Song of the Moment: The Old Believers - “Granny’s Song”

August 8, 2008 at 2:14 am · Filed under Music, SotM, Writing

I have this terrible habit of associating songs with people and specific events.  I call this a terrible habit because, in some cases, it can ruin the song for me!  Still, I do it with just about every experience I have — even the insignificant ones.  In some cases, it’s a song that may have been playing when an event occurred or possibly a song with lyrics that seem to explicitly describe a person.  In other cases, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why I draw the associations I do.

I recently travelled to Poland to visit my family there.  It was an amazing experience that despite what others may say, doesn’t happen often enough for me.  During the trip, I stayed with my grandmother and she just about stuffed me right full of food!  While there, I couldn’t stop thinking of a song by The Old Believers called “Granny’s Song.”

The Old Believers - “Granny’s Song”

The Old Believers have a very, well, old sound at times.  “Granny’s Song” is an example of that.  The melody is very soft and filled with joy and the lyrics describe a trip back to Granny’s after some time away.  It seemed perfect to describe my own trip!  The background harmonies are angelic.  In fact, the entire song has a quaint and innocent quality to it.  The Old Believers took a lot of time in arranging the music in this song to sound just like a trip to your grandmother’s house.  The anticipation and happiness are all present in the melody, harmony, lyrics and instrumentation.  There is also a distinct feeling of sadness that many of us feel when visiting our elderly family.

For more of The Old Believers, you can visit their (currently under construction) website:  www.oldbelieversmusic.com

You can also find them on Myspace:

www.myspace.com/oldbelievers

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Song of the Moment: Zachery Quinn - “Somewhere to Be”

June 4, 2008 at 2:52 am · Filed under Music, SotM

Zachery Quinn is a 21 year old musician from New Orleans, LA. His music focuses tends to focus on relationships and the ways we interact with each other on a daily basis. As a songwriter, his writing fairly mature but can sometimes seem clumsy. Quinn’s real talent lies in his ability to arrange his music very well and incorporate intricate yet easily relateable hooks to his songs.

Zachery Quinn - “Somewhere to Be”

“Somewhere To Be” is one of my favorite songs off his demo album, “Good Morning, Cruel World.” It’s a slow and melancholy ballad about regret and longing, but still has a hint of hope. The opening few notes set up the mood Quinn is trying to create quite well. The trend with Quinn’s music is to layer good to excellent vocals over an incredibly arranged and hooky melody. Without straying from this trend, Quinn provides the listener with soft, pretty vocals and some of the best lyrics I’ve seen from him to date.

For more of Zachery Quinn, check out his Myspace: www.myspace.com/zacheryquinnmusic
You can also find a stream of his upcoming full-length here: N.O. PUNKS

Lyrics under the fold…

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