24 January 2013 - Granville Automatic - Never On A Sunday & Glorieta (& Vanessa Olivarez - You Keep Me Hangin' On)

When I was watching Season 2 of American Idol, and enjoying Vanessa Olivarez (12th place - she was the 1st finalist eliminated, and I was angry about that), I never in a million years would have imagined that I'd be rediscovering her music ten years later.  But, as I was researching music for these two weeks of American Idol tribute, I did just that.

As lead vocalist (and harpsichordist) of Granville Automatic, Vanessa (along with Elizabeth Elkins) makes classic country music, with a warm southern feeling and a respect for history, musical and otherwise.  This song is lighthearted, and seems like it could have been written 75 years ago, or 2 weeks ago, sounding both fresh and classic.

Update (29 July 2020) - the original video is gone.  Here's a Sun Studio session version of the song instead.



Oh, the name of the band?  It's a 19th century typewriter.  Vanessa is a collector.  Who knew?

Update (10 Dec 2013): The duo finally made an official video for this song.  And CMT featured it on their front page, right here.  Of course, they're 11 months behind us.  Here's the new video.  It's a lot of fun.


Currently, the duo is working on a project - a crusade, almost - to keep (American) Civil War stories fresh.  This song, their latest, was written about a battle known as the Gettysburg of the West, in a town south of Santa Fe, New Mexico - Glorieta Pass, if you want to look it up. This project is a partnership with the Civil War Trust, who are concerned with preserving these classic, forgotten sites and protecting them from urban development.  I encourage you to go here and read more about their quest as it develops.  It's a really interesting read.  The song itself is deep in history, with a quiet, classic country feel.



And, since this is an American Idol week post, here is Vanessa, singing "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes.  Back then, her hair was red, and her voice was huge.  Her voice still is huge, but she was already showing the raw talent that she would use for a greater good later.

23 January 2013 - Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery

Only three more days left in the Wicked Guilty Pleasures American Idol Celebration. Thanks for over-indulging us. We'll be back to our usual nonsense next week. But let's keep the Idol love going . . .

OK, I'm totally going to cheat here, but it's pretty easy to put Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery together. The teens were the top two finalists in Season 10 and their debut records were released within a week of each other. Both have achieved moderate success on the country charts (Scotty, probably a bit more) and in my opinion, both have bright futures ahead of them in country music.

Let's start the video goodness with the second single from Lauren's 2011 debut Wildflower.



And now here's the latest single from Scotty's 2011 debut Clear as Day.

22 January 2013 - Carly (Smithson) Hennessy - I'm Gonna Blow Your Mind / We Are The Fallen - Bury Me Alive

The Season Seven 6th place finisher was an Irish woman named Carly Smithson.  She has a huge voice and a great personality, but she came with a couple of controversies.

First off, there was the album Ultimate High.  This was an album that Carly recorded, under her maiden name, for MCA Records.  It bombed spectacularly - $2 million was spent on the album, but it sold less than 400 copies.  Really, it's because MCA didn't know how to market Carly in a world dominated by Shania Twain.  Still, this song, from that album that eventually got a sales bump with a post-Idol reissue, isn't half bad, and her strong voice and personality shine through.

 

Since Idol, Carly has taken on lead vocals for the band We Are The Fallen.  They aren't really all that much different than Evanescence, but at least her label knows how to market her now.  This genre suits her better.



I mentioned two controversies.  Season 7 was the 2nd time Carly wowed the judges.  The first time was Season 5.  Sadly, immigration laws, and issues with her work visa, prevented her from progressing in the competition   Here is her Season 5 audition.  Notice how all three judges love her.



And, in Season 7, she was using her married name.  And owned up 100% to her Season 5 issues.  But not her prior label signing.  Again, she sang "I'm Every Woman:, and again, the judges were impressed.



And, to wrap it all up, here she is, doing "Jesus Christ Superstar" on the show.  I've been waiting a very long time to post this one.  Just a huge performance!!!!!!!

21 January 2013 - Kristy Lee Cook - Airborne Ranger Infantry

We are now entering the final week of our American Idol Hall of Fame celebration. This week I'll be doing the Monday, Wednesday and Friday posts and Tony gets the days that start with the letter "T."

Country singer Kristy Lee Cook earned a 7th place finish in the 7th season of American Idol. Her first post-Idol album, 2008's very underrated Why Wait (released on Arista Nasvhille), produced the top 30 country hit 15 Minutes of Shame. The record also featured Like My Mother Does which future Idol alum Lauren Alaina also performed on her debut record. The relationship between Cook and Arista only lasted for that one record though as they parted ways prior to 2009.

On to bigger and better things. . .

In 2010, Cook signed with independent country label Broken Bow Records (a much better fit in my opinion). Her BBR debut, produced by country chart-topper Jason Aldean (that certainly can't hurt her singing career), is scheduled to be released later this year (you know I'm looking forward to hearing it). The first single off that record is Airborne Ranger Infantry which was co-written by Cook and inspired by the poems her father wrote while serving in Vietnam. Check it out.



. . . And here she is singing Dolly's Coat of Many Colors from the American Idol Final 9 in 2008 (just ignore what that clown Simon Cowell has to say at the end. . .).

18 January 2013 - Katharine McPhee - Over It & Beautiful

American Idol is good at finding country music talent, as you can see this week.  However, it's also good at finding pop talent.  Katharine McPhee is one of the more colourful contestants from Season 5, ending as that year's runner-up.  She had a nice pop star quality, similar to a Mandy Moore, but had a huge, huge voice.  I could see Mandy Moore singing this song, which is light teen angsty fare, but still fun.



As many of you know, Katharine is now one of the stars of the NBC show Smash, which I suggest you check out.  Second best music-centered show on television (Nashville being the best).  In the years between her AI appearance and this, her voice has matured, and she is now capable of carrying this big tune, just like Christina Aguilera did.



Lest we forget, this is where she started.  Actually, this was the AI5 finale, so I guess this isn't the start.  "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is the song.  And she belts it.  Such a mature voice already at that point.  Enjoy!

17 January 2013 - Crystal Bowersox - Farmer's Daughter

Tony left the door wide-open for me to post about the Season 4 American Idol winner. And trust me I want to. Even if I already posted about her here. Maybe next week. Or maybe not. We'll see.

Instead, I'll go with the AI runner-up from Season 9. I heard good things about Crystal Bowersox during her AI run and was intrigued when her debut record Farmer's Daughter came out in 2010. I was immediately taken in by her strong soulful voice (think Joplin, but without the whiskey and cigarettes) and great songs (all but one of which she wrote). The first single and title track blew me away with its honesty. It's an incredibly sad song/story, but there's hope in the end. Word on the street is that her follow-up record will be released this spring and I for one am looking forward to hearing it.



And since I compared Crystal to Janis earlier, I suppose I should dig up her AI performance of Me and Bobby McGee.

16 January 2013 - Carmen Rasmusen (Herbert) - Nothin' Like The Summer

The single biggest shock of the entire American Idol series came in season 2.  (That was ten years ago!) In the Hollywood rounds, before the public got to vote - when the contestant first sings for the judges - Carmen Rasmusen was eliminated.  She didn't even get onto the television broadcast of these rounds.

Strangely, she was brought back to perform in the Top 24 Wild Card night, along with a couple of other eliminated contestants - supposedly for demographic reasons. On this night, one performer was to be selected by America - that person ended up being Clay Aiken - and three were selected by the judges.  When the performances were given.... well, Simon Cowell ripped her a new one.  He very clearly called her "not good enough."  Not.  Good.  Enough.

And the next night, when the choices were made?  She was Simon's judge's choice.  And no one was more surprised than she was.

I was quite happy.  Carmen was, and remains to this day, my favorite Idol contestant ever.  She was earnest, she was modest, and she took criticism well. Plus, she could sing, and she had a voice with an appealing vibrato.  I don't think anyone has done more noble work with their Idol exposure.

She ended up in 6th place in Season 2.  Sixth.  America loved her.  Utah (her home state) (she was a Mormon, yes) loved her a lot!  Her vocal style clearly matured in her time on the show. She parlayed her vocal maturity and success on Idol into a modest music career.  Here's one of her post-Idol singles.  Now, tell me this isn't 1. radio-friendly and 2. an appealing, fun song!



By the way, Ms. Rasmusen Herbert, now a newspaper columnist, is not a fan of what Idol has become, although she calls Simon her favorite judge.

Here's one of my favorite performances of hers from Idol - her version of Blondie's "Call Me".  I don't care what the judges say - I got it and I think she did it well.

/> And, because we like to feature these things on our blogs, here's Carmen singing Adele's little hit a couple of years ago.   I still think this woman has a great voice!