News - Casey on iTunes,new friends, etc

Just time for an update, it has been a bit. Casey Stratton's new release, Memories and Photographs, is now available on iTunes. I purchased it when it became available in Casey's store, and have listened to it several times, really liking in muchly! You can get it from iTunes by clicking here.



Welcome Michael, the latest person to follow here at Soundtrack to my Day. I appreciate your support!



It is official, summer is gone, and autumn is here. Frankly, I like fall the best, and am kinda happy to see summer fade. I love seeing the colors of fall transform the view out my window, from a sea of green to the shades of all, the reds, orange and browns.

Also, I might as well announce it now, in case the faint of heart want to start packing now. Once the American Idol season starts up, I will be guest-blogging for my friend Rickey, the blogger with Rickey. Org, the site EW named the number one American Idol fansite the the second year running. I will have my impression of the performance and results shows within 30 minutes of their conclusion, and I will post them here and at Rickey's. I had written them for Rickey last season, and he recently asked me back for another season.



Also, have the latest CDs from Collective Soul and Mika, and hope to post some thoughts on them soon. Been a busy time, so still working on listening to both, coming up with my thoughts. Not as easy as it used to be...

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Live Music - American Idols 2009 Act 2

Top: Me & Rickey; Rickey & Blake; Big effects. Bottom: The band.

In a previous post, I had recapped the first act of the American Idol Season 8 tour, leaving me to tackle the top 4 here. But for those who missed that, I went to the American Idol Season 8 tour with my friend Rickey from Rickey.Org. The first act consisted of the performers who finished 5th thru 10th on the Fox reality show, and the 2nd act were the top 4, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and eventual winner, Kris Allen. Below are my thoughts on the performances, and my pictures. If you'd like to see them bigger, click on them.




Allison Iraheta is 17 years old, but sings like a soul much more mature. She covered Janis Joplin's Cry Baby, and it was exceptional! She still maintains the charm of a teenager, with a raw and at time frenetic energy. I really enjoyed her time on the stage. Could she be the next Daughtry, and ride her 4th place finish to fame and fortune? Could be.




Danny Gokey has caught much grief this season, the story of his wife's passing almost as well known as his singing. I was not a fan while he was on the show, but he did show more energy live, and a lot more charisma. I never got what the judges were saying about him, but have more of an appreciation now. That said, I really find him to be more of an anachronism, more dated than he is retro. Can't say I see a place for him in modern music, but I could be wrong. Several times he did acknowledge Rickey during his set, which was fun.




Adam Lambert is a huge talent. On stage, he has charm and charisma in abundance, and a voice that is tough to top. He opened with Whole Lotta Love, the Led Zeppelin song, and it was outstanding. It was raw and sexual, just as the song intended. The ease of his performance was great to watch, moving from covers of Led Zep to Muse to Tears For Fears to David Bowie like he was putting on some eyeliner. I am not sure where or if he will find a place for himself in the music business, but it certainly won't be for lack of ability.




Kris Allen was considered an underdog, but still managed to win the title this season but all accounts with ease. I enjoyed him this season, as he seemed to be cut from the singer/songwriter cloth I enjoy so much. That being said, I was a bit disappointed with his performance, as I didn't feel he took command of the stage or the audience the way I would hope. He seemed tethered by the intrument he was playing, either the piano or the guitar, and didn't utilize the stage. He maintained a greater connection with the song than the audience. He sang his songs well, and played nicely, I was just hoping he would invite the audience to join him in the journey, not just watch him from a distance.




Then all 10 performers to come back and do a group song, a cover the Journey's Don't Stop Believing, a song making a resurgence as of late, much due to the use for the Fox series Glee, complete with a reappearance of the dueling pianists Matt & Scott. The number was quite fun.



Another bright spot for me was during Adam's set, when he brought out Allison to breathe new life into Foghat's Slow Ride. They were right on the money, being playful and strong, feeding off one another and elevating their performances.




In a side note, there was an extreme amount of smoke used during the show, and kinda grew tired of it by the third time Adam Lambert disappeared behind it. Sometimes, you just wanna explain that a little goes a long way.

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Live Music - American Idols 2009 Act 1

UPDATE: Part 2 found here.

So, on Friday afternoon there was a change of plans when I received a phone call from my friend Rickey, and we had tickets for the American Idols Summer Tour. So I headed to my sister's home after the Aiden James concert in Philly, and woke up Saturday morning in New Jersey. I chatted with the kids, and had some fun, and got ready to go to another show.




Rickey is the blogger behind the hugely successful Rickey.Org, a must-visit site for American Idol fans. Rickey and I have been going to the AI concerts for the last three years, and this made four. I have been his unofficial photographer, taking pctures of the show and if he meets up with the idols. I also guest blogged for him about the show, offering my own instant impressions of the performance and results shows. So there we were, in the Prudential Center in Newark, going to another show.



Top Row: Michael Sarver, Megan Joy, Scott MacIntyre
Bottom: Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud

So, Rickey and I had front-row seats on the on the side of the stage, with a nice view of the stage. While sitting there, several fans came up to get pictures and a moment with Rickey - in this world, he is a rock star. The show started, with Rickey Twittering away, having an open cell line for a cell-cast online, and taking pictures/videos. Yep, he was busy. I was there with my camera taking pictures, a veritable underachiever in the scenario. LOL


Me & Rickey in our seats [photo by Rickey]; Rickey with Blake Lewis

While there, Rickey was also getting Tweets and reports that Blake Lewis, second place winner in Season 6, was there and wanted to see him. We stopped to see him after the crowd gave him some breathing room after the show. He said he was out to promote some new music, and decided to catch the show since he was in the area. The first act of the show featured the performers who finished in 10th thru 5th places, Michael Sarver, Megan Joy, Scott MacIntyre, Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai and Matt Giraud. After each sang a couple of songs, the six ended it with a group number that included the dueling pianos of Giraud and MacIntyre.



Clockwise: Lil & Megan; Matt & Scott at the pianos; Scott & Megan; Sarver.

If history is any form of a predictor of things to come, this is a moment for these folks to savor, for it is doubtful if they will find this glory again. In the eight seasons to date, while this group might have had some minor success in other fields (i.e. Jim Verraros in the movie Eating Out and the sequel; Corey Clark, noted for claiming to have willingly had sex with Paula Abdul; Jennifer Hudson, who went on with win an Oscar for Dreamgirls, but still seems to have a tough time selling records; Constantine Maroulis, who has a Tony nomination for his work in Rock of Ages; Kellie Pickler, who has made some noise on the Country Music scene; and Sanjaya Malakar, a punchline for many who has gone on the lose in the TV show I'm A Celebrity...Get mMe Outta Here!. So that is 6 out of 42 contestants, and two of them are ore notorious than anything else.

In a brief recap, only one of this group really made me think differently about them than before. Lil Rounds really did come across as much stronger live than on the show, when the pressure seemed to have gotten the better of her. Scott, Matt and Anoop sang decently enough, but proved to be somewhat unspectacular. For me, Sarver and Megan missed the boat, but weren't so bad you needed to cover your ears, as might have happened in previous years.


Lil Rounds came out strong.

The photos are all taken by me, save the shot of me & Rickey, which he took and Tweeted immediately. I will be recapping the top four, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and winner Kris Allen soon.

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