@jym626 wow, surprised to see Eva Cassidy on your list. How did you hear about her? She was my brother’s girlfriend in h.s. - he’s a professional musician himself and they met b/c her brother (and eventually her as well) was in a band with my brother when they were in h.s. My mother still keeps in touch with her family and just went out to lunch with her mom last week. Tragic she died so young-she was so talented, not just with music, but as an artist as well.
Wow! That’s so cool @4kids4us ! So sad that she died so young and in the early stages of her career. I don’t recall how I heard about her, but I have several of her CDs and of course her version of over the rainbow is epic!
I keep up with a few genres, but I listen to a lot of music that I grew up with. My D listens to all of my old music and agrees that new music isn’t as good.
@4kids4us Eva Cassidy reminds me of Laura Nyro. And they both died way too young.
And Lizzo was in the Today show this morning.
@jym626 I think Over the Rainbow is her most popular, but my favorite is Autumn Leaves from Live at Blues Alley. You can see the actual taped performance on YouTube. My parents and brother were at the performance and I almost went but for some reason decided not to go, regretting it later. I get choked up whenever I listen to it, as she died in the fall so the lyrics are especially poignant to me. Her rendition of Sting’s Fields of Gold is another one that makes me cry.
I only listen to new music, mostly rap and hip hop. When I workout, I listen to Spotify’s Rap Caviar, Power Workout, Anti Pop, New Music Friday’s, etc. Depends on my mood. Typically, the more NSFW, the better.
I admit it–I’m one of those old people stuck in a musical time warp. In my car it is oldies only. I don’t like to listen to music much at home. I prefer peace and quiet.
OK @4kids4us - I just got home and have pulled out her Songbird and Imaagine CDs. I love the Songbird CD and rhe songs you mentioned are also my favorites (with Over the rainbow and Early morning rain on the other CD). I have watched some of her youtubes in the past, like “people get ready”.
I also have Laura Nyro on my car but every time I tell the car to play it it misspells her name and has trouble fining it.
As for “concerts I was invited to but didnt go and regret it to this day” one was Jimi Hendrix and the other Janis Joplin at the Fillmore East in NYC. 1969. What the heck was I thinking?!?!?!
LOL! I barely listen to music at all when left to my own devices, although Pandora’s Bossa Nova-style selection did get me through my MSEd research projects. Happykid is a stage and concert-venue lighting designer so whatever she’s getting ready for next is what is playing at our house. “Michael in the bathroom” from Be More Chill? Yup. Got that memorized.
I often read about current music but don’t hear it anywhere. As far as I know I’ve never heard Blurred Lines but I sure read about it a lot. Same with Old Town Road (although I did look that up on YouTube.). I only listen to Pandora, SiriusXM and CDs so unless Pandora slips something new in I’m not going to hear it. Sometimes I hear something at the grocery store and check it on SoundHound but that doesn’t happen very often.
At the same time there is old music I’ve heard so much I never want to hear it again. Like Carol King, Rod Stewart, Van Morrison.
Eva Cassidy had quite a substantial following in years right after her death. She was also perhaps the first artist to obtain real economic success – albeit posthumously – without ever having a major record label contract, based almost entirely on internet sales.
There’s another interesting aspect to her career. Her main professional mentor – the person who started recording her and promoting her – was Chuck Brown. Brown was a DC-area African-American artist best known as the originator of “go-go,” a regional genre of party music with lots of drums and brass and long number with minimalist, chanted lyrics. It never caught on much outside of the DC area, but was extremely popular in the African-American community there (and still is). Cassidy and her music were as white as white could be, but Brown recognized that she had real talent and worked hard to get her career going. (I love those few instances of American popular culture that are truly regional and not homogenized on a national level. Go-go is one of them.)
I keep up with new music, but not “popular” music. If it is on the Billboard top hits list, I probably haven’t heard it. But I definitely keep up with new stuff. My tastes are eclectic, from singer-songwriter to adult alternative to “coffee house“ to metal. Just not techno, rap, hip hop or anything auto tuned.
Personally, I disagree. Tons of good new musicians, good singer/songwriters.
I like listening to the radio in the car over Pandora, Spotify, and the like because I think I get exposed to more new music that way. I don’t spend much time in the car these days so when I do, it’s usually tuned to my favorite radio station.
My husband finds good new music by scanning the European and British charts for music. They are often ahead of us in what is trendy. And as mentioned before Tiny Desk is a good resource. We also have a summer concert series in our area and the guy who heads it up has good taste in music that meshes with my own (no wonder I think it is good 
) so we’ve seen a lot of performers/groups we didn’t know before through that.
@itsgettingreal17 , I was just around two daughters of a good friend this summer for the weekend, they love 70’s music, eagles, Dooby Brothers, etc. and that’s all they listen to right now. They are 21 and 18.
@jym626: Lizzo is probably my favorite new find. She exudes confidence and has a great voice (and plays a mean flute). Her tiny desk session with NPR was just fantastic. I have several of her songs on heavy gym rotation.
Just a FYI… Just saw Ringo Starr with his All Star band with the Beach Boys (half of them since Brian Wilson tours with like the other half) and it was “a lot” of fun at Ravinia in Illinois
They had Colin Hay from Men at Work doing a few songs, Gregg Rollie from Santana, guy from Toto(Lead guitar and vocals) and the singer from the Average White Band… Somehow it all worked and was like a juke box…
Honestly, Ringo was great and really a fun night… FYI ?
OMG heck yes I love finding new music to love. As a teenager I was into a band that had already broken up — the Beatles. Now I am so thrilled when bands I love actually release new music and actually tour so I can see them. It’s like a revelation. I go to about 10 concerts a year. The one I’m really looking forward to is Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky vacation in Mexico in January at the Hard Rock Rviera Maya Resort. Wilco, Courtney Barnett, Sharon Van Etten, Dr. Dog and others will perform. We also have tickets for upcoming local shows by The National and Low Cut Connie.
I also make Spotify playlists to listen to when we are at our cabin and don’t have unlimited WiFi. I make a 5 hour list about every two months. I am also the playlist maker for our office parties. My best source for new music is streaming Minnesota Public Radio, The Current.
@jym626 @kjs1992 love Lizzo too!!
@Knowsstuff yes! I saw Ringo and the All Starr band a few years ago with my son — great show!
@doschicos love the Tiny Desk videos too. Also like what KEXP puts out.
I pretty much only listen to old music, except when my kids force me to listen to some new song. The only new music that I listen to is some contemporary Christian, but for rock, country, etc. it’s going to be pre-2000. 60’s-80’s is my preferred range for most music.
@doschicos have you explored some of the featured playlists on Spotify to be exposed to new music/artists? That’s how I build a lot of my personal playlists - by dropping songs from a featured playlist into my own.