keith urban

Background Information:


Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album, and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States in 1992. Eventually, Urban found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Records and charted two singles on the Billboard country charts.

 Kieth is Still signed to Capitol, he made his solo American debut in 1999 with the album Keith Urban. Certified platinum in the U.S., it also produced his first American Number One in "But for the Grace of God". His breakthrough hit was the Number One "Somebody Like You", from his second Capitol album Golden Road 2002

 This album also earned Urban his first Grammy Award win for "You'll Think of Me", its fourth single and the fourth Billboard Number One of his career. 2004's Be Here, his third American album, produced three more Number Ones, and became his highest-selling album, earning 4× Multi-Platinum certification. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, producing the record-setting No.17 country chart debut of "Once in a Lifetime", as well as Urban's second Grammy for the song "Stupid Boy",while a Greatest Hits package entitled Greatest Hits: 18 Kids followed in late 2007. This album was re-released a year later as Greatest Hits: 19 Kids with one track added: the number one "You Look Good in My Shirt", which he had previously recorded on Golden Road. Additional albums Defying Gravity and Get Closer were released on 31 March 2009 and 16 November 2010, respectively.


 His Hits:

show information:

from what I've heard and read about Keith Urban his live shows are some of the music performance to watch live. He really does a good job of interacting with the crowd and no matter what he's always having fun.



fun facts:

Urban met Australian actress Nicole Kidman at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honoring Australians, in January 2005, but they reportedly didn't begin dating until 6 months later. Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, 25 June 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney. they currenlty have to kids together

Nyan Cat: The Musical Phenomenon of the Century

Nyan Cat appeared on Youtube in April 2011 and almost instantly won the hearts of millions. The song was unremarkable Japanese pop, made using Vocaloid software until the adorable rainbow making pop tart cat propelled the song to fame.
So why am I calling Nyan Cat "The Musical Phenomenon of the Century?"
Well firstly, because I like hyperbole and secondly, because Nyan Cat is extremely culturally significant. The internet is the largest culture in the world and Nyan Cat took it by storm.



Remixes for all genres have been made for Nyan Cat's song. T-shirts have been made. Tons of fan art is being drawn and posted now, a year since its birth. There are even Nyan Cat games for the iPhone. Nyan Cat is not just another internet meme that dies after a few days. Nyan Cat has become a beloved character, the internet's version of Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny and its song has become our Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Happy Birthday. Every citizen of the net knows it.



The internet is more than a communication device. It's a culture, it's a world. Calling Nyan Cat significant to music will seem silly until it is looked at that way. In our world, the world of the net, this little pixel pop tart cat is a star. Our star. Is its impact and importance really any less than the stars and cultural trends of the real world?

Matchbox Twenty

Matchbow Twenty is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida who joined together in 1995.  The groups’ members include:

• ·      Rob Thomas – lead vocals, piano
• ·      Paul Doucette – rhythm guitar, back ground vocals
• ·      Brian Yale – bass guitar
• ·      Kyle Cook – lead guitar, background vocals
• ·      Ryan MacMillan – drums, percussion

Rob, Paul, and Brian were all part of their own band with two other members based out of Orlando, when they dropped the other two men and picked up Kyle and Ryan.  They formed their group Matchbox Twenty and in 1995 signed with Atlantic Records.  A man who came into the restaurant that Rob and Paul were working at inspired the name of the band.  The man was wearing a very old jersey with the number “20” on the back – Paul saw this jersey and the only legible word he could see on the jersey was “Matchbox.”

The band has released three studio albums with a fourth on the way.  Their first album Yourself or Someone Like You was released in 1996 and was certified “diamond” in the United States and went multi-platinum in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.  Needless to say after the release of this first album, Matchbox Twenty had massive popularity around the world.  Their next two albums received platinum and double platinum standings in the United States.

The release of their fourth studio album has been much anticipated since their third album was released in 2002.  Talk of this fourth album has been around since 2010 when the band said that they were going to begin working on it.  More recently, Matchbox has gone on record saying that their fourth studio album will be released sometime in 2012.  On March 27, 2012, Rob Thomas tweeted that the new album’s first single will be released in June and the album will be released in September.

Matchbox has received one people’s choice award and in total have been nominated for 12 other music awards.

John Mayer

John Mayer was born October 16, 1977 in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut.  John was inspired by Michael J. Fox in Back to The Future as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan to play guitar.  When he was seventeen, he was hospitalized for cardiac dysrhythmia (abnormal heart beat).  John Mayer has said "That was the moment the songwriter in me was born."  

John considered skipping college to pursue music, but his parents disapproved.  Following high school, he worked at a gas station until he saved up enough money to buy a 1996 Stevie Ray Vaughan signature Stratocaster.

John Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music at age 19.  He left school after only two semesters and formed a band with a college friend.  It was not long before the two parted ways and John embarked on a solo career. John went on to win seven Grammy awards from eighteen nominations.  He became incredibly successful thanks to his sweet guitar skills and amazing vocals. 

I really respect John Mayer as an artist, regardless of how he is sometimes portrayed in the media.  He got into a lot of trouble a couple years ago for talking to Rolling Stones magazine candidly about past relationships with other celebrities.  I think that his lyrics speak for themselves.  I truly think that I understand what John is trying to get across to his fans through his songs.  His lyrics are insightful and really get me thinking.  My favourite song of his is Belief.  I believe that it is about war and how we will never win if we continue to fight for our beliefs.  My favourite line is, "it's a chemical weapon for the war thats raging on inside..." This line really speaks to me.  It has made me realize that I cannot try to push my beliefs onto someone else.  I need to accept that we are all different and we all have different opinions. 


         I think that John Mayer is an incredibly talented individual.  I find comfort in his lyrics.  Also, I think that he was born to play live music.  I saw him live a couple years ago and it was amazing!  Listen for yourself!...

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is one of Calgary's brightest organizations. They have been around since 1955. Back then they were not well-known for their popularity and performed to smaller audiences, but as with most groups, word spread and the orchestra grew a larger fanbase. One of the reasons the orchestra is so loved is because they provide music from all different directions, it's not just boring classical music that most people would assume. They provide concerts that appeal to all music lovers. Some such as the POPs series, Classics series, and special concerts such as the tribute to Sting and the Police titled "Every Breath You Take" being put on by the orchestra on April 20th.

I've only been to see the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra once, years and years ago when I was in Jr. High and was in band learning to play the French Horn. Everyone thought that it was going to be the most boring field trip of our lives but it wasn't. The memory is foggy but I definitely remember being impressed, and inspired. I thought the sound they made was beautiful and I was able feel the music. I think it is really important for young people to be exposed to performances like that. So many kids don't get that opportunity and think that all that rap and electronic produced stuff on the radio is real music, when it isn't. Real music is creating and blending, it takes serious dedication and skill, and respect, and that is what the Philharmonic Orchestra represents. They do a really good job of letting kids see what they do the cpossibilities program for 15-29 year olds to increase the accessibility of the music for young people.
I support that Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and hope to see more of their concerts in the next year.

The Juno's

The Juno Awards are the Canadian version of the Grammy's. They started in the 1970s and were named after the first head of the Canadian Radio-Television Commission, Pierre Juneau, however his last name was shortened to Juno. The Juno's were created to recognize the talent and accomplishment of Canadian artists and bands, by having a 13-14 month period of work to be submitted and then a big ceremony is held in which the winners are awarded.
I personally am not a huge fan of the Juno's, yea I think that it is great that we recognize our Canadian artists but at the same time, they still get recognized at the Grammy's which awards all artists. Canada doesn't always need to act like they are so seperate. I understand that it tends to be harder or more rare for Canadian artists to "make it in the big leagues" but I find that the Juno's kind of just makes Canada look worse. Take this year's Juno's for instance...no one who performed sounded anything partially good. Everyone was off-key, or out of breath, just seriously didn't seem to know how to perform well live, which was a huge disappointment and made them look bad. It just comes across as a cheaper less important, less-elegant celebration. Frankly, I don't like the Juno's at all, and I think everyone should just be lumped together equally in one ceremony. But that's just my take on it.

Fun...are we having fun yet?

Who would have thought that the word "fun" would someday be used as a band name. The first time I heard of the band Fun. I wasn't quite sure they had worded the announcement right. Fun? That's not a name for a band, it's one syllable, what does that even mean? What does it even stand for? How can an indie band have that as its name? But sure enough it is the name, and I watched an interview where the interviewer did ask how the name came into place. The lead singer Nate Reuss said that they were all just sitting around and the word fun came up and they couldn't come up with anything else at the time so it just stuck.
Fun is known for its huge hit single, "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monae. This song hit the charts, and topped the Billboard Hot 100. Honestly, this is the only song I have ever heard from the band, I only just heard of them a couple weeks ago, which I feel is behind everyone else. However after listening to that one song on the radio and downloading it on Itunes I am very interested in listening to more of their music.
Here is the video for their hit "We Are Young"

Britney Spears, from American Sweetheart to Dance Music Star?

I remember the first time I listened to Britney Spears. Okay, maybe not the first time I ever heard her but I do know that her debut album, Baby One More Time, was the first CD I ever owned. I was seven years old, and being that age I had no idea what any of her songs were about, but I fell in love with its good girl pop sound. I remember dancing in my bedroom with my friends from school using hairbrushes as microphones, singing at the top of our lungs to songs such as "Baby One More Time" and "Drive Me Crazy". Britney stayed with her pop image with following album, "Oops I Did it Again" which was the beginnning of her steer away from her innocent good girl image....lyrics in the actually hit single the ablum was named after state "...I'm not that innocent". Following that album was her third release of a self-titled album, Britney, which debuted her hit single "I'm a Slave 4 U" which most definitely made it clear, there was no more good girl. This album made it clear that the fresh-faced, breath of fresh air sweetheart had gone bad, and was determined to let everybody know. For a fourth grader (which I was at the time) however, it was difficult to listen to the new songs that she was coming out with, not understanding what she was talking about, and I think part of her forgot who her fan-base really was, 10-year-olds and that the image she was portraying was not the kind that a role model for little girls should be.
In the Zone was the fourth album released in 2003, and it continued on with Britney's bad girl theme with dirty dancing songs such as "Toxic", which was the most popular from what I can remember listening too. This CD was the first transtition for Brit into her dance music era and collaborations with other artists such as Madonna and the Ying Yang Twins. In this album she began to experiment with synthesizers and the idea of electronic music. This was when electronic music began to really start rolling along. Many music critics loved the album and congradulated Britney on her range of style, and her song-writing skills since she co-wrote many of the songs on the CD.
This is when things began to go downhill for dear old Britney. After the release of her fourth album, she married Kevin Federline, had two kids, and divorced Kevin Federline. This all happened in the time span of 3 years. She started writing for her fifth album in 2003 but with everything else going on in her life she was unable to start recording until 2006 and the album Blackout wasn't released until 2007, a 4 year gap between CDs. Blackout was the real beginning of Britney's dance music career. This album contains music styles such as dance-pop and the newest fad, dubstep which is almost completely electronic, with auto-tune and synthesizers. Songs such as "Gimme More" and "Pieces of Me" really got Brit back into the popular scene after taking such a long gap.
Taking a turn into dance music was probably one of the best moves she could have taken. When I was little, Britney was big, but as the years went on, she became less and less cool with her poppy love songs, but now that she is making dance music, young people love to dance to her music in clubs and social scenes. Britney has had lots of ups and downs in her life, and that's known by almost anyone who stands in your local grocery isle, from the magazines and tabloids, but I give Britney Spears my respect for continuing to be as successful as she is and to pull through.

BVJ

General Information:

Big Valley Jamboree is a largest country music festival located in Camrose, Alberta, Created in 1992, the Jamboree is held each year during the August long weekend, and features country singers from all over North America. It is one of the largest music festivals on the continent. Among the performers in 2009 are Tim McGraw, Gary Allan, Kevin Costner and Josh Turner The event draws thousands of campers and party goers annually, with daily averages of 25,000 people attending the four day event.

Big valley 2012

This years line up will have :  view lineup

Secrets in Your Songs

Backmasking is a recording technique where a message or sound is recorded, and then added to a track that is meant to be played forwards backwards. This is always done intentionally.
Phonetic reversal, on the other hand, is "speaking backwards" or reversing the phonemes of a word or phrase to create a new word or phrase. This can happen on purpose or entirely by accident. Even everyday speech can be reversed to reveal phonetically reversed "messages" so it is not uncommon for listeners to mistakenly identify "secret and subliminal messages" hidden in music tracks ranging from clues to a band member's death to pro-drug propaganda to satanic worship.


Some, notably youtube commenters and those with similar levels of intelligence, believe that backmasking and phonetic reversal are mind control techniques being used by the government or a sinister secret society to brainwash the population into buying more music/obeying those in power/perform rituals to release Satan from hell so that he may reign in darkness eternal.



These so called subliminal messages have even been used as an excuse for lawsuits. For example, in 1985, 2 men attempted suicide, one succeded and one slipped and blew the bottom half of his face off, and claimed that a hidden message in the Judas Priest song "Better by You, Better Than Me" was to blame. The surviving man claimed the two had made a suicide pact saying “We had been programmed. I knew I was going to do it. I was afraid. I didn’t want to die. It’s just as if I had no choice”. He succeded in killing himself three years later with pain killers. The parents of the man tried to sue Judas Priest, insisting it was their song that had driven the men to suicide. The suit was dismissed and became a target for mockery.



Research suggests that even if subliminal messages were in the music that we listen to, they would have no effect. The very idea is a fantasy that appeals to the irresponsible who want excuses for their actions and the actions of others.

Katajjaq

Katajjaq, also know as Inuit Throat singing, Iirngaaq, Piqqusiraarniq, Qiarvaaqtuq, or Nipaquhiit, is a practice found among the Inuit people. It is practiced almost exclusively by women and originates as a form of musical entertainment among the women while the men were out hunting.



Katajjaq is a form of game or competition as well as music. Inuit women try to outlast each other in throat singing, the first to run out of breath or laugh is the loser. In some instances, the women move closer and closer to each other, using one another's mouths to resonate the sound; this variation of the game has become uncommon. However, the Katajjaq practiced today still requires two people to share close proximity with eachother and for them to be in harmony. Even to learn to throat sing, one must be taught by another, usually an elder. Throat singing is therefore a useful cultural tool for strengthening relationships.



Banned by christian priests until relatively recently, Katajjaq has been revived among both young and old Inuit people. It is seen as a piece of tradition in a culture that has been lost and changed by both time and oppression. The practice has been brought into popular culture mainly by Tanya Tagaq, an inuit woman who has developed a style of solo Katajjaq and has sung with notable artists such as Björk and Mike Patton. Hopefully, this beautiful form of art will continue to have a place in modern music, promoting harmony and creativity in our global culture as it has done for the inuit since long ago.