Happy news.... My signed copy of Ron Pope's latest album: Ron Pope & the Nighthawks is en route to my humble abode and Hotel Room is available for a soothing, savory indulgement! My other giddiness stems from the fortune I had in not spending a fortune on an impromptu purchase of a one-way {jk} two-way ticket to Dublin in February with a brief stop in Reykjavik, Iceland - it counts! Excitement does not begin to describe the way I'm feeling, the chills and that inevitable oh, snap scared-shitless feeling of anticipation I always feel right before a big adventure. I absolutely love traveling, cruising off wherever my feet take me, or social anxiety as it steers me away from the masses and down roads less traveled. The little bit of nerves is perfectly understanding...I feel those are natural and also expected - in a sense, I've always been worried if I didn't feel nervous before a test of any sort. Those nerves keep me on my toes, otherwise, I get too cocky and might blow it.
I think I'm all ready to goooo, based on this questionable pic from my humble flat in middle-of-nowhere central PA... And hey, I just found out I have some Irish roots so I'm ready to roam the land of my people and lay a wet one on that ol' Blarney Stone.
"Local Music Artists" may, at times, receive a negative connotation, marking a band with a stigma which they have to overcome each and every time they take the stage, to prove they're not just a bunch of kids {or man children} who think they can be the next Dave Grohl or Brett Michaels because they can hold a 6-string.
It's drive, commitment, and tenacity, in addition to talent, which set the up-and-coming bands apart from the dreamers. True, you gotta believe to succeed, as they saying goes, but the gumption behind the prolific dreams takes it the next level.
I know, I know...I've gushed and bragged about my buds in Small Town Titans, but they're not the only ones. When it comes to music, I like what I like, and sometimes, after seeing a favorite artist take stage, they slowly recess into the smorgasbord of other music on my iTunes with me still appreciating their music but feeling they're much better off in a studio.
What prompted these feels and elaborate thoughts was a man by the name of Ron Pope, an artist from Nashville. His music gives me chills...his crooning and sweet melodies touch the romantic side of my soul, appealing to those memories associated with love in all her glory: the ups and downs; the warm, fuzzy feelings; and the heartache from heartbreak.
His most recent album, Ron Pope and the Nighthawks, is available here at Pledge Music, a wonderful site devoted to artists supporting themselves with only the 3 F's: friends, family, and fans. Hello, signed CD coming to my door shortly! >Okay, fan-gurrrrrling a little because I've been following him for a few years and I received a PM via Twitter from him ERMAHGERD<
While this may be a slight plug for Mr. Pope {and STT, sorry}, the real focus is local music. While local may not refer to simply your hometown, it's a broader term, looking at those artists who are pretty dang talented without the frou-frou garbage added by record lables {okay, I'm guilty of listening to it, too, Confident, anyone??}.
Mainstream Pop and Punk is pretty epic, but it's the small-town artists for whom I go a little wild....in a sense, rooting for the underdogs while they're paving the way to where they want to be, which may not be triple-platinum or millions in $$.
Leaving a few gems here....
>also geeking out over what little I've retained on my lessons of HTML<
