Music Art

One of the world’s most everlasting songwriter, performer, actor, environmentalist, and humanitarian, John Denver has mystified the world with his music for over three decades

John was the son of a U.S Air Force officer. His journey into music began after the family moved to Tucson, where, at the age of eleven, he got his first guitar. Eventually, he took up guitar lessons and joined a boy’s choir.

It was the year 1963 when John started to envision stardom. He changed his name from Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. to John Denver. Denver was derived from the beautiful Rocky Mountain capital city of Colorado, his home state.

His first major break was when he was chosen from 250 other hopefuls as lead singer for the popular Mitchell Trio. Two years hence, John sharpened his considerable vocal talent and developed his own song writing style, in which he started getting recognition. “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, was his first hit.

Within the next two years, the trio disbanded and John started performing alone. He started climbing up domestic as well as international charts with “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Rocky Mountain High,” “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” “Annie’s Song,” “Back Home Again,” “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,” and “Calypso”… reinforcing his position as one of the top stars of the decade.

His concert tours reached millions globally. The world embraced John – captivated by each new release, including 14 gold albums and 8 platinum albums in the U.S as well as numerous gold and platinum sales overseas.

John contributed his talents to the benefit of many charitable and environmental causes and has received numerous civic and humanitarian awards over the years. In fact, he was one of the first artists to share an environmental message through his music. “Whose Garden Was This?” was the first in a long line of songs that he wrote about the environment.

His passion to help create a global community paved the way for ventures into new musical and geographic territories. In 1985, he was invited by the Soviet Union to perform in their country, inspiring the internationally acclaimed song “Let Us Begin,” which was featured on John’s 25th album “One World.” The song was recorded in Moscow as a duet with the well-known Soviet singer Alexandre Gradsky, the first time a Soviet artist was allowed to perform on a record with a major American singer. “Let Us Begin” moved viewers around the world. Read the rest of this entry »

If you like music, then you know about an American guitarist, singer and songwriter named Jimi Hendrix. He was classed as one of best and influenced many a budding guitarists with his music.

Though starting in England it wasn’t until the Monterey Festival in 1967 that he was recognized worldwide. He later went on to headline The 1969 Woodstock Festival and with his style of playing using guitar feedback and overdriven amplifiers he turned an undesirable sound into a highly popular type of music.

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Another amazing artist is Jimmy Page, from England he is also a composer and record producer.

He started out as a Studio guitarist then joined a band called the Yardbirds, which played from 1966 to 1968. He then founded one of best and most popular English bands called Led Zepplin. In rock history, Jimmy Page is a legend in his own right. as a guitarist and songwriter. Page was also ranked the #9th greatest guitarist of all time.

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You can’t talk guitarists without talking about” Slowhand” Eric Clapton. This English award winning rock guitarist, singer is also a songwriter and composer. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 3 times and was one of the best musicians of the 20th and 21rst centuries. Though he’s tried different styles, the blues are always present in his playing. He has played with Cream, The Yardbirds and blues -rock band John Mavril & the Bluesbreakers.

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Another great guitarist, from America, is Joe Satriani. His style of instrumental rock music in a world previously dominated by pop opened the doors for a completely new type of music. His blues and rock tone has a warm sound and the influences of such artists as Jimi Hendrix , Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck can be heard in his music. Read the rest of this entry »

Many families are buying karaoke machines for home entertainment. It’s a great way for the family to get together and have a real fun night. This of course means you have to buy some karaoke DVDs, otherwise there is no need for the karaoke machine. What makes this so much fun is when people are singing karaoke, its their voice that stands out they are not singing over the vocals. Although they can if they want to.

Karaoke DVD’s are a little different then regular DVDs. They come in a variety of different ways. You can get 16 song DVDs. Here you will have a full selection of music. In addition these DVDs have the graphic scripting included on them. This is what makes them different than the regular music cds that you buy. It’s the graphic scripting that allows the lyrics to show up on the TV or the monitor. Often the DVDs come with a book that includes all the lyrics for each and every song on the DVD.

Then you can buy Karaoke DVDs that have 8+8 songs for example. This is a 16 track DVD. You get 8 songs with the lead vocal, and you get 8 songs without the vocal. This is used when you want to learn the songs, and its sometimes easier to start off singing with the vocalist. Then as you become familiar with the tones etc. you can switch over to the non vocal. Its an excellent way to learn new songs.

With some karaoke DVDs the lyrics will appear on the screen and highlighted in time with the music. Colors will swirl around and pulsate with the rhythm. This just adds excitement to your performance. It sort of helps you stay in tune a bit as well. Its like the old bouncing ball music that used to be played when we were children, so we could follow along. It may help you not lose your place.

One thing is for sure, you are certainly not going to find any shortage of choice in music. The amount you have to choose from will almost be overwhelming. Now making the choice is easier if you are running your own karaoke business. If its for home use, you don’t need near the selection that the KDJ is going to require. Its still nice to build a collection though. Which you will over time no doubt. Karaoke can become addictive. Read the rest of this entry »