Taylor had a little bit of Southern Rock, Country, Blues, and Gospel in his voice that appealed to Idol viewers but not to Simon Cowell. Simon’s favorite in season 5 was obviously runner-up Katherine McPhee. I don’t believe that Taylor ever returned to Idol as a guest after his victory and I’m sure that the running feud with Simon had a part to play. Taylor has not enjoyed a super star career but he has been a featured act in one of the Vegas clubs, while Katherine has been an actress featured in several television series.

This year American Idol gave us Laine Hardy. Laine is a radio ready throwback rock and roll heart throb, but runner up Alejandro Aranda is a musical genius, in a class by himself. Alejandro’s voice may not even be his strongest asset. He is a guitar player extraordinaire and his piano skills are only matched by his guitar work. Alejanro is NOT a pop performer and you will probably never hear him on top 40 radio but if you search the Indie/Alternative stations you will likely find his music topping those charts in the near future. Personally, I believe his career will take him to the top as a writer, arranger, and producer in the music industry.

The first duet to make it to The Voice finals was the Swon Brothers from team Blake. They finished third but they have been working hard and have even opened for Carrie Underwood. I think these boys will be country stars. They may not become super stars but they are going to have a great career in country music with their current, relevant new country sound.

I could go on and on with this list, but I will draw this post to a close with another Voice winner and another member of team Blake, Danielle Bradbery. Danielle is a true up and coming country star. She has had an album in the top of the charts and she can sing any type of song from Katy Perry to Faith Hill. Danniel is still in her early 20’s and has a very bright future ahead of her. Have a blessed week.

https://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=293570

 

Somewhere Near the Bat Cave

 

Aww Mondays

Linked to Sandee at Comedy Plus

As you can see, Lucy is not exactly a “Morning Pup”. She sleeps in her kennel at night and gets up with me around 6:30 a.m. I go to the kitchen to fix breakfast and make my first cup of coffee while Lucy relocates to the den and her bed for the first nap of the day. Once I finish breakfast and pour my coffee, I will go to the den, turn on the morning news and sit in the recliner for a while. At that point Lucy leaves this bed and repositions herself in my lap and resumes her nap. Such is a dog’s life.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

It’s another freedom of choice week, so I am going to feature some artists that may have slipped though the cracks of our memory. As a child of the sixties I was fortunate to be exposed to a lot of great music. Each generation has it’s superstars as well as those who seemed to come and go, then are only remembered when their music qualifies to be played on the “Oldies” radio stations. I think one such group was “The Band”. My favorite song from this group was “The Weight”.

Another group that got my attention was Deep Purple and the song, “Smoke on the Water”.

I was fascinated by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Their musicianship was unsurpassed but much of their music never reached the radio play lists because the songs were just too long for air play. For most, their music was hard to define. It was a combination of rock, blues & jazz. The title cut from the Tarkus album is a prime example of their style. Have a blessed week.

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The past couple of weeks I posted some images I had captured of potted flowers on our patio. I had taken a spray bottle and misted the plants with water and I found the results quite pleasing. Every once in a while an image begs to be manipulated. This is one of those images.

There is no real manipulation here, but a verse of scripture came to mind.

Then the thought came to mind, what if I convert this image to Black & White.

Well that was interesting but maybe we need to add something else.  So I took the image into my Nik filter collection for PhotoShop Elements and added a little contrast and a vintage frame for a little drama.

That was fun, but what if I add a little canvas texture and a subtle white vignette to the image.

And that’s what I call “Fun With Filters”. Have a blessed week.