via Hollie McKay
This past weekend tens of thousands of country music fans attended the three-day, boot-scootin’ festival known as Stagecoach. The headliners were Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan, supported by Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Hayes and Florida Georgia Line. And with all the crooning about beer, trucks, and chicks, one thing was clear – women were playing second fiddle.
Of the 62 acts, only 16 were women, most of whom did not make it on the main stage. Those who did were also on early in the day before the big crowds arrived, with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland fame the only one to receive a relatively prime position ahead of Hayes and Aldean on the second night.
Similarly, last year, the lineup had just eight female performers out of 46.
According to Billy Dukes of country music news site TasteofCountry.com, ladies are indeed losing ground in the genre.
“It has been especially tough for solo female artists for a decade, with only three having any sustained success (Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert) and there aren’t any female soloists that have found success and are up and coming,” he told FOX411. “There is no female equivalent of Hunter Hayes, a male solo artist just about ready to break and become a headliner.” CONTINUE READING
via Buzzfeed
He didn’t play instruments, so he wrote every song by singing all the parts to tape. It’s mesmerizing.
This astonishing demo of “Beat It” is making its way around Tumblr thanks to the Michael Jackson fan blog Rhythm of the Tide.
“Beat It” Demo – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZeYw1bm53Y
It’s beautiful all on its own, but it’s also extremely valuable in how it gives us insight into how Jackson wrote and arranged so many hit songs on his own even though he was not particularly proficient at playing instruments.
Here’s Rob Hoffmann, a sound engineer who worked with Jackson, describing the singer’s process:
“One morning Michael came in with a new song he had written overnight. We called in a guitar player, and Michael sang every note of every chord to him. ‘Here’s the first chord first note, second note, third note. Here’s the second chord first note, second note, third note,’ etc., etc. We then witnessed him giving the most heartfelt and profound vocal performance, live in the control room through an SM57.
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