TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . .Folk, Rock and Soul

 AMOS LEE

Amos Lee (photo via website here)

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesday is musician, singer-song writer, Amos Lee.

Lee was born Ryan Anthony Massaro in Philadelphia, PA.  He was a second grade school teacher and bartender before pursuing a musical career.  It was during his college yeas that he developed an interest in music and was inspired by John Prine (specifically, the album, Great Days).

Lee is described as a male version of singer, Norah Jones.  He has a folksy, bluesy sound with a country twang.  Lee's voice is soulful!  This is what one New York Times music critic described Lee:

"Amos Lee has a honeyed singing voice — light amber, mildly sweet, a touch of grain — and the tendency to feature it squarely, without much fuss or undue strain." (quote taken from here)

He is very passionate about his music and when he sings, you can tell it comes from a place deep within. 

Lee has recorded five albums.  The popular ones you may have heard are Violin and Arms of a Woman.

His fifth album recently released in October, entitled "Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song").  Songs from the new album are: Johnson Boulevard and Chill in the Air.  You can also watch the album trailer Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song

Here are some of my favorites from his different albums:

Mission Bell album:  Learned A Lot, Behind Me Now and El Camino (featuring Willie Nelson) and Jesus.  I love how they are all sitting around in a circle just singing and playing . . . jamming to the music!

Last Days at the Lodge album:  Street Corner Preacher  (great a sense of the mix of folk, rock and soul) and my other favorite song, Windows are Rolled Down
 
If you haven't heard of Amos Lee, I hope I've inspired you to add him to your playlist.

xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . Pop Rock, Alternative Rock

 

Photo image via website here

 

 

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays is the band, OneRepublic ("1R"). 

This rock band is from Colorado Springs, Colorado.   The band was formed by Ryan Tedder (vocals) and Zach Filkins (guitar and backing vocals).  Both met their senior year in high school.

But it wasn't until 2003 that 1R earned recognition and achieved commercial success on MySpace as an unassigned act. 

In 2007, they came out with their album, "Dreaming Out Loud" and their single from that album, "Apologize" became a huge international success, reaching number one is 16 countries.  That earned them a Grammy Award nomination.  Another single of 1R "Stop and Stare" was another huge hit.   That album reached Platinum status. 

1R's second album, "Waking Up" came out in 2009.   Some of the hit singles from that album were, "All the Right Moves", "Secrets", "Marching On" and "Good Life" (which reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100).

Their third album, "Native" was recently released this year.  The lead single from the album, "If I Lose Myself" is the highest charting album to date.  The third album single, "Counting Stars" is the most successful single.

You can hear their music played all around the world.  I didn't realize how many songs I loved from this group.  They have their own unique sense of musical style.  One of their biggest influences is the band, U2. 

They are currently on tour and will be part of the Teenager Cancer Trust Concert in March of 2014.  

Here are some of my favorites:

Feel Again

If I Lose Myself

Marching On

Counting Stars

(videos from 1R's website here)

 xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . Folk Rock; Alternative Country

PATTY GRIFFIN

Image via Google

 



On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays, I want to share with you one of my favorite artists, Patty Griffin.   Her genre of music is folk style singing/country alternative.  Griffin's sound is a mix of mellow songs with a high tempo of rock and roll songs.

Griffin is an American Grammy award-winning singer/song writer. Her talents don't stop there.  She is also a guitarist and pianist.  Griffin was inspired by her mother growing up, who sang all the time.

Griffin began singing at the age of 12 but had no inclination to set out to become a professional musician.  It wasn't until she was divorced that she started singing in coffee shops and was scouted by A&M Records.  The rest is history.

Griffin is such a humble woman.  Her voice is . . . angelic.  She sends me to a place that's hypnotic and mesmerizing.  Some of her songs bring tears to my eyes.  For example, Heavenly Day is a love song that was written for her dog(s).  How sweet is that!

Her song writing and performances are real.  She opens up her heart and lets it all out for us to hear. Another favorite of mine, Up to the Mountain, was a song she wrote that was inspired by Martin Luther's King's speech, Up to the Mountain speech. 

One of her albums, American Kid, was dedicated to her father, who passed away a few years before.
You can watch the interview here

Griffin has written many songs that were recorded by artists such as Bette Midler, the Dixie Chicks, Jessica Simpson, Miranda Lambert and many, many others.  Her songs have been in film, television and theater.  Everyone wants a piece of Patty Griffin's talent.

Here are some of my other favorite songs by the talented Patty Griffin:

Someone Else's Tomorrow

Faithful Son

Ohio, featuring Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin)

Griffin is an artist you should definitely add to your playlist, if you haven't already.

Enjoy!

xo