Filed under: friends, news | Tags: all things audible, interview, james childs, life is music, will hughes
Yesterday my friend and talented musical colleague Will Hughes put up a recent interview he did with me on his awesome music blog Life is Music. Will and I go way back to middle school when he was one of the managers on the football team in 7th grade and he kept me company when I sat on the bench.
Anyway, he was kind enough to ask me some really fun questions about music, gear, and playing and I’m planning on interviewing him soon.
If you’ve got the time and you’re bored enough to want to read all about me, check it out..
I wanted to give a shout out to my cousin (in law)’s awesome music website, inklings.tv. Naomi (or Lauren as I call her) is a certifiable music junkie with great taste and genius marketing skills. Her and her friend Carrie started this site where they interview tons of bands and try to get up and coming music out to the masses. And how cool is their tagline?
Be sure to check it out..
Filed under: artists, friends, technique | Tags: all things audible, background vocals, bethany dillon, BGVs, daniel renstrom, ed cash, james childs, john frusciante, matt wertz, red hot chili peppers, shelly moore, steven miller
For those who don’t know the lingo, BGV = background vocal/vocalist. In fact, if you look “BGV” up in the dictionary, you will see the definition, along with the pictures of the four individuals above. That is because they just so happen to be BGV prodigies.
Starting with the top-left and moving clockwise, let me tell you about these geniuses:
John Frusciante is the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He also does most if not all of their BGVs live and on the record. He has a really unique and killer voice and it has the perfect texture for BGVs. On top of that, the layered parts that he comes up with are so creative, almost sounding like a keyboard pad at times. For my favorite of his BGV work, go watch/listen to Universally Speaking, Dosed, & The Zephyr Song.
Ed Cash is primarily a producer but ends up doing sick BGVs on most of his artists records, namely Bethany Dillon and Matt Wertz. Some highlights are Dillon’s For My Love and Wertz’ Everything’s Right. He has a God-given ear for this stuff.
Shelly Moore is a good friend of mine and I’ve been blessed enough to watch her BGV work in action on several occasions. Sometimes what she does sounds odd at first but when you listen to the playback it’s simply amazing in a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that kindof way. Here are a few examples of her talent:
- Light Yourself on Fire by Steven Miller
- Angels We Have Heard on High by Daniel Renstrom
Daniel Renstrom is also a good friend and sickly talented at BGVs, especially his texture and ability to hit crazy notes. Case and point: listen to this compilation of BGVs he did for Shelly’s first record:
Hope this was inspiring to you aspiring BGVs..
