We do agree with those music fans who think that many artists of the 21st Century are not born with true talent, but given the gift by technology. We can’t penalize these artists. Think about it. If you could hold a note, wouldn’t you want to strengthen that less than perfect sound with a few devices, to achieve fame? As premature as it appears, we have a feeling most people would choose this route. The radio waves are cluttered with these “robots”, but within the past year, we have been hearing tunes from authentically gifted artists. So maybe these technological advances are working in our favor. Wouldn’t that be nice to believe?
Well, we are choosing to believe it with Greyson Chance. The 14-year-old released his debut album, “Hold On Til The Night”, back in August. The album features singles, “Waiting Outside the Lines” and “Unfriend You”, which he performed on Ellen earlier in the month.
Not surprisingly, Chance nailed his Ellen performance, but he did shock us with his Otis Redding cover on the season premiere of FOX’s “Raising Hope”. On the episode, Chance played the younger, more talented version of the main character, Jimmy Chance. In the show he performed the hit “Hard to Handle”, which was originally by Redding, but popularized by The Black Crowes. The clip illustrates what we love most about music, which is, that present music is built on the tunes of the past. A boy just beginning his teenage years is singing a soulful track of an artist who was born in the 1940s. If that doesn’t showcase to you Shockya readers how influential and inspiring music can be than we are at a loss for words.
by Lonnie Nemiroff
