A couple of weeks ago, I watched a live performance by singer/songwriter Neil Finn (formerly of Crowded House and before that Split Enz) that was broadcast from what appeared to be his home in Auckland, NZ.
He also responded to some questions that were emailed before or during the performance. Some of the questions were interesting and some were irreverent, but most gave Neil an opportunity to demonstrate that he is charming, thoughtful, and has a nice sense of humor. By the way, echoing yesterday's post - it takes a lot of courage to broadcast a live performance of mostly new material, performing in a probably less than ideal environment, over the web with no delay. In this age of singers-who-cannot-conceive-of-singing-and-dancing-at-the-same-time, Finn, sadly, almost seems like an anachronism. You know, people have been singing-while-dancing for years and years - it's call musical theater and I even did a touch of it some years back (I have a 'chorus'-type voice, but I think that the world can always use more back up singers!). And going way back, people did this in large venues, not only without Auto-Tune, but also without any amplification. But enough of that. There were two great quotes I picked up from this performance; each was offered in response to questions about (song) writing. The first: "A series of slip ups and revelations." Yeah, I would say that characterizes writing for me sometimes, too, but more of the former and far, far fewer of the latter. And, the second: "Really hard except when it's really easy." I know that feeling, too. Again lots and lots of painful, eeking out a few words and very rare bits of that flowing, can't get the words down fast enough feeling. Watch the just over 1 hour video on YouTube, it is very good. Neil's wife Sharon sings backing vocals, one son plays guitar, and the other, who showed up late, plays percussion. I wish my family had been more like that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxqE5Kt2NUI There is an alternate version with no talking, just the songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNTBmIJGeiU
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AuthorI am Sheryl L. Chatfield, Ph.D, C.T.R.S. I am a member of the faculty in the College of Public Health at Kent State University. I also Co-coordinate the Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Research and I am a member of the Design Innovation Team at Kent State. Archives
February 2024
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