So, what are you listening to these days?

[Mendalla]

I love prog rock but will be the first to admit I have never really delved deep into the weeds of the genre. So, for instance, I sadly learned of the existence of prog vocalist Tracey Hitchings when the band Landmarq, one of several acts she was a part of, announced her passing and posted this lovely tribute based around one of the songs she sang with them. She was only 60 and besides Landmarq, she had worked with some big names in the prog rock scene, include Steve Hackett (formerly of Genesis), Rick Wakeman (best known as keyboardist for Yes, but worked with many acts over the years including David Bowie), Rick's son Oliver (also Yes plus several other projects), and the late John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson).

And a Landmarq performance in Poland. Not sure of date but it was posted to Youtube in 2011.

 

[ninj]

Happy New Year all.

 

[Pavlos Maros]

Back at you Ninj.

.
Love this version.

 

[Mendalla]

The kids of Concrete Castles are back with a nice rocker called "Dollhouse". Some of their 2022 stuff had me worried they were heading in a poppier direction but this one rocks pretty hard.

 

[Mendalla]

Singer Rachael Price and singer-guitarist Vilray first met as students at the New England Conservatory of Music. While Rachael is now best known for being the lead vocalist of the band Lake Street Dive, which she started with some other conservatory classmates, she and Vilray have also been working together and have started 2023 with the launch of their second Rachael & Vilray album.

While Lake Street leans more into pop, R&B and rock and roll, Rachael & Vilray produce absolutely beautiful traditional jazz. Both have terrific voices for doing jazz and here they pull together a strong band of session players to back them on some new compositions by Vilray and one cover.

And one without the band, just Vilray on guitar with the two of them swapping vocals

 

[Mendalla]

Another track with a nice holiday-themed animated video.

 

[Mendalla]

Malinda is an American singer-songwriter. She has studied traditional Irish singing (she has Irish roots, IIRC) and does a lot of folk music, including being very active when sea shanties were all the rage a couple years ago. However, she also does original music and dropped the first track from her next album this morning.

These collaborations with Brazilian singer Violet Orlandi are what got me listening to Malinda at last in the past year, though she had been lurking in my recommends for a while before.

 

[ninj]

This one was in my FB feed and I've always loved it. It was actually written when Janis Ian was 15. So poignant.

 

[Mendalla]

This one was in my FB feed and I've always loved it. It was actually written when Janis Ian was 15. So poignant.

That's a classic, eh. Haven't heard it in a while. Someone needs to use it in a soundtrack. That seems to be what gets a song attention these days. When Kate Bush's "Running Up that Hill" appeared in Stranger Things, every cover artist on YouTube and even some who aren't normally doing covers was rushing to do it. Which then gets people who didn't watch Stranger Things listening and seeking out the original.

 

[JayneWonders]

Listening to the audio book: Swimming Back to Trout River | Book by Linda Rui Feng

 

[Mendalla]

A couple new musical discoveries.

Ally Crowley-Duncan is a very talented young musician, currently based in Colorado. While she sings and plays a number of instruments (piano and most of the woodwind family), her passion is the highland bagpipes. She has over a hundred medals earned by pursuing that passion. In recent years, she has become increasingly popular as a music influencer on YouTube and Tik Tok as Piper Ally.

First up, some traditional Scottish material from her album "The Pipes Are Calling"

And more

A reel that she wrote herself (she has also written pipe tunes for most of her myriad pets but those aren't on Youtube as of yet)

However, she has built much of her Tik Tok and YouTube success on bringing the pipes to music that is most certainly not traditional.

This lovely cover of Fireflies by Owl City also lets you hear her singing voice, something you don't hear much since it is kind of hard to sing and play highland pipes. Obviously, she did some mixing here.

And teaming up with the artist I'll move on to next for some ... metal. Yep a violinist and a bagpiper rocking to power metal greats Dragonforce. It's only a Short (ie. originally appeared on Tik Tok) but gives you an idea of her range.

And Ally will be touring with Mia this year, but only in the US at present.

 

[BetteTheRed]

I am newly totally in love with Julian Taylor. This one's good, then his repertoire gets deeper and better. Total balladeer. Yummy.

 

[Pavlos Maros]

I'm currently listening to the Wagakki band from Japan. They have been referred too as folk metal.

and this young lady Britton. What I love about her is when she speaks, she as normal diction, however when she sings she cant say her "R" She sings with a short tongue. I think that sounds so unique.

 

[Mendalla]

I discovered Wagakki after they teamed up with Amy Lee of Evanescence for what has to be the best version of her song "Bring Me to Life" since the original.

 

[ninj]

Inimitable Dusty who made this her own. Absolutely on my top 10

 

[Pavlos Maros]

Always loved Dusty. My dad always called her Rusty Springboard. And yes he was a fan too.

 

[Pavlos Maros]

Just come across this young lady from Canada called Daniela Andrade. Love her voice.

 

[Mendalla]

I've mentioned Piper Ally already and alluded to her collaboration with violinist Mia Asano. Here they are together with "Shipping Up to Boston" (a cover of a Dropkick Murphys song based on lyrics by Woody Guthrie) shot, well, in Boston to promote their upcoming joint tour (they have already sold out one Boston date). The fact that they are wearing coats in some "backstage" scenes leads me to suspect they got a bit chilly shooting outdoors in their stage outfits. They did two versions. the version on Ally's channel is more of a straight performance video, while Mia's is more shots of them moving around Boston with the performance bits interspersed.

 

[Mendalla]

So, Mia Asano. Like Ally, she's a talented musician in her twenties. Mia has been playing and performing on violin since an early age (five). While she is classically trained and graduated from the Berklee College of Music last year, Mia does a wide range of music and has been specializing in doing rock and pop music on electric violin for some time. One of her videos, a cover of the opening guitar riff of Through the Fire and Flames by power metal band Dragonforce, went viral and even earned her a chance to play it on stage with Dragonforce (band founder and lead guitarist Herman Li saw it and liked it).

Besides playing, Mia is writing music. This original was co-written with a friend, who also acted as producer.

The TV series Wednesday featured a cello version of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" and it just so happens that Mia's preferred electric violin (she owns more than one) can play cello parts.

A cover of a song from The Hobbit movies with singer Vinny Marchi (I am not sure how to describe his voice. He's actually a bit higher than a normal countertenor, more of a permanent falsetto).

And an interesting performance from when she was a student, featuring her and some classmates doing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the late Charlie Daniels. Yes, that's her on vocals. She was also the producer and editor for the video, which was shot during the pandemic (if you can't tell).

 

[Mendalla]

One more. In 2020, Mia participating in "play along" contest put on by the band Trans-Siberian Orchestra. And won. This was her entry.

(She does a lot of TSO covers)