Even Now

CMT has this reality show called Can You Duet that's pretty much like American Idol and Nashville Star, except that they are trying to find the next hot country duo.

The winners of the first season were Caitlin & Will.  Their first new music together was a song called Even Now.  Totally love this song.

The song is about a breakup and uses wordplay on the phrase "even now".  After the breakup, the couple takes turns trying to cause the other hurt and trying to break each other's hearts.  One person hurts the other, the other does something back, and says, "so I guess we're even now".

But underlying these hurtful games is the fact that they still love each other.  And so the sentiment at the end brilliantly uses the same phrase and takes advantage of what's been set up previously, and puts that same phrase in a different light, "I still love you even now".

Taylor Swift Is Going To Revolutionize Music

Okay that maybe is too bold of a statement.

BUT... I just heard that Dateline NBC is going to devote a one-hour episode solely featured on her.  You don't get that kind of treatment unless you're something special and incredible.

AND... I am SO impressed with the way she's gone about her career thus far and how she's making herself stand out and how she's not just going through the motions and not mailing anything in.  EVERYTHING she does, she goes all out, and in all my years of following music, I don't think I've seen anything like it.

I could list several reasons proving my point, although the strongest evidence for this comes in her music videos, which I'm going to upload and you should definitely watch.  But here are some other reasons:

First, her access to her fans.  She adores her fans, and she knows they are what made her who she is now.  And she stays connected to them.  She has a blog on Myspace, and she's on Twitter, which is awesome.  Both her Myspace blog and her Twitter feed are frequently updated, and both get sent to her Facebook fan page, which of course I'm on, and I totally enjoy reading her random updates.

For example, once she was shoe shopping and she saw this pair of shoes with an inscription on the inside, and she took a picture of it and posted it:

http://twitpic.com/4gnlp

Or more recently, she and Selena Gomez are good friends and they took this cute pic together:

http://twitpic.com/5atcr

Okay, enough of that.

Second, her video blogs.  Every once in a while, Taylor makes these homemade video blogs of what she's been up to with her life.  They're nothing super-fancy but it gives regular fans out there a chance to see how she is in real life, which is super-cool.  And they show us that she's just a regular person.  Even though she's a celebrity superstar, she doesn't act like she is, and it's such a contrast from people like, say, Britney when she hit it big.  Anyway, check out these video blogs at the link below.  The best one is the one where she's getting fitted for a retainer, which again proves my point that she's in many ways just a normal girl.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6616CF0632226F8B

Third, her concert prices.  She has insisted that there be a block of seats that cost no more than $20.  Granted, these probably aren't the best seats in the house, but for that price, anyone who wants to see Taylor Swift could go without money being an issue.

Fourth, her concert performance.  I will definitely write more on this another time, but quickly for now, Taylor is headlining a tour for the first time ever.  I haven't read too many reviews or looked for video footage too much because I don't want too many spoilers, but from what I've heard, her show has potential to reach "best concert I've ever seen" status for anyone who goes.  And I have a feeling that once you see her headline a show, expectations for what a concert should be will go through the roof, and your whole concert-going experience will change forever.  No kidding.  But hopefully more on this another time.

Here's a quick preview of her tour though:

Fifth, her concert sales.  Because of all the above points, Taylor has had amazing sales figures for her headlining tour.  She sold out the Staples Center in Los Angeles in TWO MINUTES, and then she sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City in ONE MINUTE.  What's amazing about that is New York and LA aren't exactly country music hotbeds.  So for her to go there and completely sell out so fast is quite a feat.  Even more amazing is for both those shows, she was the main headliner.  So it's not like those shows were with an established country act like Keith Urban or Rascal Flatts who have huge fanbases and would help her sell out those shows.  For the New York and LA shows, her opening acts are Kellie Pickler and Gloriana.  Kellie Pickler might help draw an audience because people know her from American Idol, but who else other than true country fans would have heard any of her songs?  And with up-and-coming band Gloriana, even true country fans may not have heard of them still.  So for Taylor to go into those huge markets with pretty much unknown opening acts and to sell out the main arena in each of those cities so fast is such an achievement.

Sixth, she's genuinely a good person.  She was on Oprah the other day and I made it a point to record Oprah just because of her... and I never watch Oprah.  Turns out she didn't use her appearance to sing or to promote her new single, but rather to surprise a little girl who is a huge fan of hers.  And not only did she surprise this little girl, she also gave her a guitar.  And if you looked closely, it wasn't just any old guitar, because there was writing all over it.  It seemed to me that Taylor took the time to write a personalized message to this girl, which I'm sure made it even more special.  And when asked for advice on how to make it in her industry, one of Taylor's points was to be kind to everyone.  What a great role model.  Here's the video clip:

Seventh, and finally, her music videos.

In general, I think the whole novelty of music videos is starting to die down.  At least for me it has.  And I get the feeling that sometimes singers just make a video for the sake of having one.  Especially if there's not much thought put into it and it's not done well.  I mean, how many music videos have you seen where there's just the band singing and not much else happening?

Ever since Taylor Swift came out with her new CD Fearless, she's made four videos from songs off that album.  Each one has been so good, and I actually look forward now to her next ones and how she will interpret her songs.  Her songs are naturally story songs, but then she went all out and brought those stories to life, and they are so well done.  She's the only artist that I can't wait to see videos for now.

First was Love Story, which everyone has heard.  Love the video.  Love it.  This one was probably the most over-the-top in terms of production, but when you bring a fairy-tale to life, of course you must go all out.

And then she followed that up with White Horse, a very sad song in itself, but the video is absolutely even more gut-wrenching, and now I have such a clear vision of the emotion in the song.  Love it even more than Love Story.  It was number one on CMT for NINE weeks in a row, which is a record, and deservedly so.  The song was probably one of my least favorite songs on the album but after watching the video, it's now one of my favorites.  If you only watch one of the videos I post here, it has to be this one.  Wow.  Here's my recommendation though.  Watch the video twice.  First time for the storyline, but the second time, listen to the lyrics.

Then she followed White Horse up with her most recent one, You Belong With Me.  And after those two awesome videos in a row, you start to wonder if she can pull it off again.  But this one is really cute and really touching and again, so good.  So good.  So good.

And finally, on Mother's Day, she released a video for The Best Day, which might be my all-time favorite song of hers.  She wrote the song as a tribute to her family, but especially her mother, and this video is just a bunch of home footage of them.  And for her to do that is not only very sweet, but it's such a good example for all her fans by sending out a message of how important family is.  And you can tell it's such a loving family, and again, you get the vibe that Taylor's just a regular person.  There's no celebrity gap whatsoever.

Here are the videos.  Really, you should watch them all.  And you know, maybe my original statement wasn't so bold after all, right?

Love Story

White Horse

You Belong With Me

The Best Day

Somebody Who Would Die For You
I saw on my Yahoo homepage that today is the ten year anniversary of Columbine.  It made me think of this somewhat obscure country song, which I think is moving, poignant, and makes you think about what you would do if it were you.

It's funny, when I start listening to songs like this, because it happens so much in country music, I immediately think it's one of those "three-act" songs where the first two stanzas tell two different stories but have the same hook, and then the third stanza is about God.  And this falls into the exact category, and I thought I was all clever in figuring it out ahead of time.  "I bet the last verse will talk about Jesus dying for us," is what I thought to myself.  Well, this is indeed a typical three-act country song that talks about God at the end, but with a twist and not in the way I'd initially imagined.  Check it out!

Easter @ HR
Hmmm, I might get in trouble for this, I don't know.  So first off, let me say that I am the biggest fan of joint service, and I miss it a lot.  There should be no doubt about that.  Three months ago, I went into great detail explaining why I love it so much, and I promise you that I meant every word of it, and I still do I think.

But... I totally want to invite everyone (Christians and non-Christians alike) to Easter service at HR!  Can I just say, I'm pretty excited about it.  During the past three months or so, I would say that at least three or four times, at the end of service, I've actually been sitting in the pew, like crying because the message/worship was so powerful and covertly trying to wipe the tears away.  And I remember thinking on more than one occasion, wow this is what CHURCH should totally be like.  You know?  It should be an EXPERIENCE that affects you completely, not just going through the motions, which maybe is what I'd been doing for a long time.  And I wonder if anyone is in the same boat as me and could use a jumpstart.

And then for Easter coming up, it's such a big deal at HR, as it should be at all churches, and everyone there is going all out for it.  And rightfully so, to celebrate our RISEN LORD!  And I can't help but want all my friends to be there.  It's infectious, getting caught up in the excitement of Easter and how awesome it should be and is going to be.  I think the excitement starts from the leadership and just can't help but trickle down to the rest of the congregation.

Even Good Friday service, even though it's supposed to be somber and depressing, I'm looking forward to because they're doing it in a way I've never done before.  And honestly, I don't even know if I've ever looked forward to Good Friday service before, as opposed to attending it because I'm supposed to attend it.

So yeah, everyone should come and see!  It's gonna be really good and really well done, God-willing.  Again, don't get me wrong because I do love joint service and all.  But wow, this could be a really great chance to check out something different and possibly very amazing.  And don't worry if you have little babies and stuff.  I can personally vouch for the quality of the HR Nursery and Preschool, hahaha.  What a fabulous job they do giving attention to all the babies that get dropped off while the parents attend service.

Oh, and another reason to come?  Let's just say you might see a familiar face making his debut in the HR choir, which I think will be amazing, glory to God!  So excited for this!

Good Friday, Friday, 7:15pm.
Easter, Sunday 9:30am and 11:30am.  (There's also a Saturday 5:30pm service but that's mainly for people who have to serve on Sunday morning.)

I personally will be either at the Saturday night service or at the Sunday 9:30am service (haven't decided yet), in case you're wondering.  I'll be around in the nursery during the 11:30am service.

And finally, here's a really cool country song with a twist ending, which I did not see coming, so pay attention to the lyrics.  At first I was like, wow, what a nice song he wrote about his grandpa that pays tribute to good old-fashioned Southern values.  But then the ending caught me by surprise, in a good way.

She Didn't Have Time
I was going through some country songs on my computer, and I came across this absolute heartwarming song by Terri Clark.  The music video for it is also one of the best videos I've ever seen.

I LOVE this video.  Love it.  It's like a sappy romantic comedy movie, except condensed into a 3 minute country music video.  Seriously.  It's like, why spend an hour-and-a-half watching a feel-good movie when you can watch this video and go through the same gamut of emotions?  This is why country music is so awesome.

Anyway, here are other reasons why I'm a fan of this video:

1. The storyline.  Sometimes you don't need that much creativity to make a music video.  Sometimes the lyrics of the song provide the plot.  And the makers of the video wisely chose to stick with the exact plot of the song.

2. The build-up.  The storyline even has a nice little build-up to it because in the end, when the guy asks her if she has kids... how is she going to answer?  Will it scare him away if she says she does?

3. The actress.  Oh my goodness, she's so pretty.  There's nothing fancy or super elegant about her and yet that's what makes her so appealing.

4. The other actress.  The one who plays the little girl.  Oh my goodness, she's so cute.  So adorable.  I love the picture of her swinging the bat.  Her expression in the picture at the very end also makes me smile 'cause it's so silly.

5. The actor.  (The one from the ending, not the beginning).  Eh, I guess he's decent looking too.

6. The concept.  Remember how I said earlier that you didn't need that much creativity to make this music video?  Well, perhaps I misspoke.  Because the way this video is done, with the black and white photographs hanging from the ceiling and using these pictures to progress the storyline... brilliant!  And the interspersing of Terri Clark singing the song and scenes from the story is also done really well.  The timing of that is so good.  And then finally at the end, with all the photos falling to the ground except the one that's left, to signify the past being the past and the future that's to come.  So sweet.

Here's the video, which I'm linking from aol, so hopefully it works.  If it doesn't, try this link.