Kaleb Braun-Schulz x The Nightingale Band – Debts
They say that the eyes don’t lie, and a few hundred actors who’ve managed to crack the code, fool the cameras and earn a living saying someone else’s lines are merely the exception that proves the rule.
When it comes to music, you shouldn’t look at the eyes or the dance moves of the people on stage. We naturally gravitate toward the singing voice. Usually, your tolerance for bad singing proves just how interested you are in hearing the truth.
Personally, I cannot stand a pitch-perfect singing voice. And, like many, you can only fake interest in guitar solos for so long. Singers can learn technique, but real despair and true passion can’t be coached.
There’s plenty of passion and despair on “Debts”, the collaboration between Kaleb Braun-Schulz & The Nightingale Band. It’s a well-written song that brings to mind the folk-rock of the likes of Tom Petty or The Waterboys. That would be enough to take it seriously, but what really sells it is the singing of a man not looking to make friends, sell cars or earn your applause. That really makes it good.
Melanie A. Davis – Tinseltown
Most things are bigger in the U.S.A. than in most other places in the world. You can see it in the cars, the size of the burgers, and the wilderness. Of course, the dreams are bigger as well. Naturally, the disappointment that usually comes packed with those is also terrible. The U.S.A. is a wonderful idea, but little about the concept or the execution is subtle.
All these dreams have created great braggers, and many of them earn a living singing songs. It’s rare nowadays to read interviews by performers where they don’t brag about their success. Most of the really big hits are about that, as well. Poking fun at yourself is seen as a sign of weakness in most cases, and convincing people of your greatness, at any cost, is the real goal. But what’s real once enough time has passed to tell the story truthfully.
Melanie A. Davis’ “Tinseltown” is an absolutely unique song about a very common dream. Davis has seen all the people seeking fame as a remedy for whatever it was in their lives that made them uncomfortable. And although she’s been advised not to complain about it, Davis has seen where that road goes.
“Tinseltown” is excellently written and performed. This feels like the work of a child who has somehow also added great technique to the wild imagination that they can rely on without any effort. Melanie A. Davis is a rare American artist who can poke fun at herself and at the world and reveal the truth about both.
