Beyonce "The Star Spangled Banner"

First, let me say that I don't really care if Beyonce was lip-syncing.

I understand why, in a situation like a live Inauguration, outdoors, with many, many variables, you might pre-record your vocals, to make sure the performance is not torpedoed by something.

Now I DO find it bothersome if an artist has pre-recorded their vocals, and the vocals have been altered/improved/sweetened.  But if the track was recorded earlier, then, in this kind of performance, who cares?

It kinda bugs me that people would make a big deal of this.  Like it or not, when the visual performance matters, there is usually lip-syncing.  Artists in TV appearances like The Superbowl, major concerts where the star is expected to dance complex routines, mediocre-but-attractive teen heartthrobs---they all lip-sync.  You might as well be surprised that the McRib does not come from some kind of magical boneless pig.

People who don't like President Obama get fired up that he uses a teleprompter.  Really?  The guy gives hundreds, if not thousands of speeches a year, and you think he's carrying that around in his head?  You don't even go to the grocery store without a list.

What's most annoying about this Beyonce "scandal" is that it is being reported mostly by people who don't know shit about what they are talking about.  Which, sadly, is how much of the day's news---even the important stuff---gets reported.

Why not listen to an expert?  My friend Jesse Barnett posted this link to Slate, where singer Mike Doughty (former of Soul Coughing) explains why its clear to him that Beyonce was definitely NOT lip-syncing.

Finally, a talking head who knows what he's talking about.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Mat Kearney "Hey Mama"

There's a line that some record promotion folks will use to prod me (or, in some cases, tease me).

They say: "Don't be afraid to play a Hit!"

It's kind of a funny situation to be in, but sometimes I'll turn down a song because it's too much of a "Hit."

Take this new Mat Kearney song. It's insanely catchy, well-crafted and fun.

But because of those seemingly positive attributes, it would sound pretty out of place on our station.

"Single Ladies" this song is not. But on a continuum, "Hey Mama" is too far down the line away from Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and the earthy, singer-songwriter-strummer roots of the station.

People sometimes think if we don't play a certain song, or a certain artist, it's a judgment against that song/artist. We're somehow saying that they're not good enough.

And yeah, I suppose that's sometimes true.

But Mat Kearney is a talented songwriter, a legitimate artist. If he were making slightly different music, with a slightly different production spin, he'd sound great on our station.

Instead, he's going to have to suffer the cruel fate of having his song become a big, successful hit via the hundreds of radio stations across the country who make their home on a more populist place on the musical continuum.


See the video on Youtube.

Imagine what it might've sounded like with acoustic instrumentation.

See the video on Youtube.