Cassadee Pope and How The Voice Swindled Us with a Ringer

I did not watch “The Voice” this season — as I said I would not in March of this year — because the show had changed into something unfamiliar and unlikable:

The way to fix The Voice — and fix it fast! — is for the coaches to be more involved in the performance preparation process.  They need to require the proper tempo.  They need to tell a contestant they are awful when they are awful.  They need to buck up and stop picking on each other and start mentoring their singers so a new and necessary talent is anointed on the show.

Imagine my surprise when I kept hearing the name “Cassadee Pope” lingering in the mainstream media as the winner of season three of The Voice.

“Hmm,”  I thought to myself, “The obnoxious spelling of ‘Cassadee’ is ringing familiar in both eye and ear.  Let me look her up.”

In doing a simple Google search on “Cassadee Pope” I was presented with this right sidebar information box right on the Google search returns page.  When I saw the reference to “Hey Monday” — I began to realize there was something odd afoot at the altar of the mainstream pop mindset if Cassadee was just crowned the “winner” of a singing competition.

Continue reading → Cassadee Pope and How The Voice Swindled Us with a Ringer

Failure of The Voice in Season Two

Last year, I really enjoyed the debut of The Voice on NBC.  I thought it was a fresh approach to music and we needed that respite from the drudgery of American Idol.

It’s that time of the year again and both Idol and The Voice are back and competing for eyes and ears and I am disappointed to report that, so far, The Voice has lost its magic in its insipid ordinariness and predictability.  What used to be unique and fun has now become a bit of a bore fest.

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The Mike Eldred Trio 61 and 49 Review

I have great respect for people who put their talent behind their talk for public scrutiny.  Mike Eldred is one of those people and I have great affection and admiration for him even though I’ve never met him.  Mike Eldred — the fine fellow in the middle of the album shot for “The Mike Eldred Trio” seen below — is better known to most of us guitar fanatics as the head honcho in the Fender Custom Shop.  Mike is online in the Fender Forum and he interacts with ordinary end users every single day.

Continue reading → The Mike Eldred Trio 61 and 49 Review