Year 6, Day 197

Good Morning! Today's song is Fire/Fear by The Head and the Heart.

These guys are an indie band active since 2009 and made up of Jonathan Russell, Charity Rose Thielen, Matt Gervais, Chris Zasche, Kenny Hensley, Tyler Williams, and Josiah Johnson. The name of the band is a nod to the different arguments: in your head you should find a stable job, but their hearts told them that the music felt right, and that's what they wanted to do. They were signed in 2010 and released their album in 2011. They toured pretty heavily, rubbing elbows with a lot of other bands before releasing their next album in 2013. What followed was more touring, another album in 2016, then festival performances through 2017. They released another album this year, and are planning a tour for it so if you like the song, look into that.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 196

Good Morning! Today's song is It's Thunder and It's Lightning by We Were Promised Jetpacks.

These guys are a Scottish band active since 2003 and currently made up of Adam John Thompson, Michael Palmer, Sean Charles Smith, and Darren Kenneth Lackie. It started with a high school battle of the bands before they moved to Glasgow and started getting regular gigs. By 2008 they landed a spot touring with Frightened Rabbit. Those guys also sent a label their way, which led to them getting signed. Their debut album came out in 2009 (which is where this song is from), followed by an EP and a tour in 2010. Their next album came out in 2011, and then the third was released in 2014. By 2018 they switched labels and were working on their next album. They were kind of worried about not having the playfulness of their old stuff since they're older, but the result was something really refined and good once they leaned into it. I only found these guys about a month ago so I'm still new to their stuff, but I'm having fun discovering it. I hope you do too.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 195

Good Morning! Today's song is Legendary by Welshly Arms.

Welshly Arms is a blues rock band who has been active since 2013 and made up of Sam Getz, Jimmy Weaver, Mikey Gould, Brett Lindemann, Bri Bryant, and Jon Bryant. They've been consistently releasing music since popping up on the scene, with one EP in 2013, another in 2014 and their first album in 2015. Their name is a reference to a Saturday Night Live sketch. I don't watch the show so if any of you know what specifically it was let me know because I'm curious. They've been getting some big recognition with having their music in movies and featured by the WWE. I saved the lyric video for this song awhile ago to use, and then without realizing it also saved the music video, so this song has double approval from me and hopefully you feel as strongly about it as I do.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 194

Good Morning! Today's song is It Remembers by Every Time I Die featuring Brendon Urie.

So this band has been around since 1998 and is currently made up of Keith Buckley, Jordan Buckley, Andy Williams, Stephen Micciche, and Clayton Holyoak. They released their first EP in 2000, with their debut album out in 2001 followed by a tour. Since then they've continued to release albums pretty consistently, almost one every two years, with the latest one scheduled to come out sometime in the new year. They've done tons of touring, and have performed at Warped Tour a couple of times. These guys are considered to be metalcore, which is not normally something I'm into. Obviously, if you guys have been following along through the years, but as with most music you can find a place for almost anything if you're in the right mood. Plus, collaborating with Brendon Urie is basically a guarantee that I'm going to listen to the song. Let me know what you guys think.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 193

Good Morning! Today's song is Fire by Barns Courtney.

I already wrote about Barns Courtney earlier this year so instead I have a revelation for you guys. I've always known that I'm kind of particular about how things need to be set up, I assumed it was my mild OCD kicking in, but I've realized that I physically cannot calm down unless I have my bedroom organized so that my bed isn't in the direct line of sight when you open the door. I don't know why this is the way I am now. Looking back this change happened in my teens around the time of my parents divorce. Maybe it's some kind of PTSD from dealing with that bullshit and being constantly terrified in my own home? I don't know. But I'm looking after my sister's cats and when I couldn't stop the compulsion to drag the spare bed to a different corner to fit my needs I noticed my weird pattern. So I thought I'd share and see if it's something that you guys have too? Or maybe you have your own weird quirks. Let me know!

Peace.

Year 6, Day 192

Good Morning! Today's song is You Are The Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne.

Ray LaMontagne has been active since 1999, when a demo he made got him a job as an opener at a theatre in Maine. He was I guess officially discovered in 2004 and signed to a publishing company where he made his debut album, which then got released by two different labels. It's success led to him touring in 2005. A lot of his songs got featured in pop culture stuff, including She's The Man. His second album came out in 2006, with another in 2008. He's been consistently releasing albums (in 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018) while tons of his songs has been used for TV shows and movies. I had never known his name, but I found out that I know tons of his songs, and you might as well. So it's time to learn just who you're listening to. Enjoy.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 191

Good Morning! Today's song is Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder.

So today is my mom's birthday and it's a big one. She's 50. Which is something I honestly can't wrap my brain around, it feels like a false statement. There was an impromptu lunch with the family, which I slept through because I stayed up until the sun rose, so she got to see her brothers. Truly surprising that they were free because usually getting everyone together is like pulling teeth. Case in point being trying to plan this year's Christmas. But she got a celebration, and got a giant ass piece of cheesecake so I guess she's happy. Now my grandparents are back to watching the typical Hallmark Christmas movies that I can only stand for ten minutes before the cringe from awkwardness becomes too great. So you guys get that too? If so, which one is hitting you particularly hard this holiday season? For me, it's The Nine Lives of Christmas, which is cat themed. Without that little piece of context it would sound super dark. Let me know yours!

Peace.

Year 6, Day 190

Good Morning! Today's song is Hello by Lionel Richie.

Sorry guys, I keep forgetting to do a blurb until it's too late to write one because there is a lot going on right now. I was babysitting yesterday and doing some Christmas shopping and general running around today while trying to avoid everyone swamping my city because of the Grey Cup. I'm trying to get my groove back, but I'll call it job enough done just by getting a song out to you. Besides, this one I think has reached classic status so I assume most everyone knows it and the person singing it. I'm actually kind of surprised I haven't featured it before. Anyway, enjoy and I hope today is more relaxing for you than it has been for me!

Peace.

Year 6, Day 189

Good Morning! Today's song is Honesty by Billy Joel.

I don't remember if I told you guys, but my grandpa had started a family tree a long time ago (before Ancestry and other websites of the like showed up) and has now been taken over by his sister and her husband. I didn't expect them to find anything, our family is pretty cookie cutter normal, but they did. For one thing, they managed to track our history back to the 1400's which is insane to me, but more interestingly they found lost relatives. My great grandpa and his brother fought in the war, and I guess his brother had knocked someone up before leaving, never told anyone, and never got the chance to when he didn't make it home. Well the girl gave the baby up for adoption as was the norm in that time for unwed mothers, and the baby got adopted. He grew up, had a son, who now has two daughters a little younger than me, and the three of them live in the same city and want to meet all of us. It's kind of shocking, but nice. Although my family is pretty looney tunes so we'll see if it goes well or not. At least we can answer some of the questions he has about where he came from, I can't imagine how hard not knowing would be. Anyway, I didn't have time to do a research thing today so instead I thought I'd share this because I found it kinda cool.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 188

Good Morning! Today's song is I Want To Hold Your Hand from Across The Universe.

So this song is credited as being sung by T.V Carpio. She is Teresa Victoria whose an actress and singer. Obviously I know her from Across The Universe, but she's also done some Broadway performances including Rent in 2007 and Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark in 2010. She's also been in TV episodes, but the Broadway stuff seems more applicable. I've always like the song covers from Across The Universe, some more than the originals which always gets people upset with me, but I feel how I feel. The mark of a good song is if it still sounds good when performed by others and all of the Beatles' songs hit that mark. Can you guys think of any others that that rule is true for? Let me know.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 187

Good Morning! Today's song is Be Yourself by Harrison Storm.

There's no official bio for me to work off of so bear with me while I cobble one together. This guy is an Australian musician who ended up leaving college to pursue music. He raised enough money performing to make a debut EP that was released in 2015. From that he got enough exposure to get signed to a label, and he released a single in 2017. From the looks of his Facebook page he has been releasing music consistently since then and touring all over the place, which is great. I really like this song and I look forward to more so I hope his popularity continues and he gets big in the industry. Let me know what you think.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 186

Good Morning! Today's song is Old Fashioned by Bruno Major.

Bruno Major is a British singer whose been active since 2014 when he released an EP through Virgin Records. After that from what I understand he split from that label, then decided to release one song a month for a year. Those, once completed, became his album that was released in 2017, followed by a six city tour. He did a larger North American tour the next year, then joined another tour as an opening act. He doesn't have a lot of recent music under his name, but he does have quite a few writing credits for others, so he's still working in the industry. If you're curious you can check out some of the ones he wrote, you might even recognize some of the artists. Happy hunting!

Peace.

Year 6, Day 185

Good Morning! Today's song is Circles by Greta Svabo Bech.

Greta is a Faroese singer, which is a first for me so shout out to the Faroe Islands! For anyone who also didn't know what those were, it's a autonomous territory within Denmark. Basically it's its own country within a country. At least that's to my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong. So Greta Svabo Bech has been active since 2008, although she wasn't really widely known until 2011 when he collab with Deadmou5 got nominated for a Grammy. She did some other collabs until she started releasing her own music in 2013. She's been featured on about ten tracks, then she has four of her own singles and two EPs, the most recent one released this year. So definitely go check that out if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 184

Good Morning! Today's song is Breathe by Anna Nalick.

Anna Nalick is an American singer whose been active since 2003. She always was interested in being in the industry, but decided to do college first. It was there that she was able to pass along a demo to a photography professor, who had a student with parents in the business. This led to her getting signed in 2003 and putting college on hold. Her first album was released in 2005, and this was the lead single from it. I guess I don't need to say it, but the song became huge. The album was re-released with some new songs in 2006, then she won the Female Artist of the Year Award at the New Music Awards. She released an EP in 2008, and had plans to do an album, but it got scrapped when she fell out with her label. She came back in 2010, with a new label, some new music, and some shows. Her next album was released in 2011. She went back to UCLA to do writing, then did a bunch of touring while writing songs in 2013. She began work on an album in 2014 which finally got released in 2017, followed by a tour. She's still technically active so I guess we'll see what comes next in a couple years. Until then, enjoy!

Peace.

Year 6, Day 183

Good Morning! Today's song is Good Enough by Cimorelli.

Cimorelli is a sibling singing group active since 2007. It's made up of sisters Christina, Katherine, Lisa, Amy, Lauren, and Danielle Cimorelli. The first five started the group, making a YouTube channel and posting covers, then in 2008 they released an EP of original songs. Danielle joined in 2010, then the whole family moved to California so they could pursue music. They got signed, then released an EP in 2011. In 2012 they won a Bieber cover competition, then got nominated for a Teen Choice Award before releasing another EP. As of now they have two more EPs, a mixtape, and four albums with the most recent released last year. So go check out more if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 182

Good Morning! Today's song is Karma by Tiffany Alvord.

Tiffany Alvord is an American singer active since 2008, and is actually considered one of the first of YouTube's "homegrown celebrities." She's unsigned, and released her first two albums in 2011. The first was all covers, but the second was only original songs. In 2012 she entered and won an ArtistSignal competition, which she followed with two more albums. She did a bunch of shows and touring in 2013, before releasing another album. The next one came out in 2014. I don't have a record of more albums since then but she is still crazy active on her YouTube so if you're interested go check out more of her stuff.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 181

Good Morning! Today's song is Crazy 4 U by Anna Clendering.

Anna Clendening is new to the music industry, but she was actually a pretty big deal on Vine when that was a thing. She puts out stuff on her YouTube channel, and has released her debut EP this year. She's also touring for it. And that's it, that's her history so she really is a baby in the industry, but her stuff is really good. So if you like the song you should keep an eye out, because I know I will be.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 180

Good Morning! Today's song is Just Give Me A Reason by Pink featuring Nate Ruess.

What is something that you could never forgive in a relationship? I myself have never dated anyone, just never really cared for it (probably because of my social anxiety) but my sister is now married and having some… issues. She went away for training for a well paying job, and while she was gone, her not-husband cheated on her. She wants to reconcile, has decided she can forgive this if they're willing to make it work. When I saw him I punched him in the gut and was told by another family member to cut his man parts off. Cheating is something I could never forgive, is something that not even my lunatic parents did when their marriage was falling apart. I just... I truly can't fathom a reason anyone would need to cheat. If you're unhappy about something, just fucking talk about it like adults. I know I'm probably alone in that and sound like the naive unattached observer that I am, but I don't know any other way to feel. What do you guys think?

Peace.

Year 6, Day 179

Good Morning! Today's song is It's A Shame by First Aid Kit.

So this is a Swedish sibling group, active since 2007 and made up of sisters Johanna Söderberg and Klara Söderberg. The band named was picked by Klara, as a representation of what she wanted their music to be for people. They started uploading their stuff to MySpace in 2007, and sent a song to a radio station, which got aired. It was dubbed one of the best songs of summer, leading to gig requests, although they could only do them on weekends because Klara was still in school. Karin Dreijer who's in The Knife found them through a mutual connection, and signed them to their label, with the caveat that the girls controlled their own music. Their debut EP came out in 2008. A cover of a Fleet Foxes song, and recognition from that group over it made them noticed internationally, getting them another record deal. They both stopped going to school to tour, then they released their first album in 2010. They continued touring and releasing albums constantly since then, with this song being one of their newer ones. What's super interesting is that it seems like their career kept getting pushed farther by other artists finding them and being suitably impressed, then helping them out. It happens a little normally, but their history shows that pattern over and over again. I like that other musicians can still be awed by talent, and help it grow rather than stifling it. For a somewhat cut throat industry, it's refreshing. Anyway, hope you like it.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 178

Good Morning! Today's song is Some Dark Places by JR JR.

This is a band I've featured before, but that was when they were still going by their old name Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. Now it's just JR JR. They've been around since 2010 and are made up of Daniel Zott, Joshua Epstein, Mike Higgins, Jon Visger, and Bryan Pope. At least, those are all the guys listed as being in the band though Zott & Epstein seem to be the only official official members. I'm not sure what's going on there, but that's what I got. They've got 4 EPs and 3 albums plus a couple of singles. The name change came in 2015, and I don't know why they did it but I can think of some logical reasons. It's shorter and easier, and now that they know what their sound is and what they're doing with the band, why not change it. I still think though that the best anecdote about this band is the Dale Earnhardt Jr (the racecar driver) is a fan of the band. Anyway, enjoy.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 177

Good Morning! Today's song is Ultralife by Oh Wonder.

Oh Wonder are an English duo made up of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West, and has been active since 2014. They both were in the industry before: Josephine as a solo artist under her own name and the pseudonym LAYLA, and Anthony in bands called Tonight is Goodbye, Futures, and We The Wild. They both had seen each others' shows, and decided to team up. Throughout 2014 they released a single every month, which would eventually all become their debut album out in 2015. They toured all over the world in 2016, then released their next album in 2017 before touring again. These guys are one of the better finds that YouTube has given me, and I listen to their songs all the time so I'm really glad to be able to share them with you.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 176

Good Morning! Today's song is Runaway (U & I) by Galantis.

Galantis is a music duo from Sweden who've been active since 2012 and consists of Christian Karlsson and Linus Eklöw. Each of them have other facets to their music careers, Karlsson being part of Bloodshy & Avant and Miike Snow, and Eklöw DJ-ing under the pseudonym Style of Eye. They teamed up on a Miike Snow project, and just clicked. They were signed in 2013, and then released their debut EP in 2014. They then released their first album in 2015, followed by a tour for it. They spent the next year releasing singles and collaborating before releasing their second album in 2017. Since then they've done more singles, and have been teasing about future collaborations that they have planned so stay tuned.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 175

Good Morning! Today's song is I Know by Jocelyn Alice.

Jocelyn Alice is a singer from my hometown in Canada whose been active since 2011. She started out on a talent show called Popstars where she came in as the runner up at 16. She started co-writing music that got used in a couple TV shows, then was the featured vocalist in a Target commercial. In 2011 she asked Lisa Jacobs to collaborate with her on a song. That worked out well for them and they decided to form a duo in 2012 as jocelyn & lisa. By 2014 she was back to being a solo artist releasing a song. She got signed in 2015. Her debut EP came out last year, so if you like this song keep an eye out for more.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 174

Good Morning! Today's song is Stay Together by Noah Cyrus.

I feel like it's impossible for anyone in the past 40 years to not know of at least one Cyrus. Noah is the fifth child, and started out in acting in 2002. By 2016 she decided to embark in music, signing with a label and releasing her debut single. She released a couple more singles in 2017 before opening on Katy Perry's tour. 2018 had a couple more singles and her own tour and an EP. Her debut album has yet to come out, but I assume it'll be around soon so look for that.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 173

Good Morning! Today's song is Don't Take The Money by Bleachers.

So Bleachers is the stage name for Jack Antonoff which he's been using since 2014. He's in the band Fun and worked on this as a secret project while he was on tour in the band. He decided to release the music in 2014, releasing his debut album. There were two tours in 2015, while also co headlining another tour with Charlie XCX. There was a second album in 2017, then performed on MTV Unplugged which got turned into a live album. In 2018, Antonoff produced the Love, Simon soundtrack with four songs under this pseudonym. Though technically it's only Antonoff in the band, when he's performing the live band includes Evan Smith, Mikey Hart, Sean Hutchinson, and Mike Riddleberger. I've got a couple Bleachers songs saved to show you guys so hopefully you like this one.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 172

Good Morning! Today's song is Anna Sun by Walk The Moon.

Walk The Moon has been around since 2006, and is currently made up of Nicholas Petricca, Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman. The name is inspired by a song by The Police, which I think is super flattering for the other band. At least I hope it was. They released their debut album in 2010 and got a lot of radio success and blog recognition. It led to them getting signed in 2011 with an album out in 2012. They went on tour with Fun afterwards, and a couple songs were featured in commercials and games. They opened for Panic At The Disco! in 2014, followed by the release of a single in anticipation for their album. The album came out later that year. 2015 had them performing at a lot of events around the States, and nominated for three music awards. They released another album in 2016 and were supposed to go on tour, but it got cancelled due to family illness. They started releasing singles from the next album in 2017 and continued through 2018. This year they are supposed to be going on tour with Muse which would be a very good show, so anyone who is going please have fun for me.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 171

Good Morning! Today's song is One More Weekend by Audien and MAX.

I already wrote about Audien earlier this year and Max on a different year, so I don't really know what to talk about… There's a fundraiser that I've been keeping tabs on started by two Youtubers to help the Earth. Mr. Beast and Mark Rober are leading a campaign to plant 20 million trees by 2020 with help from the Arbor Foundation. That means raising 20 million dollars. At the time I'm writing this the fundraiser has been active for a little over a week, and they've already raised more than 12 million. It's a really good cause, and will have a huge impact on the environment when the trees become fully grown as detailed in this video from the infographics show. So give this a watch and if you want to donate, or just want to watch it's progress, you can do so at the team trees website.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 170

Good Morning! Today's song is Another Life by Afrojack and David Guetta featuring Ester Dean.

Afrojack is Nick van de Wall, a Dutch DJ whose been active since 2003. He's been performing in clubs since then, but then officially changed to this stage name in 2007. He's had some big hits that have gotten international interest. He's been featured on DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJ's list 9 years in a row. He's been nominated for tons of awards and even won a Grammy in 2011. He spent 2012 headlining a bunch of festivals, then released his debut album in 2014. He adopted another stage name in 2017, going as NLW to produce some things. This song came out in 2017, so he's still using this alias for at least one style of music. I've already talked about the other two people on this song before so I'm gonna end it here. Enjoy.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 169

Good Morning! Today's song is Body by Loud Luxury featuring Brando.

Loud Luxury is Andrew Fedyk and Joe Depace, a DJ duo from Canada who have been active since 2012. They met in school and got inspired, so they started making music. They released a song in 2016, then remixed a Martin Garrix song in 2017 before releasing this song. They've continued making music since, and were even nominated at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for one of their videos in 2018. Then with this song, they won a Juno this year for Dance Recording of The Year. Brando is the feature on this song and there really isn't a lot of information on him, only that they collaborated on this and that he's signed to a label. He's very mysterious and I wish I knew more but at least we got the song. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 6, Day 168

Good Morning! Today's song is Familiar by Liam Payne and J Balvin.

You guys should know who Liam Payne is already, I think I've done his bio before, so instead let's talk about J Balvin. His name is Jose Balvin and is a Columbian singer whose been active since 2004. He was inspired to music by Daddy Yankee, and ended up moving to the States for awhile, gaining influence from what he heard from some American rappers. He moved home and went to business school, while performing in clubs. He was 19 when he decided to seriously pursue music, adopting the stage name El Negocio. He got signed in 2009, releasing his debut album the same year. 2012 was when he broke out internationally. In 2014, an album reached the top of the Latin charts, and he won a Latin Grammy. He's continued growing in popularity and with content since then, and has been sweeping through the charts lately as evidenced by him being on two songs in a row on here, so if you like this stuff you should go check out more from him.

Peace.