Jason Link

Last week I went to Nashville for the first time, and I absolutely fell in love with the city. They definitely call it Music City for a reason. There is so much history all around and music is everywhere you go. In the bars downtown, they start playing music at 10am every day and it usually goes well past midnight. One of the many spots we stopped at was Legends, which was right on a corner on Broadway (on the main strip). We got there around 2pm on Thursday and saw a band setting up. Turns out they were going to play from 2pm till 6pm, so we decided to check them out. Although, I must say, we didn't expect to stay there the whole four hours. We soon found out that the singer performing was Jason Link. I had never heard of him before, but I fell in love with him and his music right away. He had a great connection with the crowd and even took a liking to my older aunt lol. He was joking around with her most of the day saying he was going to take her out on a date (and this definitely made her day since she couldn't stop talking about it the rest of our trip). We donated some money to his cause and even bought his CD, because a lot of these musicians at the bars play for tips and walk around with a tip jar. When he walked around with the tip jar, he took the time to talk to every single person in the bar and gave many hugs to show his appreciation. I'm pretty sure he performs mostly around Nashville, but you should definitely check him out. His CD is available to buy on iTunes, and you know me, I'm all about supporting the independent artists, so go check out his music and buy the CD if you like it! He definitely has what it takes to be a star in country music, so here's to hoping that he gets discovered one day soon. :-)

Jason Link's Myspace Page
Jason Link's Facebook Page
Jason Link performing "All My Friends Say"
Jason Link performing "Red House" with a young guest (great video showing his personality)

KT Tunstall

On Sunday, April 10th, 2011 I went to the Theatre of the Living Arts (TLA) on South Street in Philadelphia to see KT Tunstall for the first time. I first learned about KT Tunstall when I heard her single, "Black Horse and A Cherry Tree." I started singing this song at karaoke (with the smart suggestion of my good friend, Cisco) and it quickly became one of my favorites to sing (and a crowd pleaser as well). In the past few years, I have bought her CD's but I must admit I never really listened to her songs that frequently. It wasn't that I didn't like her music...I'm actually not sure why I never listened lol. Well, after seeing her live earlier this month, I became an even bigger fan. She performed the entire night by herself using looping pedals instead of having a band back her up. For those of you who are not familiar with looping, here's a definition: Loops are short sections of tracks (probably between one and four bars in length), which you believe might work being repeated. A loop is not "any sample, but...specifically a small section of sound that's repeated continuously. Besides her unique vocals, she also used instruments including a guitar, kazoo, piano, and drums. I had never been to a show where the artist used this technique the entire time, and I must say, it was really cool to experience first hand. Along with her musical talent, she also had a great personality. She was hilarious and conversed with the crowd a lot. I found her to have a great connection with the crowd and she was very appreciative of the support she was receiving from the audience. Many people would probably put her in the country genre since "Black Horse and A Cherry Tree" sounds a bit country and that's one of her most popular singles, but she actually has a rock feel to the rest of her music. I definitely recommend checking her out, especially if you can see her perform live. You won't be disappointed. (Definitely check out the video below of KT performing "Black Horse" at this show because she does a cool version of "Seven Nation Army" in the middle of the song.)

KT Tunstall's Official Website
KT Tunstall performing "Black Horse and A Cherry Tree" at TLA
KT Tunstall performing "Uummannaq Song"
KT Tunstall performing "Glamour Puss"
KT Tunstall performing "Through the Dark"