Three decades, generations, musical pockets and one great song. That’s what this series is all about. One thing that I think is really important about today’s post is that it is heading in a direction that ultimately will become not only the norm for this series but GFM in general.
As I have stated in numerous posts it is very easy to get stuck in the past and say “they sure don’t make music like they used to.” For a majority of artists in the mainstream this analysis would be spot on. But there a few(I stress few) mainstream and certainly hundreds of artists who are not in the main that represent the musical integrity that we pine for.
How do you find these artists? Well one way is by coming here to GFM or any other music blog that speaks to your taste in music. Soul Train has long left the station, BET feels that people stop listening to music after 30 and most corporate run radio stations play the same 20 songs and artists from each decade.
What we are trying to do is here is to give some context so that we might make some connectivity. So here’s a formula that we might employ and it goes like this: For fans of the rock/funk/r&b exploits of such musical masters as Prince and D’angelo checkout the music of Kyonte’. What better way to introduce the unfamiliar than through the familiar. You know this song, you love this song and the sound, you love Prince and D’angelo and hopefully you will enjoy an artist who displays these influences in their music.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
