MUSIC

MUSIC

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Music is food for the Soul. It is the subtle flight of thoughts through mindscapes. It's a step above poetry. Lines of poetry flow into "lyrics." Sounds travel to the brain through our auditory channels and blend with lyrics to form songs. Of course, music can be purely instrumental, in which case no words or lyrics are involved. All forms of music affect our moods. Music therapy is one of the treatment methods  in Psychiatry. It is able to give relief to some categories of people that are mentally ill.

SPECTACULAR FINDS

Whenever I encounter something spectacular in Music that I didn't know existed before, I jot my discovery down on this page to share with you! Here are my spectacular finds: 

10 CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Carnatic Music is a form of music that originated in South India. In Carnatic music, one or a group of musicians sing and/or play Indian musical instruments like the Sitar, Mridangam, Nadhaswaram, and Tabla. Likewise the music in North India is called 'Hindustani Music.' Recently electronic musical instruments were added, resulting in mellifluous renditions like the Carols below.

JOY TO THE WORLD (Tamil)

O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL (Tamil)

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS (Instrumental)

MARY'S BOY CHILD (Tamil)

O, HOLY NIGHT (Hindi)

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY

9 HOME FREE

'Home Free' is an American group comprised by Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist, Adam Rupp, Tim Foust, and Adam Chance. All five have undergone formal training in music. Lundquist and the Rupp have bachelor's degrees in music. They're so prolific their music uploads on YouTube appear at unbelievably frequent intervals--five on an average per month I'd say. Here are two of their covers I like most.

MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE

AULD LANG SYNE

If you liked Home Free and would like to know more about them, apart from YouTube and Wikipedia, you may also visit the Home Free website for more info.

8 THE VIOLIN SISTERS

'The Violin Sisters' (Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini) are based in the city of Chennai (Tamil Nadu State), India. They represent the fourth-generation in a family of noted south Indian musicians. I'm featuring (below) two of their Western classics that I liked most—'Canon in D' (Pachelbel) and 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' (Bach).

7 TARYN HARBRIDGE and TAYLOR DAVIS

Here's a peice by Taryn that I'd like you to sample. It's titled The Wonder of God.

THE WONDER OF GOD

Another peice you might like to sample is The Water is Wide.

THE WATER IS WIDE

Now, moving on to Taylor Davis there are two of my favourites that I'd like to share: My Heart Will go on (Titanic), and Hallelujah

MY HEART WILL GO ON (Titanic)

HALLELUJAH

6 JESSICA RHAYE and the RAMSHACKLE PARADE

Jessica sings with her group named the 'Ramschakle Parade.' She specializes in singing Bob Dylan covers. So without any more ado, let's hear them sing this Dylan classic.

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

For more videos and info visit her website. Notable mentions of other song covers by her include I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (Dylan), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Dylan), Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson), and Time Will Only Heal Your Broken Heart.

5 JULIE GAULKE

I stumbled upon this artist while searching the Internet for new Christmas/"Virtual Choir" music in December, 2020. Julie sings secular music as well as christian songs. Some of her secular music covers are songs by top artists like The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and John Denver.

Julie is a naturally gifted musician. Listen to her cover of Simon & Garfunkel's The Boxer (below), where she teams up with another artist Mirko Conti, and form your own opinion!

THE BOXER

4 CLIFFS OF DOONEN

Here's another rare beauty from Tom Roush titled "Cliffs of Dooneen."

CLIFFS OF DOONEEN

3 TOM ROUSH

I found Tom while researching John Prine on YouTube. When I came across "My Old Kentucky Home" (Prine's version of this Stephen C Foster song), being a Foster fan too, my attention was drawn to Foster. So I left Prine temporarily aside and explored Stephen's original and cover (versions) of this song by other artists. That's when I stumbled upon Tom Roush! 

What a find! I heard the Stephen Foster original and then Tom Roush's version and was truly swept off my feet in a few minutes by Tom's rendition. Like John Denver, his singing is from the heart. He sings the old-time ballads and American civil war songs (of the 1850s) in a rich, unique style of his own. I believe Tom plays ALL the instruments by himself as well as the harmony and vocals. From the backgrounds in his YouTube videos, it appears that he sings in lonely, rural places like farms and ranches. He sings like lonely, lost soul, one who is patiently awaiting for something great to happen.

Here are some of my picks of his music:

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME, GOODNIGHT

TOM DOOLEY

OLD FOLKS AT HOME

MY GRANDFATHER'S CLOCK

THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

STEWBALL

RUMMY

THE STREETS OF LAREDO

2 HILARIOUS (AND RATHER RARE) SONGS OF JOHNNY CASH

Johnny Cash needs no introduction, but here are some of his rather rare, hilarious songs for your sheer entertainment (and amazement!) The first one, "The One on the Right is on the Left" is a  mind-teaser too.

"THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS ON THE LEFT" There once was a musical troupe A pickin' singin' folk group They sang the mountain ballads And the folk songs of our land They were long on musical ability Folks thought they would go far But political incompatibility led to their downfall Well, the one on the right was on the left And the one in the middle was on the right And the one on the left was in the middle And the guy in the rear was a Methodist This musical aggregation toured the entire nation Singing the traditional ballads And the folk songs of our land They performed with great virtuosity And soon they were the rage But political animosity prevailed upon the stage Well, the one on the right was on the left And the one in the middle was on the right And the one on the left was in the middle And the guy in the rear burned his driver's license Well the curtain had ascended A hush fell on the crowd As thousands there were gathered to hear the folk songs of our land But they took their politics seriously And that night at the concert hall As the audience watched deliriously They had a free-for-all Well, the one on the right was on the bottom And the one in the middle was on the top And the one on the left got a broken arm And the guy in the rear, said, "Oh dear" Now this should be a lesson if you plan to start a folk group Don't go mixin' politics with the folk songs of our land Just work on harmony and diction Play your banjo well And if you have political convictions keep them to yourself Now, the one on the left works in a bank And the one in the middle drives a truck The one on the right's an all-night deejay And the guy in the rear got drafted      THE END

CHICKEN IN BLACK

1 THE TYPEWRITER SONG (2019)

Ever heard the "Typewriter Song?" Well, here it is.

 

TYPEWRITER SONG