Year 8, Day 281

Hey guys. Today's song is Redhead by Caylee Hammack featuring Reba McEntire.

Caylee Hammack is an American country singer active since 2018. She moved to Nashville in 2013 and started sneaking into bars with a fake ID so she could play her music. She did cover songs, as well as some originals including this one. She was signed in 2018 and released her debut single in 2019 then opened for a bunch of country stars. In 2020 she wrote a song about her ex boyfriends, which was given to Chris Stapleton to sing. Later that year she was nominated for New Female Artist of the Year at the ACM Awards. She was supposed to tour with Reba McEntire and Luke Bryan, but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Her debut album was released in 2020 and that's where this song with Reba featured on it comes on. I wont go into detail on Reba because we're covered her before and I think everyone knows her so we'll go fast. Reba is a country music star active since 1974 and has released a whopping 32 albums over her career with the latest from 2019. She's also done a fair amount of acting, I remember watching her show on TV when I was younger. I can think of no reason that she'd be added to this track other than she is country's iconic redhead and honestly that's enough for me because this song sound great. Hope you enjoy it.

So today's environmental thing is dealing with recycling and habitat conservation as a secondary function. Two college students started Glass Half Full in Louisiana as a glass recycling facility since the facilities to reuse and remake glass bottles was so far away and not worth the transportation to move it. So instead, they break down the glass from their area and turn it into sand, as the natural levels have been rapidly decreasing over time. Using the glass sand they have been able to help shore up the lines in nature and help preserve the area's wetlands, keeping the declining habitats safe. And before you ask, yes this is safe for the environment, and the company actually works in conjunction with Tulane's research department to rigorously test its affects and give their approval. Ideally this could be adapted in other areas that are too far away for remaking facilities and help curb two problems with one function. Watch the video, it's pretty cool project.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 280

Hey guys. Today's song is We're Gonna Be Drinking by d'Artagnan featuring Candice Night, Blackmore's Night.

So d'Artagnan is a German band active since 2015 and made up of Benjamin Metzner, Tim Bernard, Gustavo Strauss, Sebastian Baumann, Matthias Böhm, and Haiko Heinz with past members including Felix Fischer and Hans Platz. They've released five albums over their career, with the first in 2016 and the most recent from 2022. This song features Candice Night, which is one of two members of Blackmore's Night, a British/American band active since 1997. The other member of the group is Ritchie Blackmore, but they have a huge list of additional members that I assume just aren't in it full time. They've released 11 albums through their career, with the latest from 2021. So go check out both groups and tell me what you think.

Now for the conservation... this is less conservation and more sustainability, but it does affect both things. Lately there has been a lot of talk about plastic, specifically single use plastic that get used in most packaging and production, and then ends up in landfills and the ocean and will outlast all of use because it takes so long to break down. Well today I'm shouting out the packaging company Notpla, based out of London, that makes biodegradable, sustainable packaging using seaweed. If we swapped this out for all the plastic that we can it would make an incredible difference to our environmental footprint, since seaweed is a natural product and is a carbon negative (has a net effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) which is really the goal we're working towards when it comes to living environmentally conscious. So check out this video showing what they do, and share it around with your friends to make people more aware of the options.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 279

Hey guys. Today's song is Dance All Over Me by George Ezra.

Photo from: FestivalSommer

George Ezra is an English musician active since 2013. He started school at the Modern Music Institute in 2011, and in 2013 played on the BBC Introducing stage at a festival, beginning his career. He released his debut EP the same year and started to get some radio play on his songs. In 2014 he started being featured on a bunch of New Artist lists before releasing his second EP. He also released his debut album in 2014, which charted around the world. He did some touring in 2015, along with being nominated for four BRIT Awards. In 2017 he did some secret shows to debut some new material before releasing a new album in 2018. He spent some more time touring before releasing his next album in 2022 and plans  to be touring throughout Europe this year, so keep an eye out for him if you're in that part of the world. On to the impromptu conservation station this week. I'm going to highlight another water conservation thing today. Most people know about coral reefs dying off from bleaching which is as serious a problem as the Amazon disappearing, so today we're going to talk about efforts by the Coral Restoration Foundation that actively works at trying to repopulate the reefs with coral that fixes the biodiversity of the reefs. Now this group is based out of Florida fixing the Florida reefs, but the Great Barrier Reef is in Australia, so there is another group called the Great Barrier Reef Foundation doing the same over there. In the future I hope they'll move from just using the tree nursery method, but anything is better than nothing right now. Both groups are doing great work and are simultaneously fixing the world's oceans so give them some love today, and watch the video explaining what they do. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 278

Hey guys. Today's song is Don't Give Up On Me by Andy Grammer.

Andy Grammer is an American musician active since 2007, starting out with busking until he was discovered in 2009 and signed to a label. He released his debut album in 2011, then toured with Natasha Bedingfield and Colbie Caillet. He released another album in 2014, then competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2015, placing 7th. That year he also performed at the World Series, then performed in 2016 at the AFC Championship Game, along with releasing a single. His next album was released in 2017, followed by his next album in 2019, of which this is the lead single on. Most of the songs I know from him are featured in movies, and this one is no different, with even the music video being scenes from Five Feet Apart. He's still going strong with an EP released in 2022, so check that out if you're interested. Alright I did mention that I've been getting into a stint of conservation projects so for today I'm going to feature Make A Change, specifically the Sungai Watch that has been working to clean the trash out of Indonesia's rivers, and keep track of what they're pulling out to try to work with those companies to stop the problem at the source. Which is an important step, so check out their project.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 277

Hey guys. Today's song is 'Til I Found You by Jeremy Loops.

Jeremy Loops is the stage name for Jeremy Hewitt, a South African musician active since 2009. He started playing guitar while in college, and after graduating he wasn't sure about going into finance like what his degree was in, and took a two year round-the-world trip while working on a super yacht. When he came back he decided to pursue music full time in 2010. He released his debut EP in 2011, with many of the songs reappearing in his debut studio album that was released in 2014 in South Africa. It became a huge hit, and he spent the rest of the year touring around South Africa. The album was released in North America in 2015, followed by three tours through that area, then released in Europe in 2016. As of now he's released two more albums, one in 2018 and another in 2022, with the one in 2018 focusing on the water shortage that was happening in Cape Town at the time. It's also worth noting that Loop co-founded the group Greenpop which focusing on replanting as a way to restore ecosystems. Apparently this has become my impromptu week of shouting out wildlife conservation efforts, so please check out this one today and the one from yesterday to see what they've got going on.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 276

Hey guys. Today's song is Watercolor by Forester.

So Forester is an American duo, active since 2019 and made up of David Parris and Xander Carlson. They started with doing music part time while working their regular jobs, but their first single was big enough to earn them a deal with a label when the song went viral. They released their debut album in 2019 before signing with Kygo's label in 2020 and releasing another album that year. They also have a third album now that was released in 2022 from which this is the title song. On top of making music they also are big on conservation, with their YouTube stating that "a pillar of the project is the preservation of the nature that’s inspired Forester, with the guys donating a portion of the revenue from their debut album to The Nature Conservancy." Which is a noble cause and honestly something everyone needs to get behind like 20 years ago if we even want a future on this planet. And on that note I'm also going to shout out Mossy Earth today, which is a group that works on restoring ecosystems to help fix climate change. Their YouTube channel shows some of their projects and this video in particular is really good about explaining the arguments on climate change that we still see going on today. Check it out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 275

Hey guys. Today's song is Carry On by Kygo & Charlie Puth featuring Dua Lipa.

Kygo is the stage name for Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, a Norwegian DJ active since 2010. He learned how to produce music through YouTube tutorials, and left college halfway through a business and finance degree so he could pursue music fulltime. He started releasing singles in 2013, and gained international fame in 2014 with a song featuring Conrad Sewell. Through his career, he's released 4 albums so far, the first in 2016 and the most recent in 2022. Since I've featured the other two before, I'm  gonna go through it fast. Charlie Puth is an American singer, active since 2009 with the start of his YouTube channel. He self released an EP in 2010 then was signed in 2011, but left the label in 2012. He released another independent EP in 2013 then signed with another label in 2015. Since then he's released three albums, one in 2016, 2018, and 2022. Dua Lipa is an English and Albanian musician active since 2014. She signed with a label and has released two albums, one in 2017 and another in 2020, which she spent 2022 doing the tour for. I'm never sure whose photo to put up when it comes to songs with more than two artists on it, but I just went with what was on the video, so hopefully that works fine. Anyway, enjoy the song!

Peace.