The News Review:
- Popa Chubby at the Lycian Center
- … Cobain to the Monkees a new book examines the authenticity…
- Talking Pat & Jerry Blues
- Classical music has dominated the Pulitzer music prize but perhaps…
Popa Chubby at the Lycian Center
minsk.by – Apr 14, 2007
With his razor sharp biting guitar vocals from the gut and songwriting prowess Popa Chubby artfully combines the elemental force of the blues with the more modern urban elements of todays popular music. Popa Chubby’s music forged in the toughness that is New York City takes blues to the cutting edge where it high fives its contemporary cousins rock rap and hip hop. With his razor sharp biting guitar vocals from the gut and songwriting prowess Popa Chubby artfully combines the elemental force of the blues with the more modern urban elements of today’s popular music. Born Ted Horowitz Popa Chubby is a true native son of the Big Apple. He grew up in the neighborhood immortalized in Robert DeNiro’s film “A Bronx Tale. ” His early memories of hearing the jukebox in his parents’ candy store playing the hits of early sixties soul and R&B – and the neighborhood teens flocking around it – made a lasting impression on him.
… Cobain to the Monkees a new book examines the authenticity…
Toronto Star – Apr 14, 2007
Then again authenticity may be just as illusory as wannabe dreams in Idol land. Think back to before the big bang of the 1960s music boom. Elvis cultivated a Marlon Brando snarl in the ’50s because he noticed it turned girls on and constructed a hybrid sound out of black blues and white country music that was pure artifice sheer pretence and laughably unrealistic argue music writers and cultural observers Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor in the diabolically provocative new book Faking It: The Pursuit f Authenticity In Popular Music (W. And given the abundance of heavily manufactured pop froth that’s cluttering up radio these days credibility may not matter at all in the future. "Rock ‘n’ roll was at its core self-consciously inauthentic music" they write… "Authenticity was always important to folk musicians who value their proximity to source material and to country artists who traditionally bent over backwards to convince others they were genuine hayseeds" Taylor explained. "But it crossed over into popular music in the 1960s when the authenticity of politicians became an important cultural issue and when the culture in general became obsessed with what was phony and what was real. "They examine various manifestations of artistic authenticity ? or the lack of it ? in the work of such artists as so-called blues legends Mississippi John Hurt and Leadbelly country music star Jimmie Rodgers and rock ‘n’ rollers Elvis The Beatles and Neil Young during his ugliest (but undeniably authentic) period. They also look at industrial creations like disco diva Donna Summer and The Monkees ? who fought for credibility and lost ? and anarchic anti-celebrity celebrities Kurt Cobain and The Sex Pistols. But Barker and Taylor barely approach the complex personas created by generational superstars Bob Dylan Mick Jagger David Bowie and Van Morrison. "Frankly we veered away from subjects we couldn’t agree on" said Barker from his home in London. "Dylan is just too big too complex when it comes to authenticity issues.
Talking Pat & Jerry Blues
TheCelebrityCafe.com – Apr 14, 2007
He’s equally at home with his own sharp-edged songs about current events traditional Appalachian folk music folk classics penned by masters including Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger or original songs that those legends would be proud to call their own. More than any other contemporary folk performer McCutcheon carries on that legacy which brings meaning to music. In this collection he has some songs that will make you laugh others that will make you angry and at least one that will bring a lump to your throat (especially if you’re a baseball fan — the rousing “I AM HERE” elegantly captures everything that makes us love baseball). Not many musicians can make that claim!.
Classical music has dominated the Pulitzer music prize but perhaps…
International Herald Tribune – Apr 14, 2007
Jazz was in full swing with the likes of Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong and George Gershwin. Blues was on its way to producing greats like Muddy Waters. And Broadway was providing the popular hits of the day: “klahoma!” featuring the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein debuted that same year. Yet the Pulitzers only considered one kind of music: classical. And in the more than 50 years since classical has reigned despite a rich musical landscape featuring the likes of Miles Davis Bob Dylan James Brown John Coltrane the Motown era and the birth of new genres from rock to rap. That may change on Monday when this year's Pulitzers are announced.