Music. According to Kim.

I knew when I decided to dedicate August to all things Disney, that it would involve a write-up of VoicePlay's  Once Upon an Ever After  album. How could it not? It's a wonderful album and one I've been wanting to write about for a while now. Those of you who've read any of my other VoicePlay posts know that they tend to get pretty silly and even downright ridiculous. They just bring that side of my personality out, which is one of the reasons why I love writing about them.  That said, this time is going to be a little different. This was originally just going to be a typical album write-up. The format will be the same as all my other album write-ups, but I decided to make this the fourth installment of my Music Therapy series. If you're unfamiliar with that series, it's one I started to highlight one of the biggest things that helps me deal with having rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This is the first installment that consists of an entire album. The others have ...

Ladies and gentleman, I am pleased to present the very first Video Spotlight Double Feature. See, I knew that I wanted to feature both Evynne and Peter Hollens at least one more time before Disney month ended. Time was starting to run out and I had some other videos I wanted to include and I worried that I would only be able to feature one of them. Then I remembered that they had sung "I See the Light" from Tangled. Twice. One for her channel and the other for his. But which one would I pick? The answer was obvious. Why pick one when I could very easily do both? As fabulous as they both are on their own, they are so much more so together. Their voices complement each other so beautifully. So take a moment to get comfy and watch this oh-so-charming husband and wife perform their versions of "I See the Light". You're going to like them. I'm sure of it.

In the mood to watch a Disney movie, but short on time? I got you covered. Or rather, Nick Pitera's got you covered. If you were around during my Phantom of the Opera week back in March, you might recall his "One Man Phantom (medley)". Well, before he did that, he did this. It's a Disney movie performed by one man and one man alone and it all happens in less than 9 minutes. It's kind of like a Disney movie to-go. He takes songs from multiple Disney movies, namely: Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin , The Lion King ,  The Little Mermaid , Enchanted , Hercules , Mulan , The Jungle Book and Pinocchio . With a little but of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the very end - seriously, it's like two words. You have the hero and the heroine, the villain and the sidekick and a couple of chorus members. Check it out.

It occurred to me that it's been way too long since I've written about this talented lady. This sent me looking through her YouTube channel. This reminded me of two things. The first is that she has multiple videos that I'm going to need to write about at some point. The other is how effortlessly she hits her big notes. I mean, I listen to her enough to know that. I've now gotten to see her perform twice and she's even better live. But it seems like it's been awhile since I've watched any of her videos. Hearing it is one thing; watching it is another. She makes it look so easy, like hitting notes on a piano. If you've never heard Rachel, I assure you that you're in for a treat. Those of you have  heard her know what I'm talking about. Here's Rachel with her beautiful cover of "Let It Go" from Frozen .

Reasons why this video was a given for this week of villains: 1) It's VoicePlay. 2) As said in my ACA-Disney write-up , VoicePlay singing Disney is magical.  3) It's VoicePlay. 4) It's one of the most iconic villain songs. 5) It's VoicePlay . 6) It features their cutest guest star to date. Not knocking any of their other guest stars, but I mean, come on. Just look at that face in the thumbnail. How can you not love that face? 7) Come on, again. It's VoicePlay singing Disney and  there's a dog in the video. It's a trifecta of goodness!  Fun fact: dogs make everything better. The video could've been terrible (it isn't), but throw a dog in there and I'll watch it. And if the video is great (it is), a dog'll still make it better. Guaranteed.  Clearly, I had no choice but to feature this one. It would have been wrong not to. Especially considering that Disney had them do this in honor of the Blu-ray release of 101 Dalmatians...

This week is all about the villains so it seems rather appropriate to include a villain medley. Not just any villain medley, but one that is performed by the incredible Jonathan Freeman. You know, the voice of Jafar from Aladdin . He's now playing the part in the Broadway show. I'm not going to lie, watching him do this kind of makes me want to hear him take on even more of the villain songs. This medley starts of with the "Prince Ali (Reprise)" from Aladdin , goes into "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid , "Cruella de Vil" from 101 Dalmatians, "Oogie Boogie's Song" from The Nightmare Before Christmas  and then go back to the "Prince Ali (Reprise)". Though before we get to the video itself, there's something else I'd like for you to watch first. I promise that it's related.

Okay, we're going to continue the month of Disney and the week of the villains with something, well, a bit different. It's "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid  like you've never heard it before. It's not just a regular cover; it's a metal cover. I'm going to be honest and admit that I'm surprised by how much I like this. Talk about a style of music that I really never listen to. I think I first came across Jonathan Young when one of his videos was recommended to me on YouTube. I want to say it was his cover of "In the Dark of the Night" from Anastasia  and I actually really liked it. It's a great cover. It's also not Disney or I would've included it. Maybe it'll get its own video spotlight somewhere down the road. But it got me watching some of his other covers. He was an easy choice to include during villains choice. I actually thought I'd pick another of his villain songs, but as soon as I heard this, I ...

Pop quiz: what is one of the best ways to find out about new artists? Pay attention to who your favorite ones talk about. I found out about ECHO through Geoff Castellucci of VoicePlay. As it happens, some of the guys from ECHO have filled in for VoicePlay as needed and that already starts them off on the right foot, in my book. Anyway, my point was to always check out the artists that people you like talk about. Always. It might lead you to great acts that you may not have heard about otherwise. As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to see if they had any music out and they do. They released a self-titled album earlier this year and it's really good, so definitely check that out and see what you think. They're another a cappella group based out of Orlando - I seem to be developing quite a weakness for those. This aca-addiction is getting more serious all the time, but I'm good with it. ECHO is made up of Bryce Larsen, Antonio Fernandez, E.J. Cardona, Erik Winger, Deejay Yo...

That's it. I seriously need to go back to Orlando at some point. Orlando, Florida is a hotbed for a cappella music. From what I can tell, it's kind of like what Nashville is for country music. It's a treasure trove for harmonies down there. The last time I was in Orlando was during a band/chorus trip as part of the women's choir when I was in high school. Meaning that I haven't been there this millenium. This, my friends, is a problem. I must go back at some point. I've written a ton about one Orlando based a cappella group, my beloved VoicePlay. Now it's time to write about another: Voctave. As of right now, they only have a few videos on their YouTube channel, but if you've never heard them, I've got you covered. Let's start with a run down of the line up.There's the sopranos - Kate Lott and Tiffany Coburn. Alto/soprano Ashley Espinoza and alto Sarah Whittemore. There's the tenors - E.J. Cardona, Tony de Rosa  (who also serves as th...

Peter Hollens gives me the exact same problem that his wife does: all of his Disney covers are great, so trying to pick one? So difficult for me. Times when a cloning device would come in handy, I tell you what. That way I could just assign a clone that strictly designed to write about each of them so I could gets posts done for each of them. It would speed up the process, that's for sure. But alas, no cloning device here, just me. I'm still on a mission to write about all of their videos, it's just going to take some time is all.I'm pretty sure I must have changed my mind about 8 times about which of Peter's Disney video I was going to write about next. But as you can see, "You'll Be In My Heart" came out on top. It's from Tarzan , another underrated Disney movie, in my opinion. Lots of great songs in that one. I mean, Phil Collins was involved, of course the music is good. At the end of the video, you'll see Peter talking about how this was...

As I said at the beginning of Disney month, I feel like I could have done a month of the Disney videos by Evynne Hollens and her husband Peter Hollens alone. So it was really only a matter of time before featuring one of them again. I kicked off the month with Evynne's fabulous "Evolution of the Disney Princess" and have been in a quandary about which of her other terrific Disney covers should be highlighted next. I love that it was hard to choose - I know that no matter which one I went with, there was no way I could possibly go wrong. Ultimately, as you can see, I decided to go with her version of "Almost There" from The Princess and The Frog . While Evynne is the special kind of singer than can pull off any song she wanted, I really feel like her voice was made for this song. She gives such a wonderful performance in this. A performance that was made so much better by the backup band and all the extras. It's so well done. Watch.

VoicePlay + Disney? Magical. VoicePlay + Broadway? Equally magical. VoicePlay + Disney on  Broadway? Extra magical! Or, to quote Igor from Young Frankenstein (the musical), it's " Right up there with the world's greatest pairs! Like Laurel and Hardy/Like Coke and Bacardi/ Like Juliet and Romeo/ Ebb and flow/ To and fro...destined to be a great pair!" Sidenote #1: I cut out a good chunk of the lyrics from fro to destined, but you get the idea. Sidenote #2: VoicePlay + Young Frankenstein?  Oh, the hilarity that could bring. But back to the issue at hand. VoicePlay's aca-DISNEY. What, you thought I was going to dedicate a month to Disney and not   feature VoicePlay at some point? Have you met me? Actually, it occurs to me that maybe you haven't. If that's the case, let me introduce myself. My name is Kim and I am a VoicePlayaholic. I've long accepted the fact that there's no help for it. It's no one's fault. Actually, scratch that. It...

There's something about the violin that takes a song and makes it even more timeless than it may have been previously. I'd say that "Circle of Life" is one of the most iconic Disney songs. Especially among people like me who remember when The Lion King  first came out. Still one of my favorite Disney movies and the musical version is easily one of my favorite musicals. Seeing the movie is one thing; watching it play out onstage is quite another. That's one of those shows that I'll always want to see if an opportunity to do so comes up. Of course, this post isn't about the musical or even the movie. It's about an iconic Disney song being beautifully played on violin. Taylor Davis is so talented and she manages to make songs her own while staying true to the original. So here it is. Her take on "Circle of Life".

Going in a different direction with this one. If you've never heard of The Piano Guys, you're in for a treat. Well, it's a treat for all of us. There's four of them: producer/videographer Paul Anderson, pianist/songwriter Jon Schmidt, cellist/songwriter Steven Sharp Nelson and music producer/songwriter Al van der Beek. What I love about these guys is that they take modern hits and pair them with classical pieces of music with gorgeous results. It's a great way to bridge two different styles. I've loved everything I've heard from them and would love to catch a show of theirs at some point. I did another video spotlight on them in May that you can find here  and have been wanting to write about them again ever since. Safe to assume that these guys will be featured in many other video spotlights down the road. But seeing as how I've deemed August to be the month of Disney, I clearly had to go with this one. It's "Let It Go" like you've m...

Disney Month continues with "The Evolution of Disney" by Todrick Hall. No way could I have not left out this one. I've watched a lot of great Disney videos, but this one might win for the most comprehensive Disney video ever. Not only does Todrick cover most of the animated movies, he also has songs from song of the live-action movies - including some of the Disney Channel Original Movies. Plus some theme songs of a few Disney Channel shows. He really covered all the bases and it's truly something to watch. If you've never seen any of Todrick's videos, you're really in for a treat. The key word to describe Todrick, in my opinion? Fun. Talented, certainly. A great performer, absolutely. But he is so much fun to watch. He's one who can always make me smile. With no further ado, here's "The Evolution of Disney".

Seeing as how I started Disney month with his wife, it felt appropriate to feature Peter next. Well, Peter and his duet partner Alex G. This is an a cappella medley, so everything you hear is coming from Peter and Alex. I really enjoy the way their voices sound together and they play off each other very well too. That makes it more fun to watch. But did they live up to the epic part of the title? I'd say so. From the costuming to the filming locations to the boxes featuring their harmonizing selves, it's very appealing, visually speaking. They picked a great group of songs so it's a treat for the ears as well. Watch.

A while back I said that I would be devoting a week to all things Disney. Upon trying to decide what all I wanted to include, I determined that a week or even two weeks wouldn't be enough. See, I love Disney. Like I imagine was the case for many of you, I was raised on Disney. We had all the movies, a fair amount of Disney related toys and videos. We had a bunch of the old Disney Sing-along Songs videos (we're talking VHS here, people) and I think I about wore them out. "Part of Your World" was my favorite; I'd say "Part of Your World" was the "Let It Go" of its day. Anyway, my parents took us to see some of the Disney on Ice shows and even a Disney cruise when we were growing up. The only cruise I've ever been on and it was a blast. And then, I've seen a few of the Disney musicals live and even did one of the songs from Beauty and the Beast musical ("Home") at the junior high talent show when I was in 8th grade. The Disne...