This Beautiful and Wounding Life of Motherhood

As I'm navigating this child life for the third time,  there is so much beautiful and wounding at the same time.  On a daily basis you're hit with a reality wave that reminds you how this is not how you planned it exactly and yet it is everything!  My sister-in-law put it right in her newest song.

If you like it and would like to support more music coming from Hannah, go vote for her at the link below:

Vote for I've Got It Good by Hannah Elise

Great Music, Great People

Looking for some new music?  I've got a couple of suggestions and I just happen to know them both personally, so I can vouch that they're both super cool and have even bigger hearts.

Mrs. Hannah Rogers (Scott) married my brother this summer, but the year before put out a great set of songs.  You can find heart on iTunes and was featured yesterday on thesixtyone.com.  You can listen to her here and her to support her!

Sephra (Osburn), whom I have known basically since she was born, is a recent grad in Audio Engineering release her Transparent EP a while back and is soon to release more.  She's been featured on thesixtyone.com a while back too.  You can listen to her and heart her here to support her as well.  

And actually, I have one more suggestion, Matt Scheuber of Matt Scheuber's Music just happens to be Sephra's fiance and is a fabulous musician/engineer as well! Check his two albums out on iTunes!

Support good local music; Support young couples just starting out; Support friends and family of mine!

Give the Sing-Off a Try

Mr. Butler and I don't watch a lot of television live anymore, but usually watch online when we have time.  For that reason, I didn't watch the Sing-Off in real time and not even in its entirety.  But, I did catch a few episodes and most of the finale.  For those of you who've not given it a listen, here's why I think you should.

1. This show is a lot more about hard work and perfecting a craft than it is a popularity contest, like some shows often end up.  

2. Singing a capella (without instruments) well is hard and the level of musicianship is going up every season it seems.

3.  It's a lot of fun to watch and the judges, for the most part, aren't lame.  Shaun sometimes bugs me, but overall they are good at what they do.

4. Lastly, many of the performances they have produced are awesome.  I think this tops the chart in my book.  

 Enjoy!

National Jukebox

Randy stumbled across something recently that I'd like to share.  The Library of Congress recently 'released' the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge.  Right now the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925, but I believe it is their intention to continually add to the collection.

For all kinds of reasons, I think its pretty great that they've compiled it all and are sharing it with everyone.  I've browsed around a little bit on it, but I'm sure I haven't even touched the surface.  What I'm most excited about is how much of a teaching resource it can be.  Whether you're studying music or just that time period in any subject, having access to the original music can provide a very educational perspective.  

The Martini

For those in the Oklahoma City area, guess what I found? 105.3 FM is now known as The Martini, an adult standards station.  It used to be the Spy, but is no longer.  Rat Pack numbers, Mr. Buble and some Diana Krall, for starters, is a taste of what they have to offer. It's a nice change, if you ask me. What I think is fun is that they already have a Wikipedia entry and a facebook page. Just thought I'd share. :)

8 Tracks

Most everyone has probably heard of Pandora Radio by now.  Recently, Randy discovered a comparable website that we're diggin' right now.  It's called 8 Tracks and its totally free.  People are invited to load a playlist of 8 tracks or more and the website shares it.  We've already discovered tons of music we've never heard of and I guess there is something to be said for a playlist generated by a real person, not a computer. Here's a quote from the website.

"Listen for free to the best internet radio, crafted by people who know and love music. Or, legally share your own online mixtape, a streaming playlist with eight or more tracks."


And the best part is that there aren't any commercials!!  

Like a comet pulled from orbit...

Today I want to share a guilty pleasure. I found a book of music from the musical Wicked at the library and was playing through it just now. From the first time I heard the music from Wicked, it has always made me cry. Just playing through 'For Good' this morning made me tear up. The original witches, Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, are so good and their friendship is so sweet. There is a video on youtube of Kristin's last performance and you can tell they both are so emotional. Anyway, if you've never seen Wicked, you should! The story is a fascinating insight into The Wizard of Oz, it has great, great music, it is HILARIOUS and makes you feel good to boot! And, if you don't have the option today to go to a broadway show, youtube is FULL of videos of various songs! Below is the song "For Good" that overlays some explanation of the show. It's neat. :)

She and Him Discovery

Once Halloween is over, my mind (perhaps prompted by our shopping malls) fast forwards into holiday mode. Yesterday I was reminded of 'Elf', one of Will Ferrell's redeeming movies, and made a mad dash for Google and all the possibilities it brings. Zooey Daschanel's character "Jovie" does a rendition of the song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' that I just loved. Her voice was so impressive, yet I had never taken the time to see if she had done anymore singing. Google and I made some neat discoveries! Turns out I wasn't the only fan of her voice, searching for an album of some kind. This FAQ page was created for people like me and at the time of publishing, she had no album or recording plans in the making. Disappointed, but not defeated, I turned to YouTube for solace, hoping I could find a video of her singing anyway. Those who perservere will be rewarded!! Not only did I find several videos, but this past year she colaborated with M. Ward to form the band She & Him and released a new album, Volume One in March. There is at least one official music video on YouTube and I have heard several other tracks on Pandora. Quirky, raw and reminiscent of something long gone, I really like it! Now I just wish I could make a show of theirs.