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1 week ago | 
flipboard.com | Melanie Davis
NowMomoa and Chief of War co-creator Thomas Pa’a Sibbett explain how (and why) they spent years bringing hardcore Hawaiian history to life in their new Apple TV+ series. Some actors are leading men, others are character actors, and still others are just characters. I’m pretty sure that third kind …
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1 week ago | 
flipboard.com | Melanie Davis
3 hours agoDifferential equations may improve training regimens and tournament design for bowlers. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 The average bowler has about a 1-in-11,500 chance of achieving a perfect 300 game—so unless you’re dedicated to honing your craft, it’s probably best to take the strikes …
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
Country icon Merle Haggard has never been one to mince his words, although he has been known to cloak them in such veiled metaphor that he would later say he regretted one of his biggest hit singles because of how much people misunderstood the song. But to the credit of the misled listeners who gleaned the wrong message from Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee,” the country singer has plenty of definitive opinions about music he’s heard, too.
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
In an industry as competitive and cutthroat as music, having a good friend and mentor is a priceless resource, and one could certainly include the friendship between David Bowie and John Lennon as such. The musicians met in the mid-1970s, years after the final ripples of Beatlemania had died down. But back when the Fab Four were still en vogue, Bowie always related to Lennon the most. Once they finally met, he realized just how much he could relate to and learn from the late musician.
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
As these 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s rock bands prove, the right cover song can sometimes be the difference between a career flop and a hit record. In some cases, the band just transitioned into a new project or lineup and needed a signature song to pull them out of their creative slump. Other times, the band simply lacked a song worthy of being a lead single on an upcoming album, so they added a new track to the listing.
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1 week ago | 
flipboard.com | Melanie Davis
The Iconic Merle Haggard Song He Wished He Hadn’t Written, Claiming It Set His Career “Back About Forty Years”This Merle Haggard song has become synonymous with his entire career, but he often said he regretted ever writing it.The post The Iconic Merle …
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
Sometimes, the only thing to do with tremendous grief is turn it into a song, which is exactly what Waylon Jennings did with this heartbreaking track he wrote for his late friend and bandmate, Buddy Holly. Before Holly’s plane crashed on the day that Don McLean would immortalize as the “day the music died,” the rock ‘n’ roll star had befriended Jennings and taken him under his wing as both his backing bassist and a songwriting protegé in Jennings’ own right.
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
Few musical genres capture the art of telling a sad story beautifully quite like classic country and Western songs. This storytelling music comes from places where life is hard: working-class Southern communities treading water above the poverty line, wind-worn cowboys of the West, outlaws on the lam, and the incarcerated, to name a few. Indeed, these country classics prove that sometimes, the best songs are the ones that make you feel the worst.
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
When the Illinois Crime Commission released their list of “drug-oriented rock records” in 1971, they weren’t technically banning radio stations in the state from playing the songs. Just before the ICC published its list, the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, issued a notice that stated all radio stations are responsible for the lyrical content in the music they broadcast. So, while they could play the songs on the ICC’s list, any public backlash would fall squarely on the station.
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1 week ago | 
americansongwriter.com | Melanie Davis
Traditional songwriting rules would dictate that the best compositions stay cohesive from start to finish, but Paul McCartney has been breaking that rule for decades, masterfully turning multiple songs into one in a way that still feels connected and exciting. His threading together of separate musical ideas was sometimes obvious, clearly delineating point A to B to C.
