January 19, 2016 A Peaceful Easy Feeling Ok, so I had this weeks post all written up and ready to go, and held off posting it for some unknown reason the other night. So now I’m at the crossroads to back burner that one and start from scratch yet again. Once again it strikes as one of the musical icon greats passes on. Glenn Frey, one of the founding fathers of the Eagles. If you never heard of him or any of their music you were under a rock for the past 40 years or so. Over the past several weeks, we’ve lost a number of musical icons of an era. Lemmy was the face of heavy metal; David Bowie was instrumental as the face of Pop Glam Rock, and now one of the most recognizable names of Rock and Country Rock in Glenn Frey. As I said in last weeks post, we are quickly loosing the music icons of an era that helped shape music as we know it today. The tributes for each of these artists lost have still been pouring in. Metalhead cover songs, photos of Bowie, and one of the most notable videos was one the other night of Keith Urban performing a piano solo of Take it Easy. Why couldn’t we have lost someone like Justin Bieber or any of the other wastes of the word “artist” that has made no strides to further and sustain the future of the music industry? No disrespect to JB, but if he put as much effort into learning to play an instrument instead of walking around with his wang flapping around, then maybe be able to get a fraction of respect from the more talented musicians in the industry. Oh, Say it ain’t true…sorry to say, I know so. Oh, he’s just being creative and expressing himself…Bullshit; he’s a product that is owned by the industry. Plain and simple, true artists are a dying breed. You know it, I know it, everyone else in the industry knows it. And unless we can teach the youth of the nation the true lost art of artistry, and musicianship, well…then music as we know it is screwed. So do your part…play an old album, cd, record, or even a cassette. Take the time to appreciate the old craftsmanship in the music of previous years or even decades. Really compare the music of then and now. Study the voices, instruments, and the true meanings of the music. Not just All About the Bass, but the groove of the bass, the ripping guitar solo, the heartbeat of the Bass Drum and Floor Tom, and the crisp meaning behind the raw vocals. There is more to music than just some samples, autotune, and the repeat of the same 8 words. Take a second and appreciate the real music, before its only a memory. Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? Come down from your fences; open the gate. It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you. You better let somebody love you, before it’s too late. Keith Urban piano tribute