Tag: indie music

She’s a Spitfire!

It has been a long time since I left The Holler. Well…didn’t so much leave as it just got shut down. Life happens, you know? The little internet radio station that my best friend created brought so much joy to life! We played all kinds of music from around the world, but I’d say that the “specialty” so-to-speak was indie music. We played independently produced and promoted music mostly from the UK, but we had some American artists too. How fun it was to discover how popular country music is across the pond. I was genuinely shocked. But I tell ya, I have a couple of favorites that I’ll share another day.

Lately I have been thinking about getting a little station going again. It would be very small to start with, but the cards (literally) have really been telling me to not hold back and get back to the me that I used to be. For a moment I thought that doing so would be using TikTok to share videos but that just isn’t me. One, I’m not super comfortable in front of a camera, two, there is a 10 minute time limit on video, and three, it just isn’t trustworthy anymore-not that it ever was. Now that the ownership has changed…you can just tell it’s different. But I digress.

Music has always been something I love. Now I’m no musical encyclopedia by any means. I don’t know the names of all the Beatles albums. I don’t know all the words to every Tanya Tucker song. I just love music. It soothes the soul. It brings happiness. It’s calming. It can make you laugh, cry, cheer, and so much more. I mean come on, it can be damn sexy too! You know I’m right! There is a song for everyone and every circumstance in life. It was music and that little radio station in the holler that got me through one of the most stressful times in my life. I need that again. The music, not the stress.

Another musical interest that I have is singing competitions. I love them. It started with the last couple of episodes of American Idol – Season One. My coworker would ask me every week if I had watched until I finally tuned in to see Justin and Kelly duke it out for the very first title of American Idol. And we all know how that ended. LOL Season Two came around and the same coworker kept bugging me about the show and so I tuned in. I became obsessed with Ruben and Clay! I haven’t looked back since. Admittedly, there have been missed seasons but I watch as much as I can now. Fast forward to The Voice – Season Twenty-Four in 2023.

In Season Twenty-Four of The Voice the coaches were Niall Horan, Jon Legend, Gwen Stefani, and premiered Reba McIntyre as a full time coach. She had mentored a few times previously, but she finally got her own chair. I think at the time I was a bit more Team Niall than Team Reba. But that changed. Reba’s team was so good! My favorites were Ruby Leigh, Jacquie Roar, and Jordan Rainer – three incredibly powerful performers. Sadly, none of them got the top spot. That went to a gentleman named Huntley and it was well deserved. He has an amazing voice as well.

In the time after the season ended, I would see those three ladies from Team Reba while scrolling social media. Actually, I mostly saw Ruby and Jacquie. Now and then a post with Jordan would pop up with Reba. It always warms my heart to see the former contestants doing well…playing shows…and just plain having fun. That was the same year that I left the east coast for Oklahoma. Rent is just so expensive on either coast! The decision was made to buy a home instead of paying rent – so off we were. But as it does, just like before, life happens. I hadn’t really been following any of them – until recently.

I suppose I can blame it on the algorithm really. If you have spent any amount of time on TikTok, you know that the algorithm will do what the algorithm does based on what videos you watch. So up pops these videos that Jordan had posted and I start watching them. They start showing up daily now. She’s from Oklahoma, which I knew. I’m in Oklahoma. Oh look – she’s performing in OKC and other places. Wouldn’t that be cool to go to a show? I haven’t been to a concert of any sort in yeeeeeaaars. <- – That is me talking to myself. LOL

The search for music has now begun at this point. I see that there is a new album. Cool! Off to Spotify I go. Hmmmm….strange. I can’t find the new album, which, by the way, is called Outlaw Revival. So I do a little digging. Find some music on Spotify an I listened to them all. I am INSTANTLY hooked! More digging around and searching all of her socials like I’m some obsessed fangirl 😀 I found a post where she explains why this new album is not on Spotify. Initial reaction – disappointment. But when I take a moment to think about it, I understand 100%. The main complaint when we were on The Holler was that indie artists were getting screwed out of the money they deserved. Most online streaming platforms pay pitifully meek amounts of money to the artist. We play the album once and they may get 1/10th of a penny. So I get it.

A week or so goes by and I have to hear the album! I head over to https://www.jordanrainerofficial.com/ and make a purchase. And can I tell you something??? It was the best $30 purchase that I had made in a long time! Surprise – a couple of the songs that are still on Spotify are actually on the album. Very cool!

What I love is seeing this strong woman who has broken free of the patriarchal, stereotypical, role of a woman that men and religion force upon us. We are allowed to be strong, outspoken, and make our own decisions. We don’t need a man’s permission to be ourselves, or love who we love, and damn it we can express our opinions too!

{{{pause…deep breath}}} Goddam this album is fire! The progression of the songs is such an amazing representation of the journey she has been on for so many years.

So after listening to the album through a “few” times, I have a favorite. It may be a temporary favorite. We’ve all done it. New album. Many run throughs and that favorite can change a few times. But something about this song just hits. It made me cry. Be sure to listen for that little emotional “growl” near the end. Dayuum!

Here is the song “love like that.” You have to listen. And yes, that is supposed to be lower case. You’d know that if you bought the album.

So this is where I am right now. Emersed in new music from a future Grand Ole Opry inductee and waiting oh so patiently for the next album while hoping to be able to catch a show some time this year.

Hit up her website. Invest in an independent artist who has come from homelessness, working in an Oklahoma donut shop, to The Voice, and now living her dream in Nashville. We need to get this Spitfire to the Opry!

k

don’t know yet…

Six weeks and three days after the first post I have here my husband was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He still is not home yet. It’s been four months. To say the last several months have been difficult would be a major understatement. Life has been one big roller coaster ride. One that includes cork screw turns and full 360s. And a lot of ups and downs. I am waiting for the day when we can just be more like a leisurely ride on a pontoon at the lake. We could use some of that.

On my show today I thanked my friend Apryl. Somehow our paths that had sadly separated several years ago came together once again. I thanked her for encouraging me to do what I am now doing. I am recording a weekly radio show and having fun doing it. Yeah. I’m the host of a radio program. I am an accidental dj! Who would have thought? During a time when I did not know what to do with myself. A time when the anxiety I was feeling landed me in the e.r. a couple of times. A time when I felt like I was falling apart. She made me feel like I could do it. And I did.

During the weeks that I was visiting my husband after work every night, I was able to come home and immerse myself in music and eventually start the show. It was a much needed escape. A place to go where I didn’t feel the pain and the fear. Music is healing. The songwriters have a way of helping us transcend the negative space we may be in. And there have been so many independent artists that I have “discovered.” It is unreal – the number of independent artists that are out there! I haven’t experienced anything like it since I used to go down to the Sunset Strip and see all the bands playing in the clubs. But what I witnessed was just a fraction of what was really out there. Now, we experience it all on social media.

Since this whole radio show business has started, we have done 10 shows. One of them Apryl voiced for me because I was just not up to it one week. And as I write this, I am already working on show #11. Artists are actually submitting their music to me for the show. It’s pretty amazing. But most of all, I am having fun doing it. And my husband thinks it is pretty cool. It will be so nice when he is feeling even better, and home, he can help me with making playlists for the show.

As I write this blog, I have emailed back and forth with an independent artist in England. The band is called Silenced Echoes. Their music is reminiscent of the unsigned bands I used to see in Hollywood. You can tell that they truly love what they are doing. I really enjoy listening to the music of these musicians who are trying to make it in the crazy music industry. Being able to give them an opportunity for their art to be “displayed” so-to-speak, brings me joy. There is no way I can play everyone’s music, but just to offer some kind of opportunity for them to be heard is what I enjoy about it.

Right now I am enjoying my time doing the show and assisting with the radio station that hosts the show. I hope to continue doing the show for as long as possible and maybe even more with the station in the future. The music certainly isn’t going away. There is no shortage of talent to be shared with the world! Where will this eventually lead? I just don’t know yet.

k