Electronic trio Cash Cash have returned with a new song, it being their first ever release on Ultra Records. The song is called “Anyway” and features singer/songwriter RuthAnne.
“Anyway” is a dance-pop anthem oozing with bliss. Its rapturous melodies complement the passionate lyrics. The song is an ode to a thrillsome love.
“‘Anyway’ is a pure song that wears its heart on its sleeve. It’ll remind you of that certain someone in your life that always has your back no matter what. Period. Sometimes we even downplay how important love can be between our beloved pets. It’s without question that when we hear the hook of ‘Anyway’, we reflect on everyone in our lives that are unconditionally there for us, including our furry friends.”
Cash Cash
Listen to “Anyway” and follow Cash Cash and RuthAnne on Instagram.
A new study has identified several characteristics typical of music associated with sleep, such as being quieter and slower than other music. However, popular sleep music playlists on Spotify include faster, louder, and more energetic tracks. Rebecca Jane Scarratt of Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues presented these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on January 18, 2023.
Many say that they listen to music to help them fall asleep, raising the question of whether music chosen for this purpose shares certain universal characteristics. However, research on the characteristics of sleep music is limited, and prior studies have tended to be relatively small.
To better understand the characteristics of sleep music, Scarratt and colleagues analyzed 225,626 tracks from 985 playlists on Spotify that are associated with sleep. They used Spotify’s API to compare the audio features of the sleep tracks to the audio features of music from a dataset representing music in general.
This analysis showed that sleep music tends to be quieter and slower than other music. It also more often lacks lyrics and more often features acoustic instruments. However, despite these trends, the researchers found considerable diversity in the musical features of sleep music, identifying six distinct sub-categories.
Three of the sub-categories, including ambient music, align with the typical characteristics identified for sleep music. However, music in the other three subcategories was louder and had a higher degree of energy than average sleep music. These tracks included several popular songs, including “Dynamite” by the band BTS, and “lovely (with Khalid)” by Billie Eilish and Khalid.
The authors speculate that, despite their higher energy, popular songs could potentially aid relaxation and sleep for some people through their familiarity. However, more research will be needed to explore this possibility and identify the various reasons different people choose different music for sleeping.
Overall, this study suggests that there is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to the music people choose for sleep. The findings could help inform future development of music-based strategies to help people sleep.
The authors add: “In this study, we investigated the characteristics of music used for sleep and found that even though sleep music in general is softer, slower, instrumental and more often played on acoustic instruments than other music, the music people use for sleep displays a large variation including music characterized by high energy and tempo. The study can both inform the clinical use of music and advance our understanding of how music is used to regulate human behavior in everyday life.”
Journal Reference
Scarratt RJ, Heggli OA, Vuust P, Jespersen KV (2023) The audio features of sleep music: Universal and subgroup characteristics. PLoS ONE 18(1): e0278813. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278813
A vine-covered, boarded-up Queen Anne-style mansion sits on Apple Street in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. While the building might not look like much now, it was once home to the National Negro Opera Company, the first and the longest-running Black opera company in the U.S. And its creator, Mary Cardwell Dawson, was the leader of a movement to make classical music more accessible to Black audiences in Pittsburgh and around the country.
Although her life was defined by multiple cities, Pittsburgh community members are trying to give her musical legacy and activism a permanent home in Pittsburgh.
Samuel Black, director of African American Programs at Heinz History Center, said Dawson is not just a prominent figure in music, but enterprising in music.
“I would kind of classify her as one of the individuals who took place in these sort of monumental periods of Black history,” he said.
She was born in the South, but moved to Pittsburgh in 1920. When she arrived in the city, Dawson wanted to open a music school, one where children — specifically Black children and those from low-income communities — could come to learn. She ran her first school out of a storefront on Frank Street in Homewood.
Then, she heard about a house owned by William “Woogie” Harris, the brother of trailblazing photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris. He gave her a loan and she began holding classes in the house on Apple Street. She offered lessons for piano, violin, voice and music theory, and the house functioned as a rehearsal space for her adult choir. She would visit Black churches around Pittsburgh to recruit gifted young singers.
“She [was] adopted by Pittsburghers, very well-respected,” Black said. “Her music school, as far as I know, had one famous pupil. And that was the jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, and he remained close to her throughout his life.” Jamal, a graduate of Westinghouse High School, began lessons with Dawson at age 7 and has been a jazz band leader for six decades.
In 1941, Dawson organized the United States’ first African-American opera company. They debuted with a performance of Verdi’s “Aida” at the Syria Mosque in Oakland. Professor and musicologist Karen Bryan has written extensively on Dawson. She said that a goal of Dawson’s was not just equal representation in classical music, but equal working conditions in classical music.
“She had a vision,” Bryan said. “And that vision was that opera particularly should be accessible. And should involve everyone.”
Dawson demanded that her leads be paid standard union wages, so that they would make the same as white performers. The company traveled across the country, and Dawson insisted on only performing at desegregated venues. This included Syria Mosque and the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“Her activism expanded not only to getting people on the stage and to producing Black performances of these operas; it extended to demanding that they be treated equitably by the union,” Bryan said.
Melody Farrin
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Courtesy of Daniel Holland
Young preservationists at the National Negro Opera House site in Homewood.
Pittsburgh gave Dawson the opportunity to train hundreds of young mostly Black and minority musicians and start her opera company, but she also had aspirations elsewhere. She left for D.C. in 1943, but the opera company house remained in Pittsburgh.
Now, nearly a century after Dawson’s arrival in the city, today’s young people are helping restore the former music school. The Young Preservationists Association, in collaboration with the house’s owner Jonnet Solomon, submitted a nomination for historical preservation in 2020.
The association’s founder, Daniel Holland, said he was touched by how many students gathered for a clean-up day at the house.
“We had 100 students from various places, including University of Pittsburgh, Westinghouse High School and Tepper School sent some students over. It was a great day,” Holland said.
In addition to Young Preservationists, many local organizations and community members have fought to protect the house. This May, groundbreaking began after it was announced that $2 million through various grants and donations would be dedicated to its restoration.
The house is a reminder of Dawson’s legacy and community-building. She was passionate about giving young Black people the spaces and opportunities to explore and perform genres of music they otherwise wouldn’t have.
Bailey Zimmerman has always had raw talent as a singer, but he changed one big thing about the way his voice sounded before he truly began to pursue country music stardom.
The up-and-comer shares that story with Kelleigh Bannen during a new installment of Today’s Country Radio on Apple Music. Zimmerman was recently named an Apple Music Up Next artist, and that’s just the latest accolade for the rising star, whose debut single, “Fall in Love,” rose to the No. 1 spot on the country charts in 2022.
But back in 2020, he was playing a show in Illinois when he had an encounter that changed the course of his career.
“I was singing for, like, three people and this dude that is also an artist named Dylan Wolfe from my hometown, he was like, ‘Dude, have you ever tried to be — like, actually sing?'” Zimmerman remembers, in a preview clip of the interview premiered by People.
“I was like, ‘No, man,'” he continues. “He was like, ‘Well, you need to take your braces off, because it’s giving you a lisp when you sing, but if you do that I think you can be an artist.'”
Zimmerman heeded that advice. It just so happened that he had an orthodontist appointment scheduled for the next day, and when he went into the doctor’s office, he said he wanted his braces to come off — even though the procedure would be expensive, and his teeth might not be as straight as they would have been if the braces stayed on.
“I was like, ‘Don’t care, take them off, I’m done,'” he recounts. “And a week later, I wrote my first song.”
Whether or not the braces — or lack thereof — had anything to do with it, Zimmerman’s career is undoubtedly on the rise in 2023. Starting in March, he’ll hit the road with Morgan Wallen as an opening act for the One Night at a Time Tour.
2023 Country Music Festivals Guide
Enjoy an updated list of country music’s best festivals, across America, Canada, Great Britain and more. This list of 2023 country fests will be updated to reflect postponements, cancelations or lineup adjustments.
Singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, businesswoman and bonafide national treasure Dolly Parton turns 77 on Jan. 19. In an illustrious career that spans over six decades, the country music legend has been working “9 to 5” (with oodles of overtime) to bring us some of the most insightful songwriting of the modern era. With her easy charm and grace, she’s also become one of the most universally beloved figures in pop culture.
“It seems so rare to experience someone as genuine as Dolly. There’s something about her that feels familiar and comforting. Whether it be the human condition or from a woman’s perspective, she’s so relatable,” Austin singer-songwriter Kathryn Legendre says.
More:Pleasure Venom to play The Drop, our free music series at Waterloo Records
Legendre admires Parton’s “spunk, wit, awareness, and positivity,” and she’s inspired by her skillful songcraft. “From her depth, dedication, and ever-growing catalog, she sets a bar to which I truly aspire,” Legendre says.
Legendre will take the stage on Thursday to honor Parton during the third annual Dolly Birthday Bash and Tribute Show at Sagebrush in South Austin. Other artists on the bill include Brigitte Bandit, Darci Carlson, Paige Plaisance and Devin Jake.
In addition to music, the event will include pop-ups of Dolly merch and vintage clothes from Feels So Good, Rosehound Apparel and Ramblin Rose. There’s also a Dolly look-alike contest.
A portion of proceeds from the event will go to the Austin chapter of Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that provides free books to children in need.
In case one day of Dolly isn’t enough, local birthday celebrations continue on Friday, when Empire Garage hosts the Dolly Party, a touring event branded as a “Dolly Parton-inspired country Western diva dance party.” Expect to hear your favorite Dolly songs mixed with tracks from Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, The Chicks, Tina Turner, Donna Summer and more.
Dolly tribute show at Sagebrush: 8 p.m. Thursday, $15 in advance, $20 day of show, sagebrushtexas.com.
Dolly dance party at Empire: 8:30 p.m. Friday, $15, empireatx.com.
More:New ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ movie will open SXSW Film & TV Festival 2023
More live music this week in Austin
Friday-Saturday: A Giant Dog at Chess Club. Austin’s favorite barroom bruisers kick down the walls for a two-night stand at the tiny Red River Cultural District club. $30. chessclubaustin.com.
Saturday: Como Las Movies, Beach Blossom at Meanwhile Brewing. Hazy psychedelic cumbias to make you move and groove. Free. meanwhilebeer.com.
Sunday: Hi How Are You Day at Emo’s. The mental health nonprofit hosts 2022 Coachella performers UMI and Dannylux. $29.50. emosaustin.com.
Sunday: Texan Feminist Throwdown at Distribution Hall. Electrifying soul singer Tameca Jones, Selena tribute act Bidi Bidi Banda and more raise funds for reproductive health nonprofits MOVE, Black Mamas and the Lilith Fund. $15 and up (sliding scale). texanfeministthrowdown.com.
Jeff Beck and Stevie Wonder in 2011. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Stevie Wonder has given a new and rare interview to the Detroit Free Press about his musical collaboration with Jeff Beck. “A great soul,” as Wonder calls him, Beck died on January 10 at the age of 78.
The two giants were introduced, at a studio in New York, by producers by Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil when they were working with the Motown artist on the record that became his 1972 masterpiece Talking Book.
“I really didn’t know too much about him,” Wonder says of Beck. “But then I heard him play in New York. We were working on ‘Lookin’ for Another Pure Love’ and I said to him, ‘Why don’t you play on this?’ He thought that would be great. He laid one part down, then another part and another part. It was just amazing.
“It was just a wonderful thing, the whole deal,” he goes on. “He gave it such a mixture — sort of a jazz feel with a bluesy feel, with the chord structure he took from what I had done. It was great. He put his touch on it. It was just really cool.”
Wonder reveals in the interview that he has been listening to some of his older music with his son Mandla, 17, and that after hearing of Beck’s passing, they listened to “Lookin’ for Another Pure Love.”
“When I heard it today, it was emotional for me because I could remember the moment,” he says. “There’s just something about music. I know for you, as a fan, songs take you back to a space in time – you’re right there, right then. The same thing happens for us as writers and singers.”
In their 1972 encounter, Wonder invited Beck to record a new composition of his, “Superstition.” Rumors have long swirled that the song was unrecorded at the time, and intended for Beck. Stevie says in the new interview that he had already completed a rough track when he played it to the guitarist.
Nevertheless, encouraged by Wonder, Beck did have designs on recording it, and did so with his new trio, Beck, Bogert & Appice, in a more rock-oriented version that became part of their eponymous debut album for Epic. In the meantime, it had become the first single from Talking Book, released in the same week as the album in October 1972 – a decision not necessarily to Wonder’s liking.
“I told Motown, ‘Listen, I did this for Jeff Beck,” he tells the Free Press. “He likes the song. I thought we should make ‘[You Are The] Sunshine of My Life’ the first single. They said, ‘No, no, no, no. The first single should be ‘Superstition.’ So I went back to Jeff and had that discussion.”
He concludes of his English collaborator: “He was a great soul who did great music. I’m glad that I was able to meet him and have him in my life, giving some of his gift to my music.”
Taken from their debut eponymous LP, the standout single, Tangled, from the Memphis-based fourpiece, Robots! Attack! is a reverently evocative rhythmic trip back to the alt-90s.
The breeze of the midwestern melodies is brought down to earth by southern grit in the grungy amalgam of punk, rock and harder-to-pin-down alternative inclinations that allow the outfit to carry fleeting reminiscences to Incubus and Deftones in their magnetically imploring vocal harmonies and the softly angular guitar lines that are never all too far away from an off-kilter breakdown.
While the lyrics allude to our tendency to fictionalise the characters in our own stories and give them far greater roles than they were destined for, the accordance-soaked instrumentals abstract any bitterness from the bitter-sweet epiphany of realising that time with some protagonists is always finite.
Tangled is available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.
The concert celebrating the inauguration of Pennsylvania’s new governor Josh Shapiro, like the rest of the festivities held on the evening of Jan. 17 at Rock Lititz, attempted to showcase the best of Pennsylvania.
For example: the food being served included, among many other options, Pennsylvania regional specialties like tomato pie, scrapple and waffle bites, Primanti Bros. sandwiches and a full cheesesteak station. Dessert choices included whoopie pies, Tastykakes and Eat’n Park smiley cookies along with baklava and cheesecake.
Similarly, the live entertainment included performances by musicians that served as a sampling from across the state, with the two top acts being two of the best rappers from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, respectively.
For the opening entertainment, the Sixers Stixers drumline warmed up the crowd. While they had to fight the ambient noise of the crowd to get their chants heard, many in the front row of the crowd were game and joined in with their S-I-X-E-R-S chant. And the background noise couldn’t drown out the Stixers’ impressive drumming.
Next was indie rock group Mt. Joy, named after the Lancaster County borough found less than a half -hour drive from Rock Lititz.
Frontman and Philadelphia native Matt Quinn told the audience that the band was happy to celebrate the new governor, though he joked that the band may have some policy suggestions after they finished the song “Astrovan.”
“We’re singing songs about doobie-smoking Jesus, and Wiz Khalifa is also on the program,” said Quinn. “There might be certain initiatives that we would like to happen.”
The band’s cheerful alt-rock groove was a lovely way to ease into the rest of the night’s music. The group shared renditions of “Johnson Song” (which Quinn said was “one of the goofiest songs we’ve ever written” and that he was overjoyed that it was approved for their set list), “Julia,” a mashup of Gnarls Barkey’s “Crazy” and Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and closed with “Silver Lining.”
They were followed soon after by Motown legend Smokey Robinson, who remains an impressive singer at 82 years old – a full decade older than Earth, Wind and Fire singer Philip Bailey, who was still crushing it as of their concert in Hershey last summer. Robinson joked with the crowd that Motown Records began “30 years before I was born,” but it might be easy enough to believe that timeline based on how well he’s still singing and strutting across the stage.
The singer indulged in cheers from the crowd as he began his set with “Being With You,” and shared a microphone with one of his backup singers in an intimate moment that reminded everyone that yes, Motown music is incredibly sexy.
Robinson shared a few more jokes and stories, including one with an impression of friend and collaborator Stevie Wonder, between renditions of “I Second That Emotion,” “Tears of a Clown,” “Fly Me To the Moon” and “My Girl.”
He even shared the answer to a question he used to get all the time from friends, which hasn’t changed in all of his years in the business.
“‘Smokey, what do you do when you hear your music on the radio?’” he asked rhetorically. The answer? “Turn it up.”
Next was Meek Mill, the evening’s surprise performer, whose appearance was not announced in advance. Mill was an advocate for Shapiro during his campaign for governor and recently received a full pardon from Shapiro’s predecessor, Tom Wolf, for questionable charges that had dogged the rapper since 2008.
Mill’s set was brief, including segments from songs “Ima Boss” and “Dreams and Nightmares,” but between Mill’s enthusiastic verses and the pyrotechnics, it was more than enough to get an enthusiastic response from the crowd.
Mill gave shout-outs to Shapiro and his optimism for his leadership of the state, saying, “if you’re from PA put a hand up one time!” and changing a verse in one song to “if you ain’t talking about Shapiro, what you talking about?”
Shapiro and his visibly excited family exchanged hugs with Mill on stage before the new governor gave his brief remarks. He said that Pennsylvania is a place where we believe in opportunity, real freedom and second chances, specifically citing Mill and his own experience trying to find redress through the criminal justice system.
“And folks, we can’t wait to get back to work for you tomorrow,” Shapiro concluded, as the DJ took over once more.
Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa performed last in the night, opening with “We Dem Boyz” and then going directly into his hometown anthem “Black and Yellow.”
“Make some noise for Josh Shapiro up in here,” Khalifa said. “PA all day!”
Khalifa delivered an energetic set, with the crowd cheering when he let down his locks during “Young, Wild & Free” (with the line “so what we smoke weed” notably absent from the chorus) and leading them to sing along to “See You Again.”
The rapper’s enthusiasm was infectious, and he was all smiles as he worked the stage. He ended his set with a brief appeal for the crowd to enjoy the rest of their night and travel safely.
“I’m about two things, peace and love,” he said, before bidding the audience farewell and one last round of congratulations to the new governor. And while Mt. Joy had been subtle about their suggestion for new legislation, Khalifa was a bit more overt: “And if you’re 21 and older, smoke some weed!”
More:
Gov. Josh Shapiro takes office with a burst of energy, optimism
Five takeaways from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s inaugural speech
Gov. Josh Shapiro, with his family, wife Lori, daughter Sophia, sons Jonah, Max, and Reuben, pose for a photo before leaving the podium. Shapiro will begin his four-year term as governor with Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. January 17, 2023. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
Meath singer-songwriter Bonneer (Blathin O’Connor) has released her debut single, Strangers. We asked her the BIG questions . . .
She discovered her love for music at the age of four when her mother started teaching her classical piano and was also taught violin by her late father.
The 38-year-old grew up in a home where music was a big part of her day-to-day. She remembers her parents listening to the likes of Brahms’ German Requiem in the kitchen, while anything from John Martyn to The Bangles would be blaring from her brother’s room at the opposite end of the house.
She began singing as the lead soloist in a local youth choir directed by the late Sir Colin Mawby, founder of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir.
In May 2018 her best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given just five months to live. This was the catalyst to Bonneer’s creative explosion. Wanting to let her friend know how dear she was to her, she composed a piece of piano music in her honour, which was played on the day of the funeral.
Speaking about Strangers, she says, “I suppose it’s about what life can do to you. How those you allow close to you will often disappoint you. How the ups and downs can shape you and often change you as a person; for better or worse.
“There’s a dance track I listened to a lot when I was younger, called Clubbed to Death by Rob Dougan. When I listen to Strangers, I can definitely hear some similarities, so I think subconsciously that might have had a bit of an inspirational influence here.”
Tell us three things about yourself?
My favourite colour is green. I’ve never seen Game of Thrones. I have three kidneys.
How would you describe your music?
This is such a hard question to answer, but here goes: I would describe it as… classically ‘balladistic’ songwriting with a syncopated edge (think I just made up a word). I love a huge range of music, from the blues to classical, to dance, so my music has many influences. I’m really interested in rhythm and harmony and finding new ways of combining them.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I first heard Dummy by Portishead when I was 10 years old, and I remember being so blown away by Beth Gibbons’ voice and just their overall sound. And that’s actually when I first started thinking about songwriting. But my big love is classical music. It can be so emotive; no other music moves me in the way it does. It can literally make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I love that feeling. So, I try to write music that does that too. I was also big into dance music once upon a time, and I think you can particularly hear that in my new song, Strangers.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Homelands, in Mosney. Great fun, great day!
What was the first record you ever bought?
I think it was a dance album called Gatecrasher. I was about 13. I remember listening to it on loop. Drove the house mad.
What’s your favourite song right now?
It’s more a piece of music as opposed to a ‘song’. But it would have to be the opening movement from Patrick Cassidy’s The Children of Lir. The whole album is incredible but that piece in particular speaks to me for some reason. I could listen to it over and over. So gorgeous!
Favourite lyric of all time?
‘Did you realise no one can see inside your view?’ – Strangers by Portishead.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Another tough one, but off the top of my head I’m going to say Nantes by Beirut.
Where can people find your music/more information?
My debut single Strangers is available on all major platforms and there’s a little bio up on my website if anyone wants to have a read. For those who might be interested in my social media, it’s @bonneermusic on both Instagram and Facebook, @therealbonneer on Twitter and my YouTube channel.
