NMM: The Boyle Brothers

It's hard to believe that 2012 is coming to an end very soon. First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for reading my blog, especially these posts.

I started this "New Music Monday" series just a few months ago and it's exploded into the most popular series on my blog with over 1,300 total page views! I never imagined that would happen so thanks!

I'm going to end this year with a group of brothers who are up and coming on the music scene. The Boyle Brothers are made up of Jacob, Jared, Jesse and Jeffrey. The group auditioned for Season 2 of "The X-Factor" in Kansas City. 

Since then the group has continued to make videos on its YouTube channel, covering big name artists such as One Direction, Nelly, Little Big Town, Gotye, Phillip Phillips, Hunter Hayes and more.

Here's one of the group's most watched videos: a cover of Little Big Town's "Bring It On Home."

This is definitely a band to watch out for!

Year In Review: 2012

I can't believe another year is about to close. This year has been filled with ups and downs, great experiences and new ventures.

There were some down times this year. Some misunderstandings with family and friends. But, that's life and you've got to move on.

Despite that, there were so many amazing things that happened. I started my junior year at N.C. State and passed all of my first semester classes. This is especially good considering I had to take accounting. Enough said.

2012 was filled with events that I was able to be apart of.

I crossed off one major thing from my bucket list when I finally got to see Elton John in concert back in March. To this day, that was the best concert I've ever been to in my life!

Then in July, I got the experience of a lifetime by going to the live tapings of "The X-Factor" auditions in Greensboro. It was amazing to see all that and to be in the same room with music royalty: L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato, Britney Spears and Simon Cowell.

There were many good (and bad) auditions but the whole thing was fun. I even got to see a guy audition whom I'd just seen perform online the previous night, Jacob Whitesides. We've actually become good friends on Twitter since then. You should check him out!

In addition to these awesome things, I also got to see the hit musical, "Jersey Boys," three times and went to the "Rock Like A Man" benefit concert held by the cast.

Rock Like A Man

Then in November, I supported another great cause by going to the 94.7 QDR Concert for the Kids.

I was a VIP for that and got to meet Kix Brooks, Lee Brice, Jason Michael Carroll and, of course, Scotty McCreery! I also got to chat with Wheeless and J.J. from the station.

Country for the Kids

Despite a few bad things that happened, this year has been AMAZING! I would like to thank all of you for reading my blog. It's amazing that this blog has had over 17,000 pageviews in its four year history! Rest assured there will be many more exciting posts to come!

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 7

Well, Christmas is here! I've had fun posting some of my favorite Christmas jams during this miniseries and I hope you've enjoyed listening to them. This final day features four different songs.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The first is probably my all time favorite Christmas song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Of course, this song has probably been performed by every artist in the world but I've grown particuarly fond of Dave Barnes' rendition of it.

The second is "Mary, Did You Know" by Clay Aiken. Clay's voice still, to this day, amazes me.

Even though it's not necessarily a Christmas song, I include this next song because the message is one that should be delivered throughout the year! This is "The Prayer."

The final song is a fun one that I've always loved. After looking it up, it's hard to believe it was released 14 years ago. It's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" by N'SYNC.

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 6

Well, it's Christmas Eve once again! I've enjoyed doing this miniseries showcasing some of my favorite Christmas tunes on my blog. I really do love this time of year and the music that comes along with that. In fact, I have right at 100 different Christmas songs on my iPod!

 

I've decided to include two of my favorite songs, sung by some people I've grown to know over the past few months.

 

The first is Jacob Whitesides. You probably remember I did a "New Music Monday" post on him over the summer after I saw him audition for "The X-Factor" in Greensboro. Jacob continues to release music, including his own rendition of the classic, "Jingle Bells."

The next song is by a new group, Fifth Harmony. This group of ladies came in third place on "The X-Factor" and are quickly gaining popularity before releasing any new music of their own! Two of the members, Camila Cabello and Lauren Jauregui, both auditioned in Greensboro for the show.

Each member of the fivesome was eliminated during the show's "Boot Camp" round but were brought back and formed into a group for mentor, Simon Cowell. After going through a couple of name changes, the group finally took the name Fifth Harmony.

Each of the finalists on the show performed a Christmas song. Fifth Harmony decided to go with the classic Mariah Carey tune, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" which is, coincidentally, one of my favorites.

Enjoy!

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 5

This is another one of my favorite songs to listen to every Christmas. It's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Rascal Flatts. Enjoy!

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 4

"All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey has been a holiday staple for many years and is right up there with my all time favorites.

This year, Jimmy Fallon and his "Late Night" band, The Roots, got together with Carey to perform the song using their voices...and classroom instruments! Check it out!

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 3

Here's one of my favorite Christmas songs from one of my favorite bands. This is "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by Little Big Town!

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 2

This second day of Christmas music features a group of Italian, operatic singers better known as Il Volo. The trio is made up of teens Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble. They met on the Italian RAI TV music competition show, Ti lascio una canzone in 2009 and were crowned the winners. 

Since then, the group has gone on to produce three albums, including one for Christmas. One of the songs off that Christmas album is a medley of holiday favorites: "Jingle Bell Rock," "Let It Snow" and "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year."

ENJOY!

Seven Days Of Plays: Day 1

Since Christmas is just a few days away, I've decided to post one of my favorite songs each day for you to listen to. 

Here's the first...

"Jingle Bell Rock" by Rascal Flatts

Rock, country and big band all together? If this doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit nothing will!

NMM: Skye Stevens

Skye Stevens is an up and coming artist who has already gained fame with his debut single, "Takes All Night." The single, released in 2012, reached the top 20 on the Billboard Dance charts and has become very popular in clubs and radio stations across the country.

What makes him unique is he is the first ever Armenian pop star.

Stevens is busy working on more music and has released a second single, "Rewind," which is poised to be another hit.

Check out Skye's first single below.

P.S. Thanks for following me on Twitter man!

Review: Life Of Pi

Photo: Hollywood.com

Imagine being involved in a ship wreck and being stranded out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but some food and wild animals to keep you company. That's what you'll find in Life of Pi. But is it real?

What To Know

Director: Ang Lee

Writers: David Magee (screenplay), Yann Martel (novel)

Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain

Rating: PG for emotional thematic content throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril. Parents Guide

Plot: Based on the best-selling novel, the movie centers around Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper. The family decides to move to Canada from Pondicherry, India and hitches a ride on a cargo ship. The ship meets a ferocious storm and sinks, leaving Pi adrift on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker, fighting for survival.

SPOILER ALERT!!!! I asked that question at the end of the introduction because viewers are left wondering which of Pi's stories is actually true. We find Pi in a hospital after being found on the Mexican shore, telling his story to a pair of Japanese investigators trying to get to the bottom of the shipwreck. He tells the investigators the animal story first but they don't believe him.

Then, Pi tells them a more "realistic" and violent story where the animals are replaced by humans on the ship. The beautiful, noble zebra represents the exotic Chinese sailor. The gutless, violent, ugly hyena embodies all the revolting qualities of the greedy, cowardly cook. The maternal orangutan, with her vaguely human body and mannerisms, represents Pi’s own mother. And the tiger is Pi himself.

This forces us to lean more towards the latter story as true and conclude Pi used animals to cope with the events that happened. However, there's no definitive answer in the book nor the film so you're ultimately left to decide for yourself which is true.

Family Friendly? Possibly. This film would be okay for, say, children 10 and up to watch. It also brings a lot of religious aspects and values into play, which could spark great family conversations. 

Surprisingly for this age in movies, there is no swearing in the film. The only thing is Pi is called "pissing" in school because his name, Piscine, sounds very similar. The violence is pretty bad but most of it we don't see.

Should You See It? DEFINITELY! This is a brilliantly-made film and is right up there with my all time favorites. I would recommend seeing it in 3D if you can because that just enhances the entire experience. I believe this is the best 3D film I've ever seen (and I've seen tons). I'll be shocked if this film doesn't win an Oscar this year.

NMM: Gary Allan

I'm sure many of you have heard of Gary Allan before. Well, the country music star is back with an uplifting new song called "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" and it's really catching on with country music fans, including myself.

The song is inspirational. It talks about all the storms and troubles you go through in life and how every one of them do eventually run out of rain and things get better. Have a listen!

Review: Red Dawn

Photo: Red Dawn

Imagine you wake up one morning to find the U.S. Government has collapsed and your country is being invaded by one of your enemies. That's exactly what the creators of Red Dawn want you to experience.

What To Know

Director: Dan Bradley

Writers: Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore (Screenplay); Kevin Reynolds and John Milius (1984 Screenplay); Kevin Reynolds (Story)

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas, Adrianne Palicki, Connor Cruise

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense war violence and action, and for language. Parents Guide

Plot: A group of teens in a small town wake up one morning to find their livelihoods are under attack by North Korea. The teens band together to form a militia called the "Wolverines" and they try to fight off their invaders. Soon, the story of the "Wolverines" travels across the country and similar groups form to fight off the North Koreans.

Family Friendly? Not really. I mean, the movie is about a military invasion so there are obviously a lot of fight scenes, espcially using guns and other weapons. The language was refreshingly minimal for a movie like this but you still had the ocasional cuss word (sh** being the most used).

Should You See It? YES! I'll be honest, I was left wanting more at the end. It kind of just ends and, you're so into it, that you hate for it to be over. The movie is a remake of a 1984 film of the same name and the creators of this film do a great job of adpating it for today's world.

The makers originally had the Chinese as the invaders but changed it to North Korea to retain access to the Chinese box office.

This is not a highly publcized movie as some of the others out there right now but you should DEFINITELY go see it!

DID YOU KNOW?

This Red Dawn was originally scheduled to be released in 2010 but MGM went bankrupt and the film was shelved. Kind of weird to think we're seeing Chris Hemsworth pre-Thor and Josh Hutcherson pre-Hunger Games in this movie!

NMM: Gloriana

Tom Gossin, Rachel Reinert and Mike Gossin.

Photo: George Chinsee

Ok, I'm sure you've heard of this group before. But, after about five years in the business, Gloriana is really hitting it big.

I had the chance to see this trio at the 94.7 QDR Concert For The Kids Concert at the Durham Performing Arts Center last Tuesday. The group is made up of brothers, Tom and Mike Gossin, as well as Rachel Reinert.

The group released its second album, A Thousand Miles Left Behind, in July and it has been met with critical acclaim. The band's hit song from that album, "(Kissed You) Goodnight," peaked all the way to No. 2 on the Billboard charts. The band is also nominated for a few American Music Awards this year.

Another single off the album, entitled "Can't Shake You," is quickly gaining radio airplay and rising up the charts. Have a listen!