Sheryl Crow premiered the official music video for her lead single “Summer Day” off her forthcoming album 100 Miles From Memphis (July 20).
“Summer Day” is a slight departure from what we’re accustomed to hearing from the veteran rocker. The song has slow jam, 70’s soul appeal written all over it with beautifully layered vocals and laid back horn section. Let’s just say it’s the perfect song to chill to as we ease our way into the summer months.
The video treatment depicts just that, Ms. Crow and her band performing for a crowd on a lazy summer day in the park spliced with footage of young couples in love. Ms. Crow has always been a slender woman, but she looks AMAZING in this video.
Give it a watch below. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
To say Matt’s rising up the star-rank quickly would be a drastic understatement. He recently stopped by MTV to perform two songs off the new album: “Un-American” and “Love.” I was pretty stoked to see this performance unplugged as “Un-American” is currently one of my favorite songs from the album. Watch both performances after the cut.
Hey indie bands/artists, this post is for you. Still struggling to figure out if social media can help propel your career? Well, while you mull it over, brilliant indie bands like NYC’s Love and Logic are making their dreams come true.
The band decided to cover Adam Lambert’ssong “Whataya Want From Me” then took to the streets of Manhattan to shoot an authentic video starring everyday New Yorkers (and probably tourists). The video, though simplistic in concept, is visually catching. Shot in black and white, the video features members of Love and Logic interspersed with close-up performance shots and random strangers holding up a cardboard sign that reads “What Do You Want From Me.”
Love and Logic then (smartly) uploaded the video to YouTube and used Twitter to get the video in front of Adam Lambert. The singer took notice and tweeted the video link with the message “Wow!!! This is beautiful” and his rabid following did the rest. Views skyrocketed and rumor has it, MTV has expressed interest in the video and Love and Logic.
Props to the band. Check out the video after the jump! Then listen to Adam Lambert’s original. We wanna know, which do you prefer? Give us a shout in the comments.
Full disclosure. I LOVE Sara Bareilles. Why? Well, she’s a smart, singer-songwriter who writes incredibly witty/catch songs and manages to entertain without fire, blood, ridiculous outfits or stage antics. (What’s up now, Gaga?)
Yeah, you know Sara Bareilles for her massive hit “Love Song,” but what you don’t know is this girl could moonlight as a stand-up comedian. Trust me, her stage banter is so good that she’s guaranteed to have you in stitches.
Want proof? Just check out this video of Ms. Bareilles taking on everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure of the moment, MTV’s Jersey Shore, a reality show based on Italian 20-somethings who self-identify as “guidos.”
Set to the tune of Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” she delivers punchlines like “I have perfect abs/ They’re right above my crabs” among loads of F-bombs in a pretty awful, but accurate Jersey accent. Still have doubts? Watch her flow into The Eagles “Hotel California.” Amaze.
With ratings of the Video Music Awards (VMAs) steadily declining, it has been no surprise that for the last few years MTV has done its best to highlight celebrities in attendance that were potential ticking-time bombs. Two words: Britney Spears.
Well, with Miss Brit on the mend or at least on tour, MTV came up with the next best option –piggy-back off of Michael Jackson’s death. Leading up to the show, MTV promos aired teasing this year would be a special tribute show featuring an appearance by the typically low-key Janet Jackson. As it turns out, it was the storyline they didn’t draft (for once) that they can thank for the ratings spike. Enter Kanye West.
Since, we’ve already said a mouthful about Kanye’s antics, so we won’t rehash it, rather, it’s important to note that MTV Networks enjoyed a nice ratings bump on the VMAs, which was only magnified by the now infamous Kanye/Swift confrontation. According to Digital Music News, the VMAs garnered a crowd of 26.9 million, up 17 percent from 23 million last year. That measures the number of people that watched the show at some point – across MTV, MTV2, and VH1 – a total that can fluctuate in reaction to real-time occurrences like theKanye interruption. Overall, the average viewer base was the best since 2004, and among the under-35 set, MTV Networks scored its best showing since 2005.
Kanye West needs a muzzle. His proneness to child-like temper-tantrums was quite apparently last night at the 2009 MTV VMAs. In the event you were living under rock, just mere minutes after Janet Jackson and a troupe of dancers poignantly paid tribute to Michael Jackson, Kayne West decided it was time to upstage the competition as Taylor Swift was honored with the award for “Best Female Video” beating out both Lady Gaga and Beyonce.
Desperate for attention, Kanye ran up to the podium, yanked the microphone out of Swift’s hands and declared that Beyonce should have won the award. A shocked Swift stood mouth agape as the audience rained down on Kanye with endless boos. The camera panned to Beyonce who looked almost as mortified as Swift (if not more).
Rumor has it the Queen of Pop, Madonna, will introduce (via pretaped message) Janet Jackson’s tribute to her late brother at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. I’ve heard “Scream” is involved in Janet’s piece, which I think is awesome. Not only is it the Janet + Michael duet that more than lived up to its name, but the subject matter directly deals with the plague of controversy that seemed to follow Jacko (and, years later, subsequently Miss Jackson –if you’re nasty).
Who knows if any of this is true, or if it will live up to expectations, but I am excited at the prospect.
The MTV Video Music Awards air this Sunday, September 13th at 9 PM.
Ok, my 90’s alternative band lovers this post is for you. Sister Hazel, the alternative rock band who first made waves with their massive hit “All For You,” which still spurs massive sing-alongs for the MTV generation, is back with a new album titled Release via Rock Ridge Music.
But this is no “come back” story, as the guys of Sister Hazel never really went away – they’ve been steadily releasing music and playing the tour circuit for quite some time now. Release is the band’s seventh studio album that is representative of each member of the band, all of which who contributed to song writing, recording, and producing efforts, which makes for a pretty unique end result. As lead singer, Ken Block, puts it, “because of the way we completed this album, we were able to tap into a lot of different things sonically, vibe-wise, and thematically.
Yes, you read that title correctly. While The Round Table sets itself apart from other music blogs by bringing together six people with different backgrounds to provide insight on the music of their choosing, we still follow suit like most music blogs and ignore country music.
Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some really great music blogs that focus on country music, because there are: 9531 blog, Misery & Gin, Nashville Gab, and so on. However, it’s about time we show the world of country some love — after all, it’s pretty hard to distinguish today’s “country” stars from other mainstream artists. So here are a few picks that are among my most listened to right now.
Gloriana – “Wild at Heart” (pictured above) Gloriana started as a trio formed by brothers Mike and Tom Gossin with Rachel Reinert performing the circuit at the iconic 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, TN. Then one night, Cheynne Kimball approached the band and asked if she could “jam” with them. The four-part harmony was born – and now Gloriana is burning up the charts with their youthful summertime anthem “Wild at Heart.” Listen to it below. Pop culture fans, yes that is THE Cheyenne Kimball who had her own reality tv show on MTV aptly named “Cheyenne.”Bonus points – “Cheyenne” also featured Jason Castro pre-Idol.
Jason Aldean – “She’s Country” Jason Aldean’s current hit is a shout out to all country girls. While it’s not going to win any song-writer awards, it has the ability to get me amped with the driving guitars. It’s as rocked-up as a country song gets these days.
Zac Brown Band - “Whatever It Is”
The Zac Brown Band who burst on the scene with the catchy “Chicken Fried,” is back with the heartwarming second single “Whatever It Is.” Not as good as “Chicken Fried, but what the song lacks it makes up with Emmanuelle Chriqui playing the song’s love interest in the video.
Darius Rucker – “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”
Yup, THE Darius Rucker formerly of Hootie & The Blowfish fame. Well, Hootie left the Blowfish and is tearing up the country charts with his solo career. We’ve always known Darius was an immensely talented dude, but never did we expect him to have such a profound (and long) love for country music. He didn’t get caught up over-stylizing “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” rather he created a perfect hook-friendly ‘what if’ scenario.
So what do you think? Dig any of these tracks? Like how I made it through an entire “country” post without mentioning the likes of Taylor Swift? Sadly, I couldn’t include some of my other favs: Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, and of course, Brad Paisely — next time!
We started as a three friends having conversations about music during lunches together at the office. Since then we have expanded to seven members, including a Chi-town native, and the conversations have gotten bigger and better. The Round Table has grown into a casual setting where music aficionados can gather to discuss all things music. Topics include (but not limited to) artists and bands, new music releases, concerts, recording industry news and concerns, and the occasional nugget of entertainment gossip. We have tastes that cover the entire music spectrum and love to share them (and our opinions) with each other. We are The Round Table! Come join the conversation!
Sheryl Crow premiered the official music video for her lead single “Summer Day” off her forthcoming album 100 Miles From Memphis (July 20).
With ratings of the Video Music Awards (VMAs) steadily declining, it has been no surprise that for the last few years MTV has done its best to highlight celebrities in attendance that were potential ticking-time bombs. Two words: 
Ok, my 90’s alternative band lovers this post is for you. 
Yes, you read that title correctly. While The Round Table sets itself apart from other music blogs by bringing together six people with different backgrounds to provide insight on the music of their choosing, we still follow suit like most music blogs and ignore country music.
