humanity
Humanity topics include pieces on the real lives of music professionals, amateurs, inspiring students, celebrities, lifestyle influencers, and general feel good human stories in the music sphere.
Worse Than Appropriation: What Do We Do With Great Art From The Dark Ages Before Modern Racial Sensitivity?
Nothing illustrates the gulf that exists between the political factions in modern society quite like the same statement being reported to mean different things depending on which media outlet reports said statement. Sure, they can report the same event differently, but you’d think that when someone is directly quoted, their words would be a matter of record. Not so. You see this most often when famous artists discuss the hoary old chestnuts of political correctness, censorship, and cancel culture.
Michael Atkins-PrescottPublished 2 years ago in Beat- Top Story - January 2022
This is why I retired from classical music.
My first clarinet instructor in high school was of Italian descent, and when he met me, he saw I had an Italian surname. Despite being only 10% Italian, it turns out that I've acquired an Italian last name thanks to my paternal heritage. After I told him that, he waived his hand and said, "Never confess that you are anything other than Italian." He was an intense man who was renowned among my classmates for being intimidating, as evidenced by a remark he made about me to my face during one of my first lessons: "You suck." Despite his well-deserved reputation in the community, his teaching manner did not appeal to me. I'll never forget one thing he said to me over and over again:“If you can imagine yourself doing anything else besides clarinet, do that instead.” He was speaking of how to make a decision about my career path, and I found his perspective deeply disturbing. I had many interests, and although music was chief among them, I couldn’t deny that I could see myself doing other things.
Grecu Daniel CristianPublished 2 years ago in Beat A listening
Eye of the aerial, batting it’s pristine awareness on the silver and red corral that lace her fingers. Her hands holding a spirit as old as the red dirt she missed as a child. Her nerve endings and new beginnings wearing a skin as young as the 28th spring. The bones of Poca hear the drops of verity before the canals of her listening could absorb such light. Light is information. Light is energy. Light is what light isn’t too. Trickling down from the blue ceiling, everything inside her becomes still, as the glass on a frozen lake lay placidly, as if there were no such creation of time nor pace, at least when a message is finding its place in her bones, in her wake. As if her blood halts it’s sacred dance and her breath holds sentient space for the unnerving importance of what her Creator might whisper. Spirit has no planner. Spirit defies logic. Spirit knows better than to cap a housing where a ceiling is impermissible.. For the fire we wake to and the lantern we sleep with are the signs of dawn and dusk for only the earthly plane. “Sanity for the mind” claims she. Poca has always detected the space that exists beyond the parameters of time– behind the bell at lunch and the confines of numbers, behind the alarm of her brother's phone that tells his brain he mustn’t rest another second out of fear for another man gaining what his rest aimed to offer, behind the ticking of a clock and the conditioning of a watch to do and to say, to begin your day’s doings and unbecomings, behind the Sun and it’s respectful descent for the day. Ungoverned by this manmade structure, she waits.
Brianna GarciaPublished 2 years ago in BeatThe Nightmare of Louisville, Kentucky
First Expedition, Captain’s Log: “… apocalypse approaches,” The teenage years of the 21st century have come to their close.
Heath BlackPublished 2 years ago in BeatLiving Reflection in a Dream
Let me tell ya about a band I LOVE..... Oh my... they sound so fine! As a longtime fan (okay, "groupie") of "The All American Zeppelin" tribute band, "Get The Led Out", I have been lucky enough to have had tickets to many, many live shows, and even more fortunate to have met and "sorta kinda know" a few of the band members.
Kristen CaryPublished 2 years ago in BeatDark Triad
Introduction Each video is a song which you can listen to for free. All of these songs can also be found on any streaming service, so if you like them, please add them to your playlist! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my commentaries on the music and listening to the music that inspired the commentaries!
C. Rommial ButlerPublished 2 years ago in Beat25 (lies we tell ourselves) (LIVE)
*lyrics vary as to how i share the song today,, feels important as every single word we share manifests* [Hook 1] 25, and never in a serious relationship
Fifteen Minutes
I’ve always been considered an outsider – or “oddball”, “misfit”, “weirdo” – any of those nouns cover the idea. I was the quintessential quiet kid who didn’t play sports, didn’t consider myself “book-smart”, and throw in a fusion of stuttering-social awkwardness you can see why the “outsider” label stuck. It’s no surprise I would always get lost in my head, daydreaming about anything that would come to mind. That would include music wither it be from the radio, a TV show or a movie, a melody or chorus would always creep its way across my brain. And somehow in the weird and often serendipity journey of life I found myself saying the words: “Maybe I can be a musician.” Thus began my life as an artist and over a decade later it’s gone the obvious route you’d expect; lot of failure and losses with sprinkles of personal success here and there. Many EPs in which only three to five people listened to and projects that never came to fruition, but like the influences before me just licked the wounds and kept moving forward. After sometime though some of those hits get to you and combine with phrases of doubt like “Do you think this is worth it?” and “Do you really expect to make money off this one?”; it leads to that low-point feeling where you question if everything was worth it. But of course, I keep going, out of what I don’t know. Maybe it was a gnawing feeling saying “don’t you dare stop!” or maybe it’s just because I’m stubborn (guess you add that to the “outsider” title as well). In any case I continue my work which includes sending emails to promotors in the hope to land live shows and in September of 2021 (at this point live music venues have returned to running shows with updated operations), I received an offer to perform as an opening act on a three-act bill. I accepted the offer and of course took the preparation seriously in the hopes of having a good show; that included planning on a thirty-minute set and trying to get myself into the right headspace. In the time that I’ve been playing I’ve only barely managed to land official paying gigs so when I do get these opportunities, I attempt to give it 100% my all and block out all doubt the best I can. The day of the show (October 2nd, 2021) finally comes and on one hand I feel like I’m ready but on the other hand, I feel like this will be another run of the mill failure. I try to keep my focus though for as far as I’m concerned, I’m performing first and setting the tone for the evening. That quickly changes though as I’m soon informed by the promotor that one of the bands has to leave early and due to the reshuffling, I’ve been thrust into the headlining slot; my thirty-minutes has been extended to a forty-five-minutes. Safe to say this throws me for a loop and of course the initial reaction is panic, but I stop myself to take a breather and think.
Shadow LitePublished 2 years ago in Beat- Top Story - December 2021
My First Post-Pandemic Gig Got Cancelled and It Wasn't Even Covid
When I was a child my parents took me to gigs. Maybe not the coolest ones because they had parent taste, but real shows. Asleep at the Wheel, Patty Loveless, the Chieftains. Later on they even drove me and my sister to other states to see certain boy bands that I’m not ready to name. We curled our hair, we waved, we shrieked. It was freaking glorious.
Giovanna JakesPublished 2 years ago in Beat Music Blends
What genre do you play? What genre do you write? What genre do you produce? I've responded to these questions hundreds of times: article questioners, interviews, written bios, song submittals, performance rights organizations, copyright forms, fan email; the list goes on, I know. What am I thankful for in all this? Drop down boxes and multiple-choice questions. Tech options and AI have their place.
Chuck SadoskyPublished 2 years ago in BeatWhat effect does music have on people?
It is said that when you listen to music, you do not have time to think about anything else. You only focus on what you hear, which is why people are able to remember a song so quickly. In other countries there are specialized centers for music therapy, with professionals who have pursued university studies in this regard.
MicutulMicPublished 2 years ago in BeatKaraoke Legend
When I first sat down to write about myself, absolutely nothing came to mind. Like when someone asks you to share an interesting fact about yourself and suddenly you can’t remember whether or not you’re even a person. But even if I am real, am I truly ✨remarkable✨?
Shelby WeimerPublished 2 years ago in Beat