Category Archives: Songs

‘My Music is Better Than Yours’ – Generational Music Gaps

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My mom’s favorite line when she hears the rap music my brother listens to is, “there is a reason why rap rhymes with crap.” Of course then my brother defends rap music by saying you don’t understand that there is a lot of poetry and deep lyrical thought behind the verses, then of course my mom’s rebuttal is “I still don’t like it.” I’m sure all of you out there have had this disagreement with your parents where they don’t understand why you like the music you like, but what I don’t understand is where did this music elitism stem from? Is it just the love that generations have for the time they grew up in? Is it because they had kids and didn’t really keep up with new genres that were coming up because they were driving kids to baseball practice and dance classes? Or is it because as a kid and a teenager, music speaks to you at a level when you feel like no one understands you?

I still haven’t quite figured out the answer to this question, but what I do know is that new genres and styles of music stem from the past, so why doesn’t everyone like all genres like me?  To continue with the rap music lineage, it is based around storytelling, which is the basis of every music genre in existence. Taking it one step further, this type of music is tied to other styles such as jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. It is tied to the rich history of the streets of New York City and ultimately became a way of expression for the African American and Latino communities in the 1980s. Rap music started off being spoken instead of sung with strong beats, an intense rhythm, and ability to develop strong lyrics if the rapper is truly talented.

Now, I know what the baby boomer generation is thinking especially my mother – “it’s still crap.” In many cases, just like any genre, if you listen to one artists and you don’t like their music it turns you off to the entire style. TuPac is one of the greatest rappers to ever exist. His song Dear Mama is something that hits you deep in the gut when you are listening to it. It brings you back to various points of time in his life, regrets he’s had from his choices, and gives you an image to develop characters in a story like you are reading a book. My brother is obsessed with Eminem. I think Eminem is another artist who has come out of this genre strong. His songs connect to his life, and gives an insight to what he has gone through. This gives listeners the ability to feel like they are understood and connect on a more personal level. For example, Eminem’s Lose Yourself says,

“Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?”

How can this music be crap?  Parents, teenagers, and kids I encourage you to give one another’s generational music a chance.  Classical isn’t boring, rap isn’t crap, and pop music isn’t sub par to the rest of the styles out there.  The next time someone comes to you with new music figure out why they like it, ask questions, and develop some insight on where it came from.  History might surprise you.

His Name was John – How Music Can Remind You of Your Heroes

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jafeolaHeroes are people that we look up to, who made imprints on our lives, and who have done amazing things with their own lives.  One of the biggest inspirations in my life was my grandfather.  I was a lucky child because I grew up with one of my many heroes in my house.  My grandfather was a man of few words, but when you were being a dumb ass he would sure tell you and then not talk to you for a few days until you figured it out.

His name was John A. Feola.  He lived in Cooperstown, New York during the depression where his mother died when he was eleven years old.  His brothers and sister were split into foster homes, and his younger brother (Frances), older brother (Anthony), and him were left with their abusive alcoholic father.  He and Anthony were forced to drop out of school at eighth grade to help with bills.

He was a soldier in the 25th Infantry Division stationed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Guadocanal December 1942-January 1943 launching an attacking and defeating strong Japanese forces, participated in extended combat into other Solomon Islands, which led to the Philippines in January 1945.  The 25th Infantry Division held a record of 165 consecutive days in combat fighting.  That line seems simple.  Just another line in a history book, but for the people who lived it, they got to see the best and worst sides of man kind.  My grandfather was discharged before the war ended.  He married and created a family – two daughters, two sons, and a third son who was his nephew that he adopted (his sister’s son who she had out of wedlock – a scandal back in those days).  He had a life full of loss and hardships, but his family meant everything to him, and he was willing to sacrifice anything for them.   Whether it was working three jobs when he was married to make ends meet, to helping his father keep the rest of his siblings together.

On this day, eighteen years, ago my family lost him very suddenly in the afternoon to a heart attack.  That image will be forever ingrained in my mind as I heard a loud thud hit the ground.  Chaos ensued as ten year old me and my six year old brother grabbed our parents who did everything they could to save him till the ambulance got there.  In this world you never know what is going to happen one minute to the next.  Right before my grandfather had the heart attack he was sneaking around corners scarring me and my brother.  He was a healthy man who still drove (well), had no health problems besides slight diabetes, which he controlled by his diet, and then suddenly he was gone.

Music can be a great healing power when we are sad or happy.  I am a big fan of Dane Schmidt (Jamestown Story).  He has an acoustic sound with heartfelt lyrics from poems that make memories flood back as you are listening to his music.  With Jamestown Story you can get lost in your own thought and start crying or laughing for no reason other then a memory.  The song “Don’t Say Goodbye” has been on my mind lately and I know it sounds more like a break up song, but all music is up for interpretation, and to me this song is really made for anyone who has ever loved someone and lost them.  It can be hard to let someone go once they gone because it seems like a piece of you is missing.  I know as a child, I started acting out a lot right after I lost my grandfather.  I flipped out on my cousin after she asked why I wasn’t crying at the funeral.  I almost failed a grade because I wasn’t doing my school work and the only reason the instructor pushed me through was because of “social necessity.”

jafeola2Everyone deals with grief differently.  For me listening to music or being in a dance studio getting lost in movement are my ways of letting go of that pain.  Just like my grandfather, family to me is more important then anything in the world.  Those people that you think will always be there can be gone in a blink of an eye.  You need to cherish everyday you have with them because you don’t know when it is going to be your last.  We in society need to learn to cherish people not things, not celebrity, not status.  We need fight for those who love us and those we love.  So, I leave you with this thought: Loss is apart of life, but if we make love the stronger part of our lives family can get you through anything.  John A. Feola was the most selfless person I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  He is a hero in ever sense of the word, and I know I will never truly need to say goodbye because he is forever apart of my life.  I hope someday I can be half as selfless as this man who forever change my life.

Listen to Jamestown Story’s Love vs Life Album here where you can find “Don’t Say Goodbye.”

Band Spotlight – From Cherri Bomb to Hey Violet

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I have been following Cherri Bomb since coming across their first album “This is the End of Control” in 2012.  They had an epic punk rock sound, power house voices, perfect harmonies, and professional musicianship at such a young age.  Granted I’m not a musican, but I know a great sound when I hear one, and their songs were an edge that I hadn’t heard by an all girl group since the Runways.  In the music world, at least of girl artists, you mostly hear pop music; needless to say it was refreshing to hear this band.

These teenage girls were signed to Disney’s Hollywood Records on June 2011, opened for mega rock bands such as the Foo Fighters and the Smashing Pumpkins, and played festivals all over the world such as South by Southwest, Leeds, Reading, Soundwave, and Vans Warp Tour.  The band was represented by Samantha Maloney.  Maloney, who is an American musician and drummer opened numerous doors for these girls.  Unfortunately once they broke up, their manager and label bowed out as well.

When Hi or Hey Records (run by the pop band 5 Seconds of Summer in conjunction with Capital Reocrds) announced their first band signing Hey Violet, I knew I reconginzed the three girls from Cherri Bomb.  Of course being a stalker of music I had to figure out what happen.  I don’t think the fans will ever know what went down with Julia Pierce, Miranda Miller, Nia Lovelis, and Rena Lovelis.  There are interviews saying that Pierce was forced out, and there are others saying that she left on her own.

Either way, there is now a new group Hey Violet that has formed and bringing in a new sound of pop punk instead of punk rock.  Formed in Los Angeles, California this new group of Miranda Miller, Nia Lovelis, Rena Lovelis, And Casey Moreta are currently opening for 5 Seconds of Summer on their world tour.  This is giving Hey Violet a fresh start.  I know many people are upset about this change and with Pierce no longer being a part of the group, but if you listen to their sound they are on longer Cherri Bomb.  Their first released song “This is Why” sounds more mainstream.  Even though there are still guitars flooding the air waves they sounds more like All Time Low then The Runaways or Pretty and Reckless.

For old fans it’s going to take sometime to adjust to the changes that have been made, Pierce leaving, new members, and sounds changes, and new fans are going have to accept the comparison being made.  Change is good, and needs to happen to continue to have success and move forward.  In this case, we can anticipate Pierce putting out new music and putting together a new band, as well as Hey Violet’s up and coming album as the first group signed to Hi or Hey Records.

Life Lessons in Oz

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I’m willing to admit I was a weird child. I talked too much and became obsessed with things I liked. Let’s take the film The Wizard of Oz. To this day my older brother cannot watch this movie. Why do you ask? Well, I became so obsessed with it as a kid that was pretty much all I ever wanted to watch, and to get a four year old to shut up, you just re-watch the same movie over and over again. I feel like parents now a days probably feel this way about Frozen. I am sorry for the scars I left on my older brother for making him watch this movie multiple times in a row, but in the end I know he still loves me.

The whole reason I bring up this Wizard of Oz obsession is because let’s be serious I haven’t out grown it. Not to toot my own horn, I think I must have been a really smart child because I liked all these movies with deeper meanings, like Peter Pan, and of course, The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz is about feeling inadequate, such as not smart enough, lack of love, or the inability to feel fearless. There is also the obvious lesson of good always triumphs over evil, but where is the fun in the obvious.

Old movies and classic stories have the ability to teach children lessons about life. Now, I am not talking about a knight on a white horse saves the princess, because I think those stories don’t do much of anything besides fill little girls heads with the idea that they need to be saved by a man. I’m talking about the stories that bring people together, who help one another achieve their goals, like the tin man, scarecrow, and cowardly lion rescuing Dorothy after she is taken by the wicked witch. What about those strong women who ultimately have the ability to help out her friends or save themselves? Dorothy threw a bucket of water to save the scarecrow from burning, she always had the power to go home through the ruby slippers (silver shoes in the book), and she defeated the wicked witch by accident, but her willingness and quick thinking to help her friend erased her fear of her trapped situation.

Granted no four year old is looking at the deeper meaning of a movie. I’m sure the music in the movie was what drew me in as a kid. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is my “Let It Go”. It taught me to dream big and that anything is possible if you truly believe it will happen. So, I dedicate this post to my realistic thinking little bro. If you dream big it will happen. You just have to find that inner child to just believe that there is something over that rainbow.

Cinderella – The Musical is the Best Version

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Dear future husband, if you want me to say yes to your marriage proposal don’t buy me a big diamond ring because jewelry is not my thing.  The way to my heart is a glass slipper and if you spontaneously bust into a dance, even better.  Recently, I saw Disney’s live action version Cinderella which explained a lot of things like, why the step sisters and stepmother didn’t recognize her at the ball?  Why Cinderella stayed with that horrible family after her father died?  As well as what happened to her mother and why her father married the horrible stepmother.

Let’s be real, the best Cinderella is the 1965 made for television musical version with Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon, and Ginger Rogers.  Granted the set design is a little cheesy, but Rodgers and Hammerstein music is perfect and Lesley Ann Warren was an excellent lead.  Her first song, “In My Own Little Corner” helps her deal with her awful home life by bringing her to imaginative places and a better life.  I mean who doesn’t dance around with kitchen ware and duck around furniture while vocally singing?

I’ve been thinking a lot about fairy tales in general lately and how they relate to real life.  Cinderella is really about oppression, treating others how you want to be treated, and that karma always comes around.  The song “Impossible” that Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother sings touches on how anything is possible.  The lyrics say, “But the world is full of zanies and fools, Who don’t believe in sensible rules, And won’t believe what sensible people say…Impossible things are happening every day.”  This song gives Cinderella the confidence she needs to go to the ball.

The one thing I don’t’ understand that is in every Cinderella story is how can you fall in love with someone in ten minutes?  Granted, I am not a believer of love at first sight, and I don’t think the prince and Cinderella talked about their values, morals, children, or careers either.  Every fairy tale has its positives as well as its flaws and we can’t take everything in these stories literally.  Being a girl and being swept off your feet by the love of your life is something that we all dream about, plus I love getting lost in fairy tale movies.  An escape from reality is never a bad thing, and what a movie to get lost in like Cinderella.  For those of you who haven’t seen the 1965 version, come out from under your rock and get educated because it’s the best version out there, and we can all use a little 10 minutes ago…