Music. According to Kim.

I first found out about Sam Tsui from a collaboration that he did with one of my favorite male singers, Peter Hollens. As it turned out, some of my friends are also fans of Sam's and there was a point where I kept seeing people post some of his videos. So finally I decided to go check out his YouTube channel. Turns out, he has all kinds of great covers on there and even some originals. I liked him and knew it was only a mattered of time before I wrote about him.  The only trouble was picking which video to write about first. There were a bunch of strong contenders and it's safe to assume that all of those will get a spotlight at some point down the road. But it was hard to pick. The obvious solution was just to do a video spotlight on Sam himself. We'll be talking about five of his videos. Starting with the first one I saw.

I'm pretty sure that this is the first lullabies album I've ever gotten. I don't have any children of my own, but this appealed for me for two reasons. The first being that it's be The Hound + The Fox and I've come to really like them. If you don't know, The Hound + The Fox is the husband and wife duo of McKenzie and Reilly Zamber. I did a video spotlight on them earlier this year which you can find here, if you're interested. When they announced that this album was coming, I knew that I'd be getting it.  The other reason this album appealed to me is that as some of you reading this might know, I struggle with anxiety. Music can be such an important tool in helping to deal with certain things like anxiety. And a lullabies album seems like a good way to go as you expect the songs to be calming. Plus it's The Hound + The Fox and they make beautiful music. This album is no exception to that. So how about we look at each track by itself? It'...

Welcome to the newest installment of my Music Therapy series. Arthritis Awareness Month is coming to a close and I couldn't let it end without doing another one of these. This one is going to be a bit different from the others. See, sometimes you need to listen to encouraging songs and other times you need to cry it out for the more emotional songs. But you know what? Sometimes what you really need is to listen to something that makes you want to move. This month has been a tough one, but I've noticed that I've been gravitating more towards those kinds of songs. The ones that make me want to dance. The songs that are just plain fun. Sometimes that's enough to pull you out of a funk or at the very least lift your spirits for a bit. There are so many songs I could have picked and it's safe to say they'll be other installments of this series that include more of them. This time I decided to narrow it down to YouTube artists. The next time I'll be focusing m...

After deciding that I did not want to do a best albums of 2016 post after all, I knew that I still wanted to do something to commemorate the year. I first came up with the idea to highlight my favorite music related events from the year and you can find that post right here . While working on that, I realized that I wanted to do something else. But what? Finally, it hit me. 2016 was a terrible years in some respects, but a great one in others. For instance, it was a great year for me musically speaking. I learned about some new acts that I've come to love. What's more, I ended up becoming a bigger fan of some acts that I loved coming in. So, why not find a way to honor those acts? And why not do so by highlighting some of my favorite videos of theirs from the year? After all, 2016 was the year that I decided to launch my video spotlight series. In fact, it was my love for the music video that first inspired me to start this blog in the first place. The decision was made. ...

Something strange has happened to me. I used to have a fairly strict rule about waiting to listen to Christmas music until December. Or rather about choosing to listen to it on my own, since it seems like the stores start playing it earlier and earlier. But generally, I like to save Christmas music for December. Now as you're of course aware, it is definitely not December yet. It's definitely still November. And yet, I find myself writing a review of a Christmas album. This is mainly for three reasons. The first being that it seems like there's a lot of Christmas albums coming out. I know that I, in all likelihood, will not be able to write about all of them. But there's a few that I'm definitely planning on getting to. Seemed like a good idea to start now. The second reason I wanted to write about this album? It's the first new album that I've listened to in its entirety and it's great. The third reason? Peter has worked so hard getting it right and ...

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.

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...

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.

Welcome to the first actual installment of my music therapy series. In case you missed it, I wrote an introduction to this series a couple of days ago that you can find here . The quick introduction is that I use music to help me cope with living with rheumatoid arthritis - with life in general, to be honest - and wanted to share some of the songs that help. Music has been proven to help with pain and depression, among other things. The power of music knows no bounds. This series will be ongoing, with the second installment coming later this week. For these first two installments, I've decided to take you all on an emotional progression of sorts. We're going to start in the dark and work our way towards the light.  Before we get into it, I did want to mention an article I read a while back that suggested that listening to sad music all the time can make you more depressed. It's a valid point and one that I agree with. So why include sad songs? Because sometimes that...

One thing I really like about a cappella artists is how open they are to fan requests. It may help that many of them are independent and so either don't have a record label to go through or have their own label. They can pretty much do whatever they want, especially what with all the various crowdfunding websites out there. The most significant one being Patreon, in my personal opinion. With Patreon, the fans become the support system for the artist. It gives its creators a way to create whatever it is that they create. Music videos, in this case. I believe that this makes them even more open to fan requests. Don't get me wrong. I think that artists can and should have the final say when it comes to the music that they make. A song has to be a good fit for them and all the better if it's one that they genuinely enjoy doing. But as a fan, it's nice to feel like an artist values your opinion. It makes you feel like you are truly a part of their musical journey. Even i...

For the third day of Phantom of the Opera  week, I bring you a video from Peter Hollens that features his wife Evynne. I have to say that as much as I enjoy both of their solo works, I especially love when they join forces for a project. Their voices are perfectly suited for each other and their collaborations are usually pretty special. Now Evynne usually sings with a pianist, but Peter is an a cappella artist. This video is completely a cappella and it's truly a lovely medley. Watch.

Ah, the music video. I have long believed in the power of the music video. I can't even tell you how many artists I discovered through their music videos. It is my love of said videos that inspired me to create this blog in the first place. Well, there's been a plethora of great new videos posted over the last few months and some older ones that I've just recently come across. As such, I've been feeling a need to spread the word about them. Hopefully in the process of doing so, you'll find some new artists to love. Or perhaps get reconnected with a former favorite. Either way, if you see something you enjoy, please hop on board and share it with your family and friends. It really is one of the best ways to support the singers you enjoy. What with all of the wonderful videos that have come out as of late, I have quite a lot to choose from and there's brand new videos coming out all the time. Meaning that there's many, many video spotlights to come. It sho...

You can find Part 1 directly under this post or right  here  if you're feeling lazy. No judgement here. I'm going to keep up the pattern I started in part 1 meaning that we're kicking things off with...

Merry Christmas everyone! Last Christmas, I  wrote about my favorite versions of Christmas  carols ,  standards  and  lesser known originals . This year, I knew I wanted to do some kind of Christmas post, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what that would be. Then it hit me: this would be a good opportunity to promote the artists that I support on Patreon. I've written a fair amount about a couple of them, but not all. That's about to change. I know some of you are familiar with Patreon, but others of you aren't. So first things first: Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that helps content creators create content on a regular basis. It's not about funding one big project; it's about helping them make multiple projects over time. This is done through the use of subscriptions. You choose your level of support and each level comes with its own perk. You also have the option of not receiving any perks, if that is your preference. Worth nothing that you can change your l...