This review is about my experience at the music festival called Fvded in the Park. I will provide an explanation of the event, such as the location it took place in, how long is has been occurring,  and the atmosphere. I will also explain in details on some of the performers (artists) and how I personally think their performance at the event went.

The festival took place on July 6th and 7th of 2018 in Vancouver, BC [in Surrey] (FvdedinthePark, 2018), and it opened from 1pm to 11pm on both days. It was an exciting and thrilling event, with performances from various artists from different genres . As a festival it was a very large space consisting of various stages, food trucks, open bars, and the basic washroom areas that is very needed for a festival. The event is open to all ages, but had restrictions to the bar areas, if an individual is of age, they’re given a special wrist band to show that they’re adults:

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The amount of people at the festival was grand, I don’t know the exact number but it could be somewhat about a thousand (1000) people. the audience was filled with both male and female, and people of various ages. Different people of colour and caucasians alike. It was environment of freedom and joy of music. The vibe I got from the event was that of ravers (that’s based on what I could tell from talking to people and how others where dressed), and I would know because I’ve been to a number of raves myself. This means that the music played  is predominantly EDM.

EDM is electronic dance music , which is played a lot in festivals or nightclubs, and the “beats” are that to move your body to, not in a traditional dancing fashion but rather in the motion of the tempo. The dynamic in festivals are somewhat stable, which means that the intensity is at one level, high, at all times. The audience shouts and sing along and the performer does the same, which makes it an all-out loud experience.

I am an allrounder when it comes to music, as long as i can bop my head to it and feel the beat, then its good music. I visited the different stages to experience the variety in music. The stages with artists like KYGO were packed and filled with calm wonderful vibes of people bobbing their heads and singing along in unison. KYGO is known for some songs like:

While stages with artists like Future and Ferg were filled with an amazing crowd of uplifted vibes, with people in the audience shouting and singing along. Future is know for songs like:

I believe that listening to music should be something that excites you and make your blood rush, going to a festival allows you to experience this. To see the amount of people, of all ages (literally saw elderly couples), enjoy themselves and relate to the vibe of music is really amazing. To see the way that music has evolved through the ages, from Jazz that served as an avenue for rebellious white people (hipsters) in the 1940’s to music that is somewhat similar as to how it focuses on the beat like trap, really makes music a growing and amazing field of experience.

Proof of my Attendance

These are images of the event and the wristband that shows that I went to the event. The first image shows the main stage, and the image to the bottom shows a artist known as Nav performing.

I don’t take pictures of myself, but I would’ve loved to share a video if I could attach it without uploading it on youtube first.

Fvded

Fvded started in 2012 and was created for individuals who loved music with heavy bass such as what is commonly known as trap, future bass, dubstep and moombahton (DH Vancouver Staff, 2016).

Artist

To keep my blog less jammed, i’ll like to focus on one of the Artists that performed.

• NAV

“Nav”, also known by his real name as Navraj Singh Goraya, is a Canadian rapper and producer based in Toronto. He was born in Toronto Ontario to Punjabi parents. Nav’s career started out from SoundCloud where he relaesed a song called “Take me Simple”, and had a  large amount of listeners.

Since then his career has been steadily growing. He was involved in the writing of one of Drake’s (Drake is a popular artist, famous for songs like “God’s Plan”) famous tracks, “Back to Back”. He was eventually signed under Drake’s label (OVO Sound Radio) in 2016 (Guan, 2017).

Nav has then been involved with other artists such as “Metro Boomin”, “Travis Scott” and “The Weeknd”.  His involvement in Hip-Hop has opened the gates to success for him.

At the fvded event, Nav brought the crowd to life. He began his performance with “Freshman List” (which is the song linked above), it made everyone sing along and the crowd was shaky. In all honesty, his couple songs after that were not as interesting [to me], but he ended his performance amazingly and brought everyone back to the the right mood.

Reference (Bibliography)

Fvded in the Park, 2018. Retrieved from: http://fvdedinthepark.com/#

DH Vancouver Staff (2016). Daily Hive, Retrieved from:

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/history-evolution-fvded-vancouver/

Guan, Frank (2017). Vulture. Retrieved

from: http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/who-is-nav.html

2. Shuffle Along: ​In 2016, Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a musical about the making of the 1921 hit show Shuffle Along, opened on Broadway. This revival, of sorts, brought new attention to the original show. Though mentioned only briefly in your textbook, Shuffle Along was groundbreaking for African Americans in music and on stage. Read the New York Times Magazine article “’Shuffle Along’ and the Lost History of Black Performance in America.” It rambles a bit, and bounces back and forth between the history of the original show and commentary on the modern production. In a thoughtful blog post, answer these questions based on your reading:

Why did black people don blackface in early American theatre? Explain the power dynamics of blackface worn by black performers.

Black performers wore blackface in early American theatre because it was not acceptable for African Americans to perform on stage during the 19th century, so in an effort to obey to the predominant white audiences, they had to put on blackface as if they were a Caucasian playing the role of a black person (Sullivan 2016). Many of the actors darkened their faces artificially. The interesting power dynamics of blackface worn by black performers helped strengthen the compromise of the black performers power because blackface was worn as a way to mock their own race. The musical served as a comedy and was reliant on the minstrel tropes used to degrade black culture. Although the use of blackface at the time was used in a negative fashion it played a major role in the acceptance of black performers. In this day and age the use of blackface is looked down upon and described as being racist.

 How did ‘Shuffle Along’ reinforce or challenge:

 The use of blackface in theatre:

The use of blackface in theatre was reinforced or challenged in “Shuffle Along” because of the way it was used, in which the black performers had to put on blackface in order to perform on stage. This was a representation to the Caucasians that they had surrendered their power because it showed that they were mocking their own race. Although the use of blackface signified the loss of power, they increased in power to the point where a genre was established, as seen in black minstrels (Sullivan 2016).

The taboo of black sexuality:

As seen in the article presented, black sexuality was seen as dangerous if taken too far, such as a man professing his love through song. This was due to the fact it would match Romeo, but a man singing to a woman at the window would be an acceptable extreme. In the “Shuffle Along” play, this was challenged to see how the white audience would react to Roger Matthews and Lottie Gee singing “Love Will Find a Way”. In my opinion, this subject is best represented by the book Race Matters, by Cornel West (West 2017) “Black sexuality is a taboo subject in America principally because it is a form of black power over which whites have little control–yet its visible manifestations evoke the most visceral of white responses, be it one of the seductive obsession or downright disgust”. In my opinion, West is saying that black sexuality is dangerous because it is something that white people feel as though they cannot control.

Typical rhythms:

Shuffle along involved a challenging rhythm in the program, because “The changes often seemed less rhythmical than mathematical”. This in turn made the variations in patterns that much more difficult to follow as a dancer. Due to the fast variations and fast tempo, it helped support a quick rhythm and pace.

Chorus lines:

The chorus lines in Shuffle Along was primarily dance jazz and this was strengthened through stereotypical chorus girls. A dancer that was discussed in this module includes Josephine Baker, who happened to make it to the Shuffle along chorus line, was noticed for her dancing. ​Josephine was an American-born French entertainer. Her career was primarily centered around Europe. She was one of the first person of color to become a worldwide entertainer and to star in a major motion picture.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=josephine+baker&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK1-TluKzcAhW_HjQIHfL7DrcQ_AUICigB&biw=824&bih=841#imgrc=oKyZMeSe1BEIEM:

The most well-known from ​Shuffle Along?

The song that till this day is the most well-known from Shuffle Along is “I’m Just Wild About Harry”, which is a strong fourth beat tied to the down beat (Wilder 1975). The song broke a taboo against musical and stage depictions of romantic love between African-Americans.  Harry Truman used the song for his 1948 campaign for presidency in the United States. It was a good fit amusing because it made it seem like the song is about him due to the same first name. Daffy Duck also sang a chorus of it in the cartoon short Yankee Doodle Daffy. Before researching for this blog post, I have not heard of this song before.

«patting Juba», and who was Juba (the second Juba). Why is this story included, and how does it tie to our main story?

The term “patting Juba” meant African dancing that involves stomping as well as slapping the legs, body and hands in order to create rhythms. Juba was a young boy that was the best Juba dancer in the world, who rivalled an Irish boy named John Diamond. Although the audience would prefer towards the white dancer who put on blackface, this was changed when Juba also painted his face black and won the crowd over with his greater dancing skills because the audience could not tell the two apart. This is another example of the small victories black people donning blackface gave with regards to power and this is how it ties into our main story.

Claims about the historical significance of ​Shuffle Along that are not true.  Who or what should actually claim this title?

The claims about the historical significance of Shuffle Along that are not exactly true are how it is promoted as the first successful black Broadway show, this actually belongs to a film called “Bandanna Land” from 1907-1909, which is over 12 years younger than the 1921’s Shuffle Along. ​

Concept of the 2016 show and how it celebrated ​Shuffle Along. How it approached the material

George wolfe had the mindset of transforming rather than reviving to dodge the disappointments of the previous revivals in 1932 and 1952. George would show the creation of “Shuffle Along” instead of recreating it and would “tell the story of the original creators and cast and how they pulled it off” (Sullivan 2016). This was done through the exposure of the material through different characters of Caucasian outsiders during the original show. Concepts such as dancing syncopation and singing were kept the same.

New information, change on perspective on the conditions and challenges faced by early African American performers

What I learned from reading this article was the greatness in which black performers were treated unfairly back then. In order to prosper in that day and age in something they were passionate about a lot of African American performers had to compromise and give up to the harsh racism and inequality placed upon them. It’s saddening that they had to withstand such difficulties such as the mocking of their own race through things like blackface in order to perform. I wasn’t very aware of the culture and things African Americans had to face just to be recognized or perform in theater. Educating myself on this article and subject definitely gives a better understanding of the tribulations and adversities African American performers faced.

Look back to the section entitled ‘Minstrelsy and American Popular Music’ in your textbook (page 28), specifically the paragraph that begins “Minstrelsy would give blacks…” – in light of the article, do you feel this paragraph (or the textbook in general) offers a fair perspective on blackface in America? Why or why not?

Looking back at the textbook, I do not think that that section in book offers a fair perspective on blackface in America. This is because I feel as though it seems to express Minstrels as an overall positive experience and portion of time as represented at the end of the page:

“Still, the positive contributions of the minstrel show include four important firsts, all of which figure prominently in subsequent generations of popular music: – It was entertainment for the masses. – It used vernacular speech and music. – It created a new genre by synthesizing middle-class urban song and folk music. – It was the first instance of a phenomenon in American popular music that has continued to the present day: that of invigorating and transforming the dominant popular style through the infusion of energetic, often danceable music.” (Campbell 2012)

The way in which this section is defined makes it seem like these four main points would not have happened without Minstrels. This in turn paints blackface in a positive light. Furthermore, I feel as though the text focuses too little on African American performers. It does not go into depth in describing the reasoning behind the popularity to blackface and what it meant for both African Americans and Caucasians.

Bibliography

Campbell, Michael. 2012. Popular Music In America: The Beat Goes On. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Schirmer.

Hill, Anthony. (2008). Shuffle Along (1921). http://www.blackpast.org/aah/shuffle-along-1921. Retrieved 15th July 2018, from http://www.blackpast.org/aah/shuffle-along-1921

Sullivan, John. 2016. “‘Shuffle Along’ And The Lost History Of Black Performance In America”. Nytimes.Com.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/shuffle-along-and-the-painful-history-of-black-pe rformance-in-america.html?mcubz=1.

West, Cornel. 2017. Race Matters. Beacon press.

Wilder, Alec. 1975. American Popular Song. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hi, my name is Jasleen Dhunna. I am in my fourth year of Microbiology and Immunology. For my first blog post, I have decided to write about Jelly Roll Morton.

Background

Jelly Roll Morton was born on October 20, 1980 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was an American pianist and songwriter vest known for this influence on modern day jazz during 1920s. Jelly Roll Morton died on July 10, 1941 in Los Angeles, California. He was a mix of African, French and Spanish but he adopted the last name of his stepfather, Morton. He learned to play piano at the age 10 and a few years later, he started playing in the red-light district bordellos. This was where he earned his nickname “Jelly Roll”. He blended ragtime and minstrelsy with dance rhythms which is now known as Jazz. Morton moved out as a teenager and toured the country where he was earning money as a musician, gambler and pimp. He believed that he was the original inventor of Jazz. In 1922, after moving to Chicago, he produced his first recording. In 1926, he led a seven -eight- piece band called “Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers” which was comprised of musicians who were well versed in the new Orleans ensemble style. The band earned national fame with hits like “Black Bottom Stomp” and “Smoke-House Blues”. Morton ran the group for four years which marked the highest point of his career as a composer and pianist. Morton moved in 1928 to New York city and he recorded tracks like “Kansas City Stomp” and “Tank Town Bump”. During the great depression, Morton drifted away from music. As during that time, his music was considered old-fashioned and he did not have temporary work to do during that time. Therefore, from 1931-1937, his appearance was very little. However, in 1938, Alan Lomax recorded him for a musical interview for the library of Congress.  In 1939, Morton went to New York for a comeback, where he did lead a few band sessions such as “Sidney Bechet”, “Red Aleen” and “Albert Nicholas”. Late 1940’s, Morton decided to move to Los Angeles for more but he died. His music became famous again as New Orleans Jazz after his death.

Songs by Jelly Roll Morton

This is a Jazz composition and it was composed by Jelly Roll Morton in 1925 and was first titled as “Queen of Spades”. This song was recorded in Chicago by Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers for Victor Records on September 15, 1926. This song has all the elements of Jazz and the harmonic basis is simple, he used standard II-V-I progressions. I choose this song because it was one of the most famous songs by this band in 1926.

This song was published in 1915 as “the jelly roll blues” by Ferd Morton. This was the very first Jazz record published and it survived during that time was a hit. Morton’s piano playing was born of ragtime and he played melody with thumb of his right hand which allowed him to play harmonies above the melody with all fingers that were left. His record was his first piano solo in Richmond, Indiana.

This record was published in 1926 as New Orleans Jazz which had 12-bar blues form. It is one of the famous songs by Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. It was recorded at Webster Hotel in Chicago, Illinois where Jelly Roll Morton was the pianist.

It is a popular tune and song written by Joe “king” Oliver in 1926. However, Doctor Jazz as a record was made by Jelly roll Morton and red hot peppers in 1926 as an example of New Orleans jazz counterpoint.

The source Page

1. Jelly Roll Morton. (2014, April 02). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/jelly-roll-morton-9415945
2. Meddings, M. (n.d.). JELLY ROLL MORTON. Retrieved from http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/page10.html
3. Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jelly-roll-morton
4. Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/music/musichistory/musicgreats/jellyroll.html

Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe, also known as Jelly Roll Morton, was born on October 20, 1890 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were racially mixed Creole, making him African, French, and Spanish. Ferdinand would later adopt his stepfathers name, Morton.¹ He was a highly skilled musician and known as a ragtime and jazz pianist, an innovator of his time. ^1,2

Background

At a young age of 10, his interest in music kept growing and soon led him to be playing in New Orleans’ red-light district.  Everyone there would soon give him the nickname of “Jelly Roll”.^1,2 Listeners knew him as the young pianist who could blend styles of ragtime as well as dance rhythms.² Morton was at the front of the movement that would soon be known as “jazz”.

As a teenager Morton took on many occupations to earn a living such as a musician, gambler and even a pimp.3 Morton had a strong personality and became very confident in his abilities to the point he was telling everyone that he was the “inventor of jazz”.² Though the claims were false it led to resentments. There was no doubt that he could be seen as an innovator of his time. Many believed that he was the first jazz musician that put his arrangements on paper, with “Original Jelly Roll Blues” the first orchestration ever published.¹

After many years Morton moved to Chicago where he would get his big break with the recording company, Victor Talking Machine Company, who would lead him to success.¹ Morton would then lead the “Jelly Morton’s Red Hot Pepper”.  The Red Hot Peppers earned National Fame, especially with “Black Bottom Stomp” and “Smoke – House Blues”, the sound and style produced laid the foundation for the swing movement that would soon become popular.² Morton had a four year run with the group which displayed his talents as a composer and a pianist.

Original Jelly Roll Blues 

Original Jelly Roll Blues was composed by Jelly Roll Morton. Morton played it as a piano solo 2 years before performing it with his band “Red Hot Peppers”. The bands version produces a tango like rhythm, which highlights how different cultures have influenced jazz. To hear the difference between Jelly Roll Morton’s piano version and the bands see reference below. 4

Black Bottom Stomp

Black Bottom Stomp was only recorded once by Morton and the Red Hot Peppers. It was one of Mortons most well known pieces. This song really  captures New Orleans’ jazz. The trumpet, clarinet and trombone are the main layers of this song and can be clearly heard throughout.5 Morton adds an energetic flair though his use of different tunes and instruments making it a fun song for the audience.

Grandpa’s Spells

Grandpa’s Spells was one of the best known ragtime pieces by Morton. It was versatile song that could be played as a piano solo or turned into a band piece.6 Part of the song calls for the performer to smash on the lower keys of the piano with their left hand.  I have included Jelly Roll Morton’s version on the piano as well as the Red Hot Peppers version.

Later Career

During the time of the Great Depression Morton’s fame soon disappeared leaving him struggling to make a living. He eventually had to get rid of the diamond he had on his front tooth.³   Many people no longer wanted to hear hot jazz.³

To make money Morton would play in dive bars where he would later meet folklorist Alan Lomax. Lomax would record a series of interviews for the Library of Congress in which Morton offered an oral history of the origins of jazz and to demonstrate the styles on piano.^1,2 These recordings would spark an interest in Morton but due to poor health it prevented him from staging a comeback and he died on July 10, 1941. ^1,2

 Legacy

Morton was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.²

References

¹Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jelly_Roll_Morton

²Jelly Roll Morton. (2014, April 02). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/jelly-roll-morton-9415945

3 Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.redhotjazz.com/jellyroll.html

4 Original Jelly Roll Blues. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://musicinsideout.wwno.org/2013/09/14/original-jelly-roll-Black

5 Bottom Stomp – Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thewininboy.blogspot.com/2012/07/black-bottom-stomp.html

6 Edwards, B. (n.d.). Jelly Roll Morton Compositions. Retrieved from http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmusic_morton.shtml

Pictures

Jelly Roll Morton. (2014, April 02). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/jelly-roll-morton-9415945

Jelly Roll Morton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.redhotjazz.com/jellyroll.html

Hello everyone! In this blog post, I would like to talk about The Payola Scandal.

What is Payola?

“The term Payola is a play on the word ‘pay’ and ‘Victrola’, meaning to bribe to play on the radio Victrola was a phonograph made in the early 1920s by the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey. Payola means a bribe to influence the programming content of a broadcast radio, television or cable television program.”

In the music business, payola is inhibition and a persistent problem. It is the illegal practice of payment or other inducements by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio. In the American music industry, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, and those songs shouldn’t be counted as the “regular play”. We can imagine that the more times of the songs are played, the more popularity of a song would get.

How did the payola scandal begin?

In 1958, the famous “game show” scandals attracted people’s attention.  “Federal investigators revealed that the wildly popular NBC-TV show ‘Twenty-One’ and ‘$64,000 Question’ were rigged.”  Therefore, a large-scale investigation direct to similar practices in radio. In 1960, the National Association of Broadcasters proposed that “radio disc jockeys accepting payment from record labels for broadcasting particular songs would be charged a $500 fine and spend a year in prison”.

Major players

Alan Freed

Alan Freed gained great reputation with coining Rock ‘N’ Roll’s name, while he would be associated with the shame of payola.  He was charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery and handed a bundled of fines and a suspended jail sentence. He lost everything and died pennilessly five years later.

Dick Clark

Alan Freed and Dick Clark were hauled into a series of closed and open sessions before the U.S. House Oversight Committee alongside over three hundred other American DJs who admitted to having accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes—framed as “consulting fees”.

Influences

Unless you are the artist whose career gets a boost or the label who sees increased sales, there are few benefits.  Actually, payola hurts everyone, and cause untold amounts of chaos within the music industry itself. People would never hear great music if the artist can’t afford the “consulting fees”. And it increased the cost of music creation, which is a huge obstacle for those artists to write a new song.

Recent Event

“In 2005, one of the world’s largest record labels, Sony BGM, pay out $10 million in fines after the state of New York found the company guilty of engaging in payola.”

Personal opinion

Payola would have less influence in today’s life.  Network, internet and other many kinds of media could help people to accept more information about music rather than only from radios.  Although these advanced technologies would lower the threshold for the entry, the top level of music is still affected by payola.  Therefore, prohibiting “pay to play” is still required for the music business.

References

Payola: Influencing the Charts. HEATHER MCDONALD. (2018. June 3)  https://www.thebalancecareers.com/payola-influencing-the-charts-2460759

Payola Scandal Rocks 50’s Radio Researched & written by Bob Neira   http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola22.html

A Brief History of American Payola. Kim Kelly. (2016. February 14) https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/64y8y9/a-brief-history-of-american-payola

Hunter Brothers

The Hunter Brother is an up and coming band which consist of five country brothers that were born and raised in small town Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.(Hunter, n.d.) The brothers who make up the country band are Brock (Electric/Acoustic Guitar), Dusty (drums), J.J. (Guitar/Keyboard), Luke (Bass), and Ty (Lead vocals/keyboard). The Hunter Brothers signed a record deal with Open Road Recordings . (Hunter, n.d.) They released their first album in 2017 called “Getaway”. Their song “Born and Raised” made the top 10 and five songs on their album made the top 40 country hit list. (Hunter, n.d.)

On July 7^th, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan the Hunter Brothers were set to be on stage at 9 pm. The grandstands were filled with families, old couples, and teens who were tired of standing. The place in front of the stage were 17-22-year old girls, in hopes of touching hands with at least one of the Brothers or just getting a good picture of them. There were around 500-600 people there that day waiting for the clock to hit nine, so they can see the small-town band hit the stage. The Hunter Brothers performing in Yorkton brought all the small-town teens and adults on a night out. The surrounding area is into country music every wedding, graduation, or dance has more country songs playing than any other genre.

The atmosphere at the concert was energic, lively, and entertaining. The Hunter Brothers got the crowd on their feet with every song they played, if it was their own song or a cover of an artist they always found a way to make the crowd interested. In one song they did a Hunter hip flip where Brock and Luke went to the front of the stage. where they performed the move. Luke then bent down a little and Brock rolled off him and did a front flip after the roll and landed on his feet. In between songs they told stories about how everyone had a major injury at least once in their life or how their mom reacted to their “El  Dorado” from the meaning behind it. “El Dorado” is a song about their grandfather who owned an El Dorado and after his passing, they wrote this for him and once their mom heard it she was in tears instantly. All their songs have a meaning behind if its “Getaway” which is about their significant other and when they are with them that’s their getaway, and “Born and Raised” is about them being proud of where they came from and through all fame they still will be the same person. Throughout the concert, they fooled around on stage, from lowering Dusty’s mic stand because he is short or when J.J. was introducing the brothers he added in the land locations of each brother. When they got to Brock, he stopped J.J. and introduced him and said, “I can take it from here, since I am the only one not married so I can speak for myself”. The brothers liked teasing each other through the whole night which is one thing no one expected from them.

The Hunter Brothers did a tribute to the Humboldt Broncos accident which happened on April 6th, 2018, where 16 people were killed and 13 injured when a semi-trailer truck struck the Humboldt Broncos bus. Their song “Where I Wanna Live When I Die” became the song for the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. The Hunter Brothers were personally affected by the tragedy from knowing people who passed away, playing hockey themselves and traveling with the band on a bus on that exact road where the tragedy happened. They told a story how Saskatchewan is such a small province because Dusty played hockey for the Melville Millionaires which is just 20 minutes down the road from Yorkton where the concert was held.

The Hunter Brothers songs are easy to find the beat in any of their songs, easy to two-step or just clap along too. In the song “Country Stuff” this is an unique song because it shows all the brothers voices abilities, it shows Ty’s and Dusty’s high vocal range, Brock’s and J.J.’s deep range they both can go “burn it up” and burn it down”, it stands out from the rest of the vocals, and Luke’s vocal range, in general, it showed off. The lyrics in this song is all about what they do back home like “there’s no harm in killing dust up on the farm.” (Hunter 2016) Throughout this song, they vocally complemented each other. A lot of their songs have repetitive lyrics and most of the songs use the same instruments as guitars, drums, and their feet, but they find a way to make them sound different, so their songs do not sound the same.

After the concert, they talked to people who were around the stage and asked who won the sing off they had between themselves and Brett Kissel on their Instagram story from the weekend before. They also were by their merchandise table and encourage people to take pictures with them and get autographs. They were talking to people about all stuff like farming, music and I got to ask Luke how they got into music and he said, “it’s pretty simple dad wanted us in hockey and mom wanted us in piano and it just took off from there” Well it sure did take off because now they are set to be the opening act for Brett Kissel for his upcoming tour.

The whole night was fun, it never felt boring, no one left during the concert. For me, the concert was enjoyable because, the Hunter Brothers knew how to keep a crowd engaged and, on their feet,  which lasted the whole concert. They made sure their fans knew they predicated them for coming out to see them. When talking with some people surrounding me about the concert they were all impressed by how they were so full of energy and not even one person complained about anything through the night. I would recommend going to see the Hunter Brothers if they are performing near you and are into country music or just want a night away from the house. I will be going to their concert again that’s for sure.

Work Sited

Brothers, Hunter. "Hunter Brothers - Those Were the Nights." Hunter Brothers - Those Were the Nights. n.d. http://www.hunterbrothers.com/.

The Hunter Brothers - "Country Stuff" acoustic YouTube. March 09, 2016. https://youtu.be/Uf2iS3H9P6c

Biography of William Christopher Handy

Hello, my name is Kris and I’m a third year business student at the UofS. I love staying up to date with the latest music, but today I want to go back in time and talk about the “Father of the Blues”. Who is the Father of the Blues you ask? Well it was no other than William Christopher Handy an African-American influential figure in early pop music history. W.C. Handy was born November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. W.C. Handy expressed his love for music as a child as one of his grandparents was a Methodist minister. His grandmother supported his musical interests however his father was opposed to his son being a musician and only offered to pay for organ lessons. W.C. Handy’s love for music grew and he started to play the cornet as well as partake in the school cappella group.

Handy studied at the Teachers Agricultural Mechanical College in Huntsville, Alabama in 1892. Handy found work as a school teacher, however, he continued to pursue a career as a musician. Handy formed a band called the Lauzette Quartet, in the hope of playing at the Chicago World’s Fair, however, the fair was postponed which lead to the bands split. Handy then moved to St. Louis where he was homeless and living in poverty. Handy continued to play his cornet at shows and eventually landed a show in Kentucky. Handy helped contribute to music that would be called the “blues” by being influenced by the African-American musical folk traditions that he heard while on his travels.

While in Kentucky he was hired as a musician in the city of Henderson. Handy married Elizabeth Virginia Prince after a performance in 1898. They had two children together, but sadly his wife died in 1937. During their marriage, Handy was offered to join W.A. Mahara’s Minstrels as the band-leader. He stayed with the group for a few years where he traveled the country and even Cuba. After many years of traveling, Elizabeth and Handy decided to stay in one place and live in Huntsville, Alabama where Handy worked as a music teacher. In 1902 Handy started traveling again and had a short stay in Mississippi where Handy joined the Black Knights of Pyhtias band and experienced the local variation of the blues. Handy then moved to Memphis, Tennesse and performed at the Beale Street clubs. In 1909 Handy wrote a campaign song called “Mr. Crump” named after the candidate Edward H. Crump who later won the election. The song was later edited and renamed the Memphis Blues. The song was published in 1912 and played it for large audiences. Memphis Blues became a hit song since it was considered the first blue song to be released in history.

Handy never received the financial success of after selling the rights to the song. Handy then decided to start his own publishing company with songwriter Harry Pace so that he could now have ownership for his songs. Handy released his next song St. Louis Blues which was published under the Pace and Handy Music Company. St Louis Blues became another hit song and was recorded many times. Handy is also known for composing many other hit songs. Handy wanted to escape the South and the racism contained in it so he moved his publishing company to New York. Handy kept promoting the blues to audiences and organized the first Blue’s performance in Carnegie Hall in 1928. Handy published Negro Authors and Composers of the United States in 1935 and in 1941 he published an autobiography called Father of the Blues. Handy then became blind by the mid 40’s. Handy died of pneumonia on March 28, 1958. More than 20,000 people attended his funeral and his life story was made into the film At. Louis Blues. Hand’s legacy continues on with the annual W.C. Handy Music Festival in Alabama.⁴

Challenges and Successes of W. C. Handy

Handy began to experience struggles when his wages were cut at the pipework’s company in Bessemer he worked at. He moved back to Birmingham and organized the Lauzette Quartet and planned to play at the Chicago World’s Fair, but another obstacle occurred and the fair had been postponed for a year. The band broke up and Handy faced true economic challenges as he was jobless and suffered from hunger and lice while he slept on the streets. Handy never gave up on his musical dream and continued playing his cornet to survive. He later noted that these homeless and depressing days lead to the birth of his song “St. Louis Blues.” Handy caught a break in Kentucky when he was playing with local brass bands and got hired by a Southern aristocracy. Handy went from a homeless band member to a professional musician in the time span of a day. Handy was a true American using capitalism to overcome the social challenges affecting one’s physical, intellectual, and emotional well-being. He utilized his new job’s benefits to attain a post-graduate course in vocal music while getting paid to do it. ³

Handy developed an impressive legacy for himself, but he had his fair share of obstacles to overcome ranging from racism and prejudice to health concerns from a head trauma that caused blindness and a stroke that caused him to require a wheelchair. Even with the obstacles, he faced in life he was able to achieve wealth and fame and is now known as the “Father of Blues”. ⁴

Famous Contributions from W. C. Handy

W. C. Handy had several popular hits in the music industry. I chose to discuss three songs ranging from the beginning of his professional career to closer to the end. The songs that helped form Handy’s legacy are “Memphis Blues”, “St. Louis Blues” and “Loveless Love”

“Memphis Blues” (originally “Mr. Crump,” 1909)

The “Memphis Blues” was an important moment in music history as it was a driving force of a new music genre called the blues. He originally got the idea from a sad negro playing the guitar on the street corner.¹ The song has a smooth riff and contained both 16 bar melodies and 12 bar sections while mixing two-four time and Afro-Cuban habanera dance rhythm. The song resulted in the creation of blues music and later influenced the creation of jazz music.

“St. Louis Blues” (1914)

The “St. Louis Blues” was Handy’s privately owned song that helped him rise to fame and riches. The song was the first blues song to make it into the popular music charts and was so revolutionary that it has been covered many times by well-known artists such as Nat King Cole, Bessie Smith and Louise Armstrong. The song was about the struggles of life and had a similar form to Memphis Blues, but with a much more dominant beat and a similar feel to classic ragtime compositions.²

“Loveless Love” (better known as “Careless Love”),  1921.

“Loveless Love” is a positive spinoff of the song “Careless Love”, which was about a tragic death and heartbreak due to love. The song has a slower beat with the lyrics involving a love story. I chose this song as it was one Handy did later in his career and it helped to show the diversity in beat and rhythm between Handy’s songs. The song was an influential piece and showed listeners how original and cover songs can be similar, but sound and be interpreted completely different.

Bibliography

1. Banerji, Robin. “WC Handy’s Memphis Blues: The Song of 1912.” BBC World Service. (2012): https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20769518
2. Chilton, Martyn. “St Louis Blues: story of the WC Handy classic song.” The Telegraph. (2015):  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/jazz/st-louis-blues-by-wc-handy/
3. “Handy, W. C. 1873–1958.” Contemporary Black Biography. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/handy-w-c-1873-1958
4. “W.C. Handy Biography.” A&E Television Networks. Last modified October 27, 2015. https://www.biography.com/people/wc-handy-39700​

#M5Q4

On Sunday, July 15 I had the opportunity to watch Luke Bryan, a singer-songwriter country artist, perform on the main stage at the Craven Saskatchewan Country Thunder music festival.

It is my 5^th year attending Country Thunder, and my third opportunity to watch Luke Bryan. Born as Thomas Luther Bryan in 1Georgia 1976, he holds heavy values on family and God. TL Bryan’s talent came obvious to his family as they always encouraged his music career. Sadly at age 19 tragedy struck with the loss of his older brother, so he decided to give up the music and attend a business college near home. But years later in 2006, he moved to Nashville, only after his father told him to pack his truck to pursue a career in music.

His first step into the famed life was as a songwriter, then moving to the stage himself in 2007 with his debut album, I’ll Stay Me. Luke has now gone on to win 35 Major awards through channels such as the CMT, American Music Awards and many more with no sign of stopping in the near future.

Country Thunder Jamboree is definitely 100% country focused, right down to the venue (it is hosted in the middle of a field). The most popular attire is your muddiest pair of cowboy boots, your most cut of jeans and favourite plaid shirt. The best part about an open outdoor atmosphere such as this is that it really shows who wants to be there, who is willing to spend the money and time to see their favourites play. The weather isn’t always predictable and so you are forever running the risk that it could rain or be cold, but at Craven that doesn’t matter, especially when Luke Bryan is around. I was fortunate enough to be VIP all weekend, meaning that I was able to actually sit on the stage during his concert. Talk about a front row seat. I have never sung my heart out the way I did that night… me and every other person in that crowd. The positivity, love, and party could be smelt in the air and felt under your feet.

Luke Bryan’s songs are honest, easy-to-take in observations of life and love, with a charming personality and a nice bum for added jaw-dropping performances.

The sounds that this amazing artist puts out cover a wide range of harmonies, tempos, beats, and lyrical focuses. His songs fall under the country genre, with thick guitar backgrounds. Each song has a good background with lyrics that are easy to undertand, and memorable enough to stick in your head forever.

‘Drink A Beer’ is one of Luke’s more emotional and personal songs to me. It is a reflection of what losing a friend is like and how to deal with that specific pain. Every single sentence, the slow beat, and chilling guitar hit your heart like a brick wall. It is one of those songs that is so powerful that even if you haven’t lost anyone you know, and it also shows just how incredibly talented he is in his expression.

“So long my friend

Until we meet again

I’ll remember you

And all the times that we used to”

These are just a few of the impactful lyrincs in the above song.

Watching Luke Bryan perform is always an amazing experience and he never disappoints, but ‘Drink a Beer’ is one song that I could listen too over and over again. That being said watching him perform it on Sunday was absolutely incredible.

Other #1 number one hits played at Craven include.

Each of these songs was played like I was listening to my iPod. His professionalism, tune, pitch and dance moves were flawless his entire performance. Again just a few more things that really show why he has had the successes he has, and how he has managed to stay in the fame light so long. Even with the dozen other artists that performed Luke Bryan still takes the cake (and my heart).

Craven Country Thunder Jamboree was as always an amazing time for me. After all, there is no better way to hang out with your friends than listening to a good artist with a beer in your hand.

Bibliography:

1. The Biography of Luke Bryan: https://www.biography.com/people/luke-bryan

The “Payola” what?

By the mid 1950’s, the rise and advancement of technology was growing exponentially. This growth demanded a need for more disk jockeys, and by 1957 there was over 5000 DJ’s in the united states alone [1], growing almost 2000% in only 7 years. Music, as always, was one of the most popular sought after careers, living a life of fame and luxury. The desire for this lifestyle caused people to do whatever they can to be the most famous and to get their music out there. The main way people attempted to get their name out there was by paying disk jockeys on radio stations to deliberately play their music, and to play it often. This was known as “payola”, with “pay” meaning to give money, and “ola” stemming from the name for a gramophone called the Victrola.

1950's radio [2]

Even though payola was mostly a known thing, the scandal did not break out until a couple of incidents on popular game shows occurred, most popularly the show Twenty One [1], where some contestants were caught bribing hosts or other people to give them the answers. This may not seem related, but it only brought attention to the issue of bribery and the unfairness of it all.

The famous game show Twenty One

After these incidents on the game shows, the Payola scandal broke out, and the  Congressional Payola Investigations took over and decided to try and put an end to the bribery in the world of music [3].

Who got caught?

Many radio stations were put under the spotlight when the Congressional Payola Investigations took over, and even let go of a lot of the disk jockeys just to avoid any more disruptions. On the other side of that, many disk jockeys also publicly spoke out about the payola and their earnings. For example, Wesley Hopkins of KYW in Cleveland admitted to receiving over $12,000 in payment for playing certain songs in just the years of 1958-1959. That is a lot of money now to receive now for just playing songs, but it was worth even more in 1959 [4]. Stan Richard, another disk jockey, also admitted to receiving thousands of dollars as well.

Although many disk jockeys got in trouble, the main two culprits were Dick Clark and Alan Freed.

                                             Dick Clark hosting American Bandstand's in the 1950's [6]

Dick Clark was a popular, good looking TV host and later, disk jockey, that was one of the more famous of the time. He ended up going to trial, but not receiving any consequences for the most part [4]. It did, although, burn some bridges with potential clients or people to work with because he was put in such a bad light, even though many, many other disk jockeys were doing the same thing.

More severe, iconic disk jockey Alan Freed was punished for the wrongdoings with payola done by almost all disk jockeys in the country [1]. By the end of the trials, Freed ended up with 26 counts of commercial bribery, and was made to pay many fines [4], while all other disk jockey’s, including Dick Clark, walked away clean. Because of all these charges, Freed lost everything he had created: his radio show, his television show, and any professional relationships he may have had [3].

Alan Freed in the 1950's [5]

So… what happened?

Basically, Alan Freed ended up taking most of the fall for all the disk jockeys that participated in payola. The Congressional Payola Investigations resulted in the disk jockeys not being able to make any program decisions anymore for the radio shows. There would be directors and coordinators that would take over the set-list and would pick which songs would be played based on their popularity, not how much money they could provide.

It still exists today

The payola was a big deal at the time, but over the years has resurfaced dramatically. Record labels will pay people to go to radio stations and give the stations money, products, or other wanted items to play specific songs, making the listeners hear it more and for it to become popular. The songs that are played on the radio are not always what is new, or what is most popular, but the songs are from companies that can convince radio stations to play their music.

Other than radio stations, record labels can also pay other music providers, for example Spotify, one of the world’s most popular streaming services, to put their songs on pre-made playlists. Most listeners choose to trust in the streaming services to pick songs that sound good or are similar together on playlists so that they don’t have to. Companies can pay providers, such as Spotify, to put their songs on the most listened to playlists, so consumers will hear it more often, even if they are not aware.

[7]

Is it positive, or negative?

In my personal opinion, payola is not a good way to get good music out into the world. All payola does is provide listeners with songs that come from companies with the most money, not songs that may actually be beneficial for the listener. It also fools the consumer into thinking that they are listening to the “most popular songs right now”, but they are not. Most often they are listening to the songs that come from the most money. Our society nowadays wants what is easy, so instead of searching or finding new artists or new songs, they put on a pre-made playlist with songs put there on purpose by the streaming services. I think the music world would be a lot more diverse, and smaller artists would have more of a chance to make it big, if payola

[1]”Alan Freed, Dick Clark and the Radio Payola Scandal.” Performing Songwriter Ent., LLC. August 24, 2015. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://performingsongwriter.com/alan-freed-payola-scandal/.

[2]”1950.” Philco Radio Gallery. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://philcoradio.com/gallery2/1950a/.

[3]Kelly, Kim. “A Brief History of American Payola.” Noisey. February 14, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2018. https://noisey.vice.com/da/article/64y8y9/a-brief-history-of-american-payola.

#M3Q2

“Shuffle along”

The Blacks in blackface was indeed bizarre. How did making yourself appear darker help people be more accepting in a racial world? The black faces smeared on to darken their appearance was seen as black people mocking their own race and to white people it was tolerable. The “made-up” reality allowed them to look at black people as just actors wearing masks per say or a white actor dressing as a black person, rather than an ordinary African American. Although this phenomenon is strange a beautiful entity was formed. African American’s were no longer seen as a threat on stage as long as their faces were covered in smear. African Americans were no longer segregated to the balcony away from the orchestra seats where the whites sat. “Shuffle Along” reinforced the blackface in theatres and also challenged it. The blackface was reinforced by “Shuffle Along”due to the African American being ok with painting themselves in order to perform in front of Caucasians. A Misguided acceptance of blackface was portrayed through “Shuffle along”. “Shuffle Along”challenged blackface in such ways that the blackface on African Americans was redundant. Black sexuality was quite censored at that time usually making Caucasians uncomfortable or as some would say awkward. “Shuffle Along” challenged it as it made some black people uncomfortable to watch the sexuality of two African American people too. This express how African American’s were not used to seeing sexuality in that context challenging them to believe it was acceptable to express feelings. “Shuffle Along” challenged the rhythms in music due to jazz not being performed by African Americans. Although jazz is believed to be created by African American, white people did not look for it in African American neighbourhoods. “Shuffle along” was the first Jazz musical performed by black people challenging the Caucasians to accept the non-typical performance. Blake captured a more diluted jazz sound allowing Caucasians to grasp the potential of the sound.

• Which song remains the most well-known from Shuffle Along? Had you heard this song before?

The most well-known song from “Shuffle Along” is “I’m just Wild about Harry” still has people humming it today. Although I hadn’t heard it before this class I can see why it was so catchy for people. The Upbeat rhythm creates a happy and exciting atmosphere.

• Explain what «patting Juba» meant, and who was Juba (the second Juba). Why is this story included, and how does it tie to our main story?

The Patting Juba is an African American dance Often done by using your body as a human drum, patting your chest, knees and feet. This dance is extremely tough. The second juba came alive when diamond had unforeseen circumstances in life and left him to flee. Diamond was a young Caucasian who was the 2^nd best juba dancer that danced blackface. Diamond respected the African American dance and performed it that way. Due to Diamonds circumstances his place was filled with a younger more talented juba dancer. Although problems arose due to him being African American. Circus’s did not agree with “black” dancers. Barnum knew he needed Juba so he painted his face black and dressed him like diamond. Although it is unsure of Juba’s actual name, he was one of the most successful dancers of all time. I believe this story was included to show the significant of how our world evolves. Juba inspired two nations to come together to create the dance of tap. Just like shuffle along inspired the music of jazz. In both occurrences critics also see the evolution in history where African Americans begin to be accepted into the world.

Which claims about the historical significance of Shuffle Along are not exactly true? Who or what should actually claim this title?

The claim that shuffle along was the first black Broadway performance although it may have been the first successful black Broadway show it was not the first. Bandanna land was created in 1908 staring Bert Williams, George Walker, Ada Overton Walker, and J. Leubrie Hill. [1]This performance ended George Walkers career due to illness.[2]

• Explain the concept of the 2016 show and how it celebrated Shuffle Along. How does it approach the material?

“I thought it would be fun to go back to a time and a place where people didn‘t have the armor they needed to be human beings.”[3]

This quote stood out to me on this article. It really shows how mistreated African Americans were in the Music industry and in everyday life. [4]The 2016 musical was stated “the making of the music sensation of 1921”. [5]The production was away to honour “Shuffle Along” and the people who endured more than one person handles in a life time. The production was a way to say thank you for opening our eyes to a better world. The production used the original songs written by Blake to create a real-life experience of that era.

a snip it of what it looked like in 2016

• What new information came to light for you when reading this article, and does it change your perspective on the conditions and challenges faced by early African American performers?

I don’t think the article changed my mind on the conditions and challenges faced by early African American performers as I read many books about slavery and the upbringing of African American. Many were not about music specifically but because they endured so much I could only assume music presented similar situations. African American used music as an escape from the bad but were not allowed to preform openly creating yet another burden.

• Look back to the section entitled ‘Minstrelsy and American Popular Music’ in your textbook (page 28), specifically the paragraph that begins “Minstrelsy would give blacks…” – in light of the article, do you feel this paragraph (or the textbook in general) offers a fair perspective on blackface in America? Why or why not?

No, I do not it simply portray it as the embracing their stereotype. Although to the white it was exactly what they were doing. But for the African American people it was simply something that had to be done in order to perform. The text book also does not go in to dept on what the blackface is where as the article really tries to embrace the good of the African Americans enduring their strengths to overcome racism.

[1] Bert, Walker, George, Ada Overton, and J. Leubrie Hill. “Bandanna Land.” Hillie John Franz collection: Veterans History Project (Library of Congress. February 03, 1908. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tda.4021/default.html.

[2] Bert, Walker, George, Ada Overton, and J. Leubrie Hill. “Bandanna Land.” Hillie John Franz collection: Veterans History Project (Library of Congress. February 03, 1908. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tda.4021/default.html.

[3] Viagas, Robert. “Shuffle Along Plays Final Broadway Performance Today.” Playbill. July 24, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://www.playbill.com/article/shuffle-along-plays-final-broadway-performance-today.

[4] Viagas, Robert. “Shuffle Along Plays Final Broadway Performance Today.” Playbill. July 24, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://www.playbill.com/article/shuffle-along-plays-final-broadway-performance-today.

[5] Viagas, Robert. “Shuffle Along Plays Final Broadway Performance Today.” Playbill. July 24, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2018. http://www.playbill.com/article/shuffle-along-plays-final-broadway-performance-today.