Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Levi Riggs:

Hillbilly Superstar and There's Still A Place for That 

I didn't know who Levi Riggs was at the time, until I went to work  on July 18, 2013.  He was to be the first opening act for Travis Tritt at Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights, MI.  Originally, the only opener was the Kentucky Headhunters but Levi Riggs was a last minute addition. 

It had been pouring rain that evening and wouldn't stop until later that evening.   There wasn't a huge crowd of people in the pavilion when he took the stage that night along with his band.  Most of the people who had arrived early for the concert that evening were treated to an awesome performance by a young talented up and comer from Indiana.  

Levi Riggs performed a total of eight songs that evening.   The crowd seemed to enjoy the music they were hearing.  I wasn't as familiar with his music as some in the crowd seemed to be.  I did enjoy myself, he has an awesome voice and an amazing band.

Three of the songs in his set list from that night came from his album Hillbilly Superstar. He sang the title track from the album along with "Easy" and "My Best Friend's A Girl."  "Down Home Boy" another song from his list comes off his album There's Still A Place For That.  The other four songs he performed that night came from his yet to be released album I'm Good which is due to be released on Aug. 20, 2013.  

Through out his entire performance Levi made it a point to introduce himself to the crowd. He definitely wanted people to get to know him a little better by telling them to join him on Facebook and Twitter.  He even said that if you follow him on Twitter that he would follow you back.  He even suggested the audience visit his website leviriggs.com for more information about him and his music.  

By the end of his set everyone knew his name and where to find him when they got home. Even though I wasn't watching the stage I heard every beautiful word he sang. 

When I got home after the show ended I went straight to my Twitter account so that I could follow Levi Riggs.  A few minutes later I had a new follower, Levi Riggs.  He was definitely true to his word.  I posted a couple tweets which got favorite by Levi Riggs.  I also logged into Spotify to see if I could listen to any of Levi's music.   Sure enough both of his albums were available on Spotify.  

I started listening to all the tracks on Hillbilly Superstar via Spotify.  I also went to Levi's website to find that I could sign up for Exclusive Access to receive seven songs of his for free.  A video and free downloadable song a day what could be better.  He even responded to some of my tweets and the message I wrote to him on Facebook.

The first downloadable song was "Hillbilly Superstar" the title track from the album of the same name.  It's a song about a guy who's entertaining his family at the backyard barbecue and he only has three strings on his dad's guitar.  He doesn't care cause he wants to rock out like Elvis.  

I never heard a song I could sing along with only after listening to it just once.  This song was amazing.  I loved the lyrics they were so easy to recall that I actually started hearing it being played in my head.  I also found that it is a great song to listen to while walking the dog or even working out.  Its also easy to dance to.

In the first video I learned that  his early influences were Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Harry Chapin along with Alabama's harmonies.  

He got his first taste of what it might be like to be a country singer in the fifth grade musical where he sang the John Micheal Montgomery song "Sold."   He walked up into the crowd and sang the song to his teacher.  

In high school he was in four musicals, three of which he was the lead.  He starred in Bye Bye Birdie where he played the lead.  Decked out in a gold suit he rocked the stage as the girls swoon around him.  He realized this is what it might be like down the road.

He went to Purdue University after high school.  He got his degree in Agriculture Sales and Marketing.  He also was a part of the Purdue Varsity Glee Club.  When he got his conformation call that he got into the Glee Club he was working  at his family's dairy farm in the dairy parlor.

The second song "F-150" was released as a single on Feb. 6, 2010 for download from Amazon and iTunes.  Its a song about a guy having fun in his '92 F-150.  It's also a love song about a girl the guy was in love with at the time.  It has a great beat to it and the lyrics are memorable which is always a good thing for me.  I love listening to it when I take my dog for a walk.  Its another song you can sing along with and never miss a beat.  The only way to get this song is by downloading it but its definitely worth the money in my opinion.  It's one of those song you just can't get out of your head.

The song for day three was "Tailgate Time" another song released as a single and only available on download.  It was released Aug.  26, 2010.  It's a song about having a good time with friends in the parking lot of your favorite football team.  It's about being a great fan whose committed to his favorite team.  I love this song even if I'm not a big fan of football.  I love the idea of being a committed fan.  I'm a committed hockey fan whose devoted to my favorite team even when they are down.  He performed this song at the Superbowl in January 2011.  He got to meet his idol Randy Travis when he performed "Tailgate Time" at the Superbowl.

"My Best Friend's A Girl" is the number four song and track two off of Hillbilly Superstar.  The song is about a guy who's wife is always bugging him about going down to Disney World as well as having babies.  Another great song from Levi Riggs and one that is definitely worth a listen.  If you have Spotify this another song that deserves to be listened to over and over again.  Its a great song to listen to especially if your best friend's a girl.  

So far all four songs have been incredible and I love listening to them.  I even got a friend of mine to sign up for his video/song a day.  Can't go wrong with a free song that you can download and put onto your iPod or your mp3 player.  

Day five was a song entitled "Down Home Boy" which comes from his album There's Still A Place For That.  This song talks about raising your kids up with morals and values with grandma's bible and grandpa's rifle, everything that makes America strong and it all relies on agriculture.  He took everything he learned in the FFA and applied to every aspect of his life and even his music career.  

So far every song is note worthy and definitely worth purchasing.  All his songs are great to take with you on a walk with your dog.  I find myself singing along with the music as I'm walking.  I don't care who hears me because where I live its 100 times better than the crap I hear coming from cars that drive down the street.  

Day six I downloaded the song "Easy" which also appears on Levi's album Hillbilly Superstar. There isn't much to say about this song except that its awesome.  He has a great time performing on stage with his band and the fans make it "Easy."  I've never seen another artist who seems to have a great connection with his audience.  The next time he's in town I'm gonna make sure I get tickets.  His music really appeals to me.  It puts you in a good mood and it makes you smile.  

The last day of his week of free music ends with "There's Still A Place For That" which is the title track of the album with the same name.  He filmed his first music video using this song.  The song is about there still being a place for morals in this country, there's still a place for God, about respecting your parents and your elders, treating people the way you want to be treated.  These are all messages that connect with Levi.  

So far I've downloaded seven amazing songs each one unique as well as memorable.  If you've read this blog all the way through to the end then I think you need to definitely check out Levi Riggs.  I guarantee you won't be sorry, I wasn't and neither was my friend.  You can listen to his music on Spotify for free and then go to his website leviriggs.com to sign up for the Exclusive Access and get seven free songs.  Who can beat getting something for free.  My advice is take advantage of what you can get for free.  

If you like what you hear then by all means go purchase his albums either getting a hard copy or downloading them.  I can only seem to find them at either amazon.com or on iTunes.  Both albums were released in Aug. 2011 and are available for download on both Amazon or iTunes, but the only place to find a hard copy of both albums is on Amazon.  His new album I'm Good was released on Aug. 20, 2013 but is currently only available for download from iTunes and Amazon.

Here is the music video that goes with the song from day seven of the Exclusive Access.  http://youtu.be/jVLq4cZQgA4

I sure do hope you enjoy Levi Rigg's music as much as I have.  Please remember to follow him on Twitter and Facebook.  If you like his music send him a Tweet.  I'm sure you'll get a reply or even have it favorited.  Remember if you follow him on Twitter he'll follow you back.

Thanks you for taking the time to read this.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

St. Patrick's Day

A Day filled with Green, Good Craic and Great Music


Today is St. Patrick's Day: a day filled with everything green, good craic and great music along with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.  A day in which consuming green beer isn't frowned upon and if you find a Leprechaun hold him hostage and he will grant you 3 wishes in exchange for his release. My only wish would be bring to your pot of gold but that just isn't gonna happen instead I'll settle for having a unique St. Patrick's Day filled with lots of new findings and plenty of Mexican food. 

Early this morning I was searching YouTube.com for a video about County Tyronne, Ireland.  A young friend of mine, Alyssa Schaefer, is preparing to visit Ireland for school and was interested in any videos about 'The Moy which is in County Tyronne.  

For those of you that are not a Thunderhead or an fan of Celtic Thunder, 'The Moy is home to Ryan Kelly, one of the lead singers of the group.  Mr. Kelly has been known to frequent Tomney's Bar in 'The Moy when he's not on tour with Celtic Thunder in either US/Canada or Australia.  

After finding the video that I've seen a few times prior, I decided to see if there were any videos about 'The Moy which might include the bar but all I found  was the video for Ryan Kelly's The Village That They Call 'The MoyI then decided to see if there were any videos about the bar itself but again I got nothing except, Geraldine Quinn's YouTube Channel which has a couple videos recorded in Tomney's Bar in 'The Moy but none about the bar itself.

I just happen to come across this lovely little gem of a video http://youtu.be/JBptjW59Ac4 by Derek Ryan who is from County Carlow, Ireland.  I checked out some of Derek Ryan's other videos that were posted on  YouTube.  Derek Ryan's Mary http://youtu.be/IyAlpq1dqVI which is a truly beautiful original song.  I then happened upon this video by sheer coincidence http://youtu.be/WZnQkvQYlNw which seems to have been recorded inside Tomney's Bar and outside in various locations in 'The Moy.  Next I came across an interview of Derek Ryan with Seamus Quinn on Country Time With Quinn http://youtu.be/m560f5_3LyQ that's when I found out Derek Ryan is a country music artist. Here is the link to Derek Ryan's website http://www.derekryanmusic.com/

Again I found another video from Country Time With Quinn this one featuring Nathan Carter, who is another country music artist in Ireland. I then found another performance and interview on The Nolan Show on 1/23/2013 http://youtu.be/CMxcif8HSdE . Nathan currently resides in Fermanagh after having spent 3 years in Donegal.  He puts a country spin on various traditional Irish songs including Caledonia http://youtu.be/2Fo2Jyw3hrs which was also recorded by Celtic Thunder. Here is another video from Nathan Carter http://youtu.be/fLBHIAxWA8Y, it starts out with Spanish Lady which has been recorded by The Kilkenny's and appears on Celtic Thunder's newest album Mythology.  This video also features the song Holy Ground which Celtic Thunder along with The Kilkenny's recorded.  The last part of the song, Westmeath Bachelor, I never heard of until now but its kinda funny because it talks about Mullingar which is Emmet Cahill's hometown.  I found that he has recorded  country music that I am familiar with including http://youtu.be/sJj-xXFxzMg.  Here is the link to Nathan Carter's website http://nathancartermusic.com/

All of this happened purely by accident.  It's like discovering new talent even when the talent in question has been around for awhile. I'm very happy to have found them and to share them will all my friends :)   I guess that's what happens when you live in the United States and aren't very familiar with country music artists across the Pond in Ireland.  

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona

Happy Saint Patrick's Day !!!










Thursday, February 7, 2013

New Celtic Thunder Christmas CD

This is only the second month of the new year and I feel like time is just slipping by, before I know it March will be here along with PBS promos for Mythology.  I still need to figure out how I'm gonna get the two disk deluxe CD from the CT Website but I'll get it eventually.  Since the new CD is already in the bag I think its time the Lads record and produce a new Christmas CD since that's the only way they will have Christmas Shows again.  

With the addition of Colm Keegan last year and Emmet Cahill the year before I think its high time they did just that.  I know that last summer Lady A recorded their new Christmas CD that came out before Christmas and this coming summer seems like the perfect time to record a New Celtic Thunder Christmas CD.

Their first CD contained: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas and When You Wish Upon A Star which were both solo's of Neil Byrne.  Then there was Winter Wonderland and Our First Christmas Together which were  solo's of Damian McGinty, who is no longer with the group.  Then there's Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow and Baby, It's Cold Outside two solo's by Ryan Kelly.  Last Christmas and All I Want For Christmas Is You which are two amazing solo's by Keith Harkin.  Going Home For Christmas and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday two solo performances by George Donaldson.  Then there was Ave Maria the only solo performance by Paul Byrom, who also is no longer with the group.  Then you have a bunch of ensemble performances which includes: Silent Night, Christmas 1915 and a Christmas Medley of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year/We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

I've asked a few people who are frequent visitors to the CT Pub which is part of the the CT website for help in coming up with a list of Christmas songs the lads might sing on a new CD.  I created a playlist on Spotify which I posted on both Facebook and Twitter.  The following is a list of songs that were chosen and the artist who has recorded it: 

1.   Blue Christmas, I chose the Michael Buble not the version recorded originally by Elvis  the following video as taken from Michael Buble's Christmas Special on NBC http://youtu.be/CxieY7dKyt0 

2.   Wonderful Christmastime  recorded by  Paul McCartney
http://youtu.be/V9BZDpni56Y

3.   Step into Christmas recorded by Elton John http://youtu.be/9Fjik78LapA

4.   Carol of The Bells (voice)  the version that John Williams recorded  which was apart of the Home Alone soundtrack http://youtu.be/xajv-YAYUJk

5.    Christmas[Baby Please Come Home] recorded by  Michael Buble the following was part of the X-Factor Live Final http://youtu.be/pbwO2nyUYYA  

6.    (There's No Place Like)Home For The Holidays recorded by Perry Como  http://youtu.be/7WqdBtEXoWo

7.    Little Saint Nick recorded The Beach Boys, the following video is  an original video so its in black and white
http://youtu.be/P-vAZabkn3U  

8.    Christmas Dreaming recorded by Frank Sinatra
http://youtu.be/fsaH3al730k

9.    It Came Upon A Midnight Clear  recorded by Josh Groban, the following video came from the Dec 10, 2007 episode of Regis and Kelly  http://youtu.be/cXTk9tadkvY

10.  Jingle Bell Rock the Glee Cast version not the original version by Bobby Helms   http://youtu.be/r9lfPy5eCk0

11.   Happy Christmas (War Is Over)  the Glee Cast version not the John Lennon version  http://youtu.be/Dh5aNLVJvkE

12.  Twelve Days Of Christmas  recorded by Bing Crosby 
http://youtu.be/AF-cTsxRW_8

13.  White Christmas which was made famous by Bing Crosby,  this is from the movie Holiday Inn which also features White Christmas   
http://youtu.be/9Yg5g_Xl-uU 

14.   Christmas in Killarney another song recorded by Bing Crosby   http://youtu.be/_KgoUNH2f8c

15.   Home (Christmas Version) recorded by Blake Shelton featuring Michael Buble can be found on Blake Shelton's Christmas CD the following video was part of  Michael Buble's Christmas show on NBC http://youtu.be/wKEPXzfxPRc

16.   We Need A Little Christmas the  Johnny Mathis version of the song from the musical Mame, its the version I hear every Christmas   http://youtu.be/_FB3h8IFCro

17.   Marshmallow World the Dean Martin version  http://youtu.be/f1HCQ3pOdRY


18.   River recorded Sarah McLachlan http://youtu.be/E2t9J4YBI_0

19.   A New York Christmas recorded by  Rob Thomas the following video is from Live at Rockefeller Center 2009 http://youtu.be/X2-vMdNk7fw

20.  Do They Know It's Christmas the Band Aid version is the best but I couldn't find it so I went with The Pop Royals instead.  The following is a video of the original 1984 Band Aid from Top of The Pops http://youtu.be/NoGAC7ELG9Q

21.  Grown-up Christmas List recorded by Anthony Evans and Amy Grant, the following video is the Amy Grant version http://youtu.be/RmF2rsDHOZc


That's a lot of music but its all songs that have been recorded at one time or another by other artists. I'm pretty sure most everyone has heard these songs played on the radio during the Christmas season.    As for who should sing what, I'm still working on that but here's what I've come up with so far:  Little Saint Nick and Step Into Christmas would be ideal for Keith while Neil could really brighten up the song Blue Christmas; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear would be an excellent choice for Emmet to sing, I can hear him singing that song right now;  Ryan would be perfect choice to sing Christmas in Killarney while I think George could definitely bring new life to the song Happy Christmas(War Is Over) which was made famous by John Lennon/Yoko Ono and even though the song River was recorded by Sarah McLachlan I definitely think it would make an excellent choice Colm to record.

I know that's not every song on the  list but its a start.  I definitely think that 12 Days of Christmas and Do They Know It's Christmas would have to be an ensemble songs. I think the Christmas version of Home would be an excellent duo between Ryan and Colm.  

I'm pretty sure that there are more songs that I could add to this list but I thought this would be a great start.  If you know of any Christmas songs you think the lads should record please leave me a comment with the title of the song and who recorded it also let me know  should it be a solo, duet or ensemble piece.  If it should be recorded as a solo let me know which one of the lads should sing it. 

It really is time they recorded a new CD besides they won't do Christmas shows until a new one is recorded.

Monday, January 21, 2013

A Year in Review

I know this blog is about Celtic Dreams which would usually be centered around the guys of Celtic Thunder but since I wasn't able to go to a CT concert last year this time its just gonna be about MY year.

I started Jan. 1, 2012 unemployed and not so sad about loosing my job, a job I really grew to hate over the last few years.  I figured it was time for a change of scenery but I assure you I was not ready for the nightmare that was my year.

I was lucky that I had some money in a 401K but that didn't last long especially when I had to visit a specialist about my breathing.  The summer was not good at all.  I spent 3 hours the day before my birthday in the ER and the only thing they did was do a CT scan.  It was specialist that I feel like I wasted my money on but the up side was that it didn't cost me thousands of dollars to see him.  The ER visit cost me 2900 which I can't pay for since I don't have a job or any form of insurance.

I met some new friends in the CT Pub which is a great place for me to relax especially when I need to unwind.

My mom went to the ER the night before Thanksgiving and was admitted on Thanksgiving morning.  I had already made some things for the dinner but now we were going to be 1 less this year.  I made the turkey, the stuffing and the mashed potatoes.  She was in the hospital until the following Monday when she was transferred to a skilled nursing rehab facility.  She stayed in there 20 days though I think the PT people wanted her to stay longer but she kept telling them that she couldn't afford it.  My mom takes care of the finances so she knows what she can afford and what she can't.

On the 16th of December she finally got out of that place.  They didn't work with her to help prepare her to come home so when she came home that Sunday she almost didn't get into the house because she was afraid to fall.  She had only did the stairs in rehab once which wasn't enough especially when we have 3 steps you have to climb in order to get in our kitchen.

Christmas was not so good last year it wasn't so bad at least I got to see CT at the Fox Theatre in Detroit but not this year.  I did see Neil and Ryan at the Old Shillelagh in Detroit on May 11, 2012.  It was probably the highlight of my year.  Santa did not visit my house this year and its not because I was on the naughty list it was because no one could afford it.  I was happy when I was baking cookies or bread but it was the time in between that was the darkest for me.

I ended the year just as I started the year broke and unemployed, two things I never thought would happen to me.  I so wanted to work but it just wasn't in the cards for me but not this year.  I have a new train of thought and I've decided to go for the Brass Ring its the only way for me to be happy.  Ever since I changed the direction of this blog I've become one with the music that I love.

One of my resolutions is starting to come true now if I can just stick with my goals and plans I will be a new person at the end of next year 2013.

Look out 2013, this is my year.

Sorry its a bit late, but better late than never.