U2 & Live Nation

U2 just signed a deal with Live Nation for 12 years (yes, you read that right: until 2020) which includes worldwide touring, merchandising, and the band’s U2.com website. It’s not a true 360-deal since it does not include publishing (smart move, U2) and the band retains its relationship with Universal Music to release music.

impact

It’s not often a song impacts me the way ‘Raise it up’ from the August Rush soundtrack does. This performance is from the Academy Awards (this was one of the nominated songs). Several students from the Thomas Dale High School Orchestra mentioned the song to me yesterday and we’re going to perform it during the Rock 4 Life benefit concert that the Orchestra and Offering are putting on in May. 

american idol

It’s one of my guilty pleasures: I watch American Idol – especially once they get to the top 24 (I am not much for the “Oh look how BAD/WEIRD these people are!” dynamic). I am loving this year particularly because the contestants are allowed to play instruments, and it has added a dimension I decidedly like. Especially with people like Brooke White, Jason, Castro, and David Cook. David Cook, by the way, together with Brooke, and little David Archuleta, makes up my personal prediction for the top 3. We’ll see whether I am right May 21! In any case, I can relate more to these singers because they play instruments and seem to be more ‘themselves’ than some of the contestants in previous years. 

hallelujah

This article describes one of the interesting side-phenomena of American Idol – songs that are covered on the show and then get an enormous boost in sales – in many cases more than they ever had in their first run.The song in question is Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and particularly, Jeff Buckley’s version. Jason Castro covered it last week on American Idol. Browsing through YouTube I found another amazing version.

the sick singer

Any of you watch American Idol? I have to admit I do (and I even twitter it). A few weeks ago it seems like a flu bug was making its rounds in the girls’ living quarters, and no less than four apparently were battling some bug. Of course there is no postponing-performances-because-of-illness in the AI world, and I had to feel for the singers that were affected. If you don’t sing, you may not have any idea how frustrating and potentially impossible of a situation this can be.Case in point: last Friday I got sick. Either the flu or a bad cold – fever, sore throat, chills, headache, nasal congestion: the works. On Sunday morning we were playing in a large area church. So all day Friday and Saturday my biggest fear was: the next time I wake up (from a night of restless sleep, or a nap, or just dozing off), will my voice still be there? I can get up and sing when I feel really, really sick. In fact, Sunday morning I could barely stand on my feet. So I used a stool to sit on/lean against. But if my voice is gone – there is not much I, or my band, can do. I am the lead vocalist in the band. And my voice is not the gravely/bluesy/oh-that-sounds-cool type. It’s the very clear type. Beautiful? If I don’t have the flu, yes. But it is also the first thing to be affected when my upper respiratory system is not doing well.I ended up being able to sing on Sunday. I usually can. The stress leading up to it, though, comes from the time, two years ago, when I got a bad cold. And Laryngitis. And lost my voice completely (I could not even croak out words) for three weeks. I really did not think it was coming back. And since then, I am even more paranoid. So maybe I should have titled this post the paranoid singer .