GOAT
Lost (Acoustic Version)
Mileage: Retuned
The Intelligent South
Director: Teddy Cool
The shout out for this writing goes to Justin Griffith a.k.a. GOAT(Grades of Absolute Truth). I follow his Instagram and Twitter feeds and I understand how he keeps his music community happy. Apart from writing and performing his music, he also teaches kids and adults to learn musical instruments, even if he doesn’t teach them to sing or rap. And what is that? Well, he has this exciting merchandising going on.
These days it is not enough to post tunes or performing live through social media. You gotta give your fans something they can use for their everyday live. And nothing is better than a cap, a shirt or a jacket-anything that’s ‘practical.’ And Griffith is so good in this. He also posts snippets of his live videos via Instagram.Instagram is a good tool in exposing your music/art/blog. Never underestimate the power of the hashtag. He reminds me a bit of Beck who jumps from one genre to another. This music video I posted represents that point.
Remember where you came from, understand where you’re at, & know where you’re going. #GradesOfAbsoluteTruth
So who are the musicians backing Griffith?
They are :GOAT(Griffith) – Lead Vocals/Guitar, Double J – Producer/Keys/Backup Vocals, Christian Sly – Guitar/Backup Vocals, Graham Impey – Bass Guitar, James Bownds – Drums/Percussion/Backup Vocals, Lourdes Mabel – Backup Vocals. His inspirations are singer/songwriters, conscious hip hop, rock, blues, (and soul while combining the depth of an introverted poet), the precision of a perfectionist, and the relevance of a leader. He was included in the Top 10 Artists in DFW by LIT Monthly.
He has an impressive array of performances having opened for Everlast, Bubba Sparxxx, Shwayze, Paul Wall, Jon Connor, King Los, Devin the Dude, Snow Tha Product, Mac Lethal, Ceschi, Mr. Dibbs, & more. He can also perform as an acoustic act, duo, trio, or with a 6-piece band. See how versatile this artist is? He exudes an amiable vibe. You can just tell it not just from his social media posts but through his charisma on stage. So yes this is a shout out to this awesome guy and I am sure other artists out there can learn from his tireless way of getting his music out there.
The holiday spirit is about keeping warm while taking that time to reflect on what was before and what will be. The songs of Michael Stovall is very proper for the atmosphere. I know people are out there busy with their preparations. Singer/songwriters have to put their craft aside to make way for family gatherings. There are those who have lost loved ones and this Christmas was awfully sad.
Goodbye & Goodluck is for all of you sad ones. It’s because no matter how hard we try, this world is not a perfect place. And though life is beautiful, life can also be painful. It’s these little things or bigger things that make us human. And this tune is so beautiful I feel my soul calmed after listening.
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Passion is unpredictable. Passion makes us prolific. JP Kallio is prolific this year. He has released more than one album and wrote many songs. I know some of them are yet to see the light of day. Apart from performing and writing songs, he is busy with his music blog. He writes quality articles that merit discussion. I think when you are an artist, you just gotta ride the wave when it comes. Because there will always be moments when inspiration is hard to squeeze. It speaks for me as a blogger. There are days where I feel like I want to write something but there is nothing there to write about. There are many tunes worth covering but my brain is dried up or on something else. I am distracted. So when the impulse happens, I grab my Mac and type away in case the muse escapes again!
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Wooah! Check this tune out! It’s a repost from an electronic musician that I follow, his name is Ben Landis. I am sure you people from the gaming community is familiar with his works. Anyway this tune is not from Landis but from a group called Enhanced. They are from the UK and they have more than 22,000 followers via Soundclound. This is a dance track that has the winter chills going all over your body when you listen to the melody. And yes the title is called Wintertide. I am following this group now.
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Mary Fahl is my muse.
About the video:
Exiles: The Wolves of Midwinter, written by Mary Fahl, former lead singer of October Project, along with John Lissauer for the audiobook version of Anne Rice’s new novel, The Wolves of Midwinter, which will be released Oct. 15, 2013.
Available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.com. Shot and edited by Kate Bennis, http://www.katebennis.com.
Lastly, don’t forget to follow this amazing Irish singer/songwriter, Peter Chains. I like his voice. It has got that Peter Steele kind of deep but with the soothing style of Leonard Cohen, Anyway, you be the judge. If you think Hozier is amazing, I am sure you will find his singing mind-blowing.
The indie music blog 