Ingrid Michaelson's A Summer Night Out Tour

Last night, Ingrid Michaelson brought her latest tour to the recently renovated The Ritz in Raleigh, NC. On her A Summer Night Out Tour, she is playing a different city almost every night during the month of June and playing songs she hasn't performed often on past tours. Her set included some of her more recent songs off of Lights Out, as well older fan favorites including "The Way I Am," "You and I," "Keep Breathing" and "Overboard."

To Raleigh, she brought with her Oh Honey and Jukebox the Ghost.  Both openers brought something warm and fun to the stage, but Jukebox the Ghost in particular rocked. I didn't have an extensive knowledge of them before last night, but they made me a fan. Along with their songs, they covered "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen and it was awesome! They brought an energy to the stage that pulsated through the crowd and made audience members take notice.

If you've seen Ingrid Michaelson live before, you know that she's an incredible performer.  When she plays and sings it is obvious that she has something to say through her songs and you don't want to miss a minute of it.  Her voice can be light and airy hanging on to the softest notes and be charged and powerful in the next song, or event the next verse. She interacts with the audience and makes the concert even more fun, and makes each stop along her tour a unique experience for concert goers.  Last night, she brought up an audience member (selected from submitted videos) to sing "The Chain" with her and guitarist Allie Moss which was a fun experience not only for the guy who got to sing on stage with her, but for the whole audience.

Bottom line, if you have the chance to see Ingrid live on the A Summer Night Out Tour, don't miss the opportunity!

If you live in Raleigh and did miss this concert, there are still many more great shows coming to The Ritz this summer! Check out their event schedule for details!

#gleetome

I started watching “Glee” when Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel made their first appearances on the show.  When my dad first explained the concept of “Glee” to me, I said, “That sounds stupid.” But of course I watched it for my two favorite witches.  

          

Now, I have eaten my own words.  I fell in love with the show, the characters, and the music.  

Say what you will about “Glee.”  As an English major, sometimes the story-lines, characterization, and writing make me cringe.  As a teacher and future parent, the way they handled certain topics was inappropriate and made me shake my head. 

But as a fan, the show changed me.

Whether you watched the show or not, whether you liked the show or not, the show was important in the history of television.  For the first time, a primetime TV show combined the drama of high schoolers with music in every episode.  Artists from all genres allowed their music to be covered by a glorified “Kidz Bop” show.  

No one can deny that the talent on the show is out of this world.  Especially since the show was laid on the shoulders of a bunch of unknowns.  Who knew any of them before “Glee”? I sure didn’t (Well, except for the people who were on Broadway).  

No one can deny that this show battled serious and important topics.  They may have made some poor decisions about how to tackle these issues, choosing to joke about them rather than discuss them seriously.  However, they brought attention to so many issues and made a somewhat positive impact on our world (maybe making some people angry in the process).

No one can deny that the the show used music to bring the generations together.  The younger viewers are listening to music that is probably twice their age, while the older viewers are jamming to Katy and Gaga and Bieber.  In a unique way, the music from the past five decades has been brought together by this one band of misfits.  

         

And finally, no one can deny that the future generations will hear about this show and they will say, “That sounds cool!” or “That sounds stupid!” And the one thing everyone can agree on is that the New Directions reminded us all – “Don’t stop believing!”

57th Annual Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards is music's biggest night. It is as much about the legendary performances that happen live as it is about who wins the coveted awards.  Tonight saw performances by everyone from AC/DC to Paul McCartney with Kanye West and Rihanna to Tom Jones with Jessie J. 

The night consisted of 26 songs performed on 23 different stage set-ups. AC/DC opened the show in their first performance ever on the Grammys Stage. Jessie J and Sir Tom Jones sang one of the most beloved songs ever, "Lost That Lovin' Feeling",  to honor Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil who received the Trustees Award tonight. Miranda Lambert sang a rocking version of her latest single "Little Red Wagon" and Kanye West performed "Only One" with a single floor light. Madonna sang "Living For Love" surrounded by dancers in bedazzled horned masks.  Ed Sherran performed "Thinking Out Loud" with John Mayer on guitar and Sheeran joined Jeff Lynne's ELO to sing "Mr. Blue Sky". Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine sang "My Heart is Open" with a live orchestra which was pretty spectacular. Pharrell performed a very interesting version of "Happy". Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige performed "Stay With Me".  Beyonce sang "Take My Hand Precious Lord" and Common and John Legend then performed "Glory", the award winning song from the motion picture Selma. 

A powerful conversation took place about domestic violence including a video from President Obama, and a story from a survivor of domestic violence.  Katy Perry capped off the conversation by performing a moving rendition of "By The Grace of God". 

ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Full List of Winners

Beyonce's six Grammy nominations going into tonight's show officially made her the most nominated woman in Grammy history, passing Dolly Parton.  Beck took home one of the night's top honors for Album of the Year for Morning Phase and Best Rock Album.  Sam Smith won four Grammy Awards including Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album for In the Lonely Hour, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Stay With Me".  

Sara Bareilles Gets Her Little Black Dress On In Raleigh

On July 22, Sara Bareilles brought her magnificent talent and tour to the Red Hat Amphitheater in downtown Raleigh, NC.  Bareilles is a force to be reckoned with.  She brings a raw and natural talent to the stage that is rarely found in artists today.  She commanded the audience with every breath, every word.  The stage is her home. The air was electric as she sang familiar hits, intertwined with newer songs.

Her presence was magnetic, even as she briefly came out on stage before the show started to introduce the opening acts, Emily King and Lucius, and as she stood side stage to watch the bands perform.  This was our first time seeing the singer-songwriter, but it certainly won't be the last!

The opening acts, Emily King and Lucius were both excellent and brought a quality to the stage that was delightfully unexpected from the stand point of an audience who in large part wasn't planning to take notice of the openers.  Emily King is a singer-songwriter from New York City who brought such a soulful presence that the audience couldn't help but turn their attention to the stage.  It only makes sense that an artist with so much pure talent (Bareilles) would bring talented opening acts on the road with her and that is exactly what she did.  After King performed a set of soulful ballads, Lucius came out on stage and rocked.  They simply rocked. Their debut album is out now, and it is worth purchasing. The lead singers, Jess Wolfe and Holly Lessig are enormously talented and every song they played pumped a new life into the audience in preparation for Bareilles taking the stage.

Bareilles began her set with "Little Black Dress" and took the audience on a journey of love, loss, laughter and life before ending with an encore of "Satellite Call".  Words can barely describe the tremendous and transcendent experience of the concert.  She was better live than on CD, DVD or video .  She had background projections for most songs, of those I especially enjoyed the projections for "I Choose You".  Two of the most spectacular songs from the evening were her cover of Sia's "Chandelier" and a new song from the musical adaptation of Waitress that she is writing entitled "She Used to be Mine".

Sara Bareilles always brings a night full of fun, tears, cursing, and most of all joy! Everyone should see her live! Don't miss her when the Little Black Dress Tour stops in your city!

Billboard Music Awards 2014

The biggest stars from all genres of music come together to celebrate the year's achievements and musical milestones in the musical showcase that is the Billboard Music Awards. This year's show say performances from everyone from Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez to Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood to a hologram performance by Michael Jackson.  Every year the show tries to top the previous year's show and this year succeeded.

The BBMAs are about celebrating music and the show can usually be mistaken for a concert with myriad interruptions for commercials and the occasional award.  This year, however, the show had a more balanced lineup of awards and musical performances.  Some of the night's big highlight performances included: 5 Seconds of Summer singing their smash "She Looks So Perfect", Imagine Dragons performing "Tiptoe", hologram Michael Jackson's rendition of "Slave to the Rhythm", and the premiere of Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood's "Somethin' Bad".  All of the performances were interesting, to say the least, but thankfully there was no major publicity stunt that caused pandemonium and mayhem.

Lambert and Underwood performing "Somethin' Bad"

Full Winners List
A more concise winners list can be found here.

The night's big winners were Lorde with Top New Artist and Top Rock Song, Carrie Underwood who took home the Billboard Milestone Award, Jennifer Lopez who was the first female to be awarded the Icon Award, Imagine Dragons with five wins including Top Hot 100 Artist and Top Rock Artist, and Justin Timberlake with his 7 wins including Top Artist and Top Billboard 200 Album.

Fashion

Carrie Underwood wore the lemon yellow Oriett Domenech Goddess Desire Gown.  The Milestone Award winner  looked classy and elegant as she walked the carpet in the gown. While it may have been overdressed for the BBMAs, the color helped to add a layer of playfulness and Underwood overshadowed all of the other styles on the carpet.

Kesha wore a black and gray gown with an elaborate mermaidesque train.  Her dress was overstated and too elegant for the atmosphere of the Billboard Music Awards, but she looked healthy and gorgeous on the carpet.

Nikki Minaj walked the carpet in a black Alexander McQueen gown. She brought a serious and sultry style to the carpet with the dress' strappy element.

Jennifer Lopez wore a sheer gown by Donna Karen to walk the red carpet.   The sexy see-through scarlet gown featured a high slit and a plunging neckline.

Album Review: American Authors' Oh What a Life

Zac Barnett, Dave Rublin, Matt Sanchez and James Shelley make up the band the American Authors. They hail from Brooklyn, NY and have paid their dues on the path to musical success before being signed by Island Def Jam Records.  You’ve probably heard of them, or seen them on your TV, and you’ve definitely heard their hit song “Best Day of My Life”! Their single has been climbing the charts and has found success on the airwaves, partially because of placement in multiple movie trailers. 

The band’s debut album, Oh What a Life, dropped on March 3, 2014 and is filled with the familiar folk-based pop sound.  The majority of their songs have a pop sound, but with other musical elements thrown in creating a common thread throughout the album.  “Trouble” and “Luck” are prime examples of the folk-pop sound the band has become known for.  It’s a unique sound, but something you could see yourself easily singing along to and listening to on the radio.  The album encompasses a large range of emotions and expresses them through more sentimental songs and rocky more synth-based tracks.

The more rocky and upbeat tracks on the album include “Think About It”, “Hit It”, and “Best Day of My Life.” These songs are lively and kicking.  They have a richness to them that shows that the band believes what they are singing.  “Home” has a similar feel and is a song that is both sentimental and slow at times, but then picks up into a more powerful sound.  A few of these songs, “Home” and “Oh What a Life” among others, have an almost Celtic rock sound to them. 

There is a common theme throughout the album of life, and one’s past.  The songs really speak to the band’s journey and their take on life.  There aren’t any filler songs or songs that appear to be written to be strategic singles or airway ploys.  It can be easily seen that the band took their time and collected songs that represented them and developed an album they could take pride in.

Their music is enjoyable and mainstream.  This is a solid first album, there’s a versatility of sound, but you might find yourself asking if these songs belong to other familiar bands until you are more familiar with them.  They have a sound that has the potential to grow into something really amazing and being signed with Island Def Jam they have a real shot at nurturing their sound and being successful, even wildly so.  They’re four cool guys who are passionate about what they do, and they deserve nothing but the best.

Buy their album on iTunes and be sure to catch them on tour in a city near you! 
Follow American Authors on twitter to stay up to date!