humanity
Humanity topics include pieces on the real lives of music professionals, amateurs, inspiring students, celebrities, lifestyle influencers, and general feel good human stories in the music sphere.
Soothing the Beast
Heart, your heart, it beats strong in one’s chest, bringing to life not only you, but all around you. I don’t feel that. It appears the idea that all will be okay, however in the thick of things, you, I, find us lost. Unsure of oneself, unsure and unaware that noting means something different than what you intended. You search for answers in the bottom of Jim Bean, but the bottom become two or more, you take a long drag off the blunt you roll, but the problem is there when you get down.
By William L. Truax III5 years ago in Beat
A Playlist of Autism Anthems
There's an anthem for just about every type of community. The gays can dance the night away to "I Will Survive", black activists can blast "This Is America" to get their message across, and feminists can sing along to anything from Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" to No Doubt's "Just A Girl". What about us autistic folks, though? We autistics normally stim to music when we need to calm down, and it's a good way for us to release our frustrations. While there may not be too many autistic artists or songs about autism known to the public, there are plenty of songs that we can relate to. Since today (April 2nd) is Autism Acceptance Day, I decided to put together a playlist of anthems for my community.
By Cat the Autist5 years ago in Beat
Music Soothes My Soul
I have always kind of been my own soul. I like to be by myself, and I also enjoy being with family and friends. I am the type of person that can enjoy a movie, a concert, or a quiet Friday night with just me and a good book with the lights dimmed. I guess that I have been this way pretty much my whole life. I started writing at a very young age, it has always been an outlet for me. But nothing has been as constant or more dominant, or needed in my life as music has. I was introduced to live music at a very young age, by my dad taking me to concerts on weekends.
By Carolyn Leonelli5 years ago in Beat
The Music Inside You Never Dies
My first memory of a piece of art moving me is The Nutcracker. My mom took me to see it when I was five. Since then, I’ve known with my entire being that my purpose in this life is to be an artist. Unfortunately, I’ve had a hard time since then deciding what kind of artist I was going to be. I have been a singer, a dancer, an actress, a director, a playwright, a screenwriter, a spotlight operator, an author, a poet, a keyboardist, a guitarist, and a songwriter.
By Sara Crawford5 years ago in Beat
Here's To the Obscure Artists
I have always been a person who made mixes. When I was a kid, I made mixtapes on cassettes–often recording over an old mixy with a new one. When I discovered Napster and CD burners, I made mix CDs. Now, I primarily make playlists on Spotify, Amazon Music, or YouTube.
By Sara Crawford5 years ago in Beat
Smelling Musical Memories
What is the most commonly shared trait among smells and music? Is it that both can be good, bad or indifferent? That they can be interpreted differently by each individual person? I believe it is their ability to strongly and randomly recall memories.
By Jake Thomas5 years ago in Beat
William and me - Musical adventures in Africa
Chapter 2 The Railway Inn gig in Winchester, William went back to Reading and was at a crossroads in his life with no job and no income to sustain him or send back to Malawi's starving family. He stayed for the weekend with Shadreck and his wife Tracy in Reading, who were Gospel musicians and leaders in a local African Evangelical Church. Shady worked at a tyre fitting place and his brother Samson, who also lived with them and was a mean guitarist in his own right, worked shifts as a security at Reading FC Madjeski stadium. The Chimanimani line up of 2008 was classic: Tomson Chaulke on drums, Shadrick Mugede on bass, Simwinji Zeko (from Bristol but originally from Zambia) on rhythm and twin lead guitar, Chander (a Zimbabwean who had washed up in Plymouth of all places) on lead vocals and Agatha Pulu (from Bristol but originally from Bulawayo) on backing vocals and dancing. Bristol had a thriving African Music scene (and still had in 2019 pre-Covid), with some city-center events entirely consisting of acts from the African diaspora, with gumboot dance, Zulu jive, Traditional Ethiopian music, hip-hop and rap as the main shows.
By John Vallis5 years ago in Beat
William and me - musical adventures in Africa.
Foreword Malawi is a tiny land in South Central Africa, a locked country wedged between Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Its residents are 98% subsistence farmers, and it has no natural resources except fertile farmland where tobacco, tea, coffee, maize can be grown, and trees (Mango, Avocado, Baobab, Acacia and Neem). Tobacco is the main cash crop and accounts for the largest income in exports in Malawi. With a global decline in tobacco use, more and more families find themselves without a market for their crops.
By John Vallis5 years ago in Beat
BIOGRAPHY OF KING TITUS
King Titus (King Titus Robinson) (born August 6, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, and model. He is the son of musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Dwayne Omarr. Along with self-developing his skills, King Titus has learned a lot from his father about the music industry and by shadowing his musically talented family members, he has acquired music and industry experience.
By Quality Impact5 years ago in Beat
Music is the Weapon for my Self-Destruction
I’m 33 years old. You would think that would be plenty of time on the planet to learn the difference between certain things. While I am certainly incredibly good at differentiating some things like, coffee from tea for example, when it comes to human behavior and separating the genuine from the tantamountly false, I am notoriously miserable at it. I think some of that has to do with my neurodivergence, but I think a lot of it relates to a thing that I hadn’t really examined until I spoke to a friend about it a few nights ago.
By Paige Graffunder5 years ago in Beat
One Category to NEVER EVER Downsize
You might be thinking that you know what I am going to be writing about here. You think that this is going to be about one of life’s intangible essentials . . . one of those warm and fuzzy entities such as love, compassion, gratitude, learning, dreams . . . the much-needed attributes and emotions that we as humans cannot do without.
By Kennedy Farr5 years ago in Beat
