While the original version may have been “too sweetened” and maybe too cringey for some due to the fact that it was written to BE a track for the movie (Karate Kid II), this version take the song down to its core and delivers an essence of the song that was missed in the original from the movie.
It goes to the heart of what the writer may have been musing on when he wrote the song before production. You can always tell a great song when it is broken down to just an acoustic guitar or piano and vocal.
I don’t usually review covers, but occasionally I find one that is so outstanding and phenomenal that I just feel compelled to write a review. And on an even more rare occasion I find one that I like better than the original, in this case by Peter Cetera solo (Chicago).
This cover of “Glory of Love” performed by Shane Ericks is one of those that cry for attention. The emotion conveyed in the performance can be felt by the very soul. Ericks’ beautiful voice gives a new life to the song. Her voice vibrato on the longer notes is very natural and effective in the delivery of this classic love song.
She stayed true to the original melody and delivered in a smooth and gracefully flowing manner.
Review of “Somebody To Love”
by Randy Wayne Belt
Sept. 2019
With a distinctly mid western and southern charmed voice, not to mention a Dove Awards nomination and Josie Awards nominations, Karisa Kay brings and sings her song “Somebody To Love” to life by telling the story of two people who find love in each other for a lifetime.
You get that sense in this song and can feel an emotion in the singing voice that just can’t be pretended especially on the powerful chorus. And when you see the video (below) you’ll understand why: The song is about her own grandparents. You’ll see the pictures and images and know they were from what we call “The Great Generation”, a generation that understood love for country, each other, and commitment. You can’t help but get a sense of longing for the same kind of thing by the artist when you hear the heartfelt singing.
Originally from Iowa, Karisa Kay is a country singer and songwriter strongly influenced by Gospel and her roots come from traditional country having been brought up listening to Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynnete, Crystal Gayle, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. Those influences come out in her writing and singing and you can hear that she has a heart and soul of old country.
I like to start at the beginning and this song from the 2016 album is a good starting point. Appropriately fixed as the album title, the song “Somebody To Love” strikes me as the big hit of the same titled album. The song begins with what I call “the Americana beat” – you know, that shuffly country beat you might hear in a Tim McGraw song?
The body of the song is then accented by a bit of slightly crunchy guitar riffs, steel guitars or pedal steel, with a piano giving the under rhythm and at times a bit of accenting counter melody that you don’t notice unless you pick it apart (like a reviewer might do) with the beat. The song is like a revival of when country music was more traditional but with a slight contemporary twist.
Even if you are not a fan of country you’ll have to admit this song has a compelling and crossover chorus.
The chorus is very powerful and strong and grabs you and makes you feel like it is familiar and you want to hear it again and again. The harmonies are carefully placed to fatten up the sound. The key change at the end of the song gives the chorus an extra push without making it feel overdone, as choruses often do, by the end of the song. The lyrics at the end of the story perfectly lead into the last chorus with the line “all because two people found…somebody to love” making the chorus flow right off the last verse/pre chorus.
The songwriting sticks to traditional country theme but does it in a way that shows the song is well crafted, structured, and ready for radio. The sense of melody is apparent and the song will hook you in by the chorus and keep you coming back.
Time is precious and life is precious. We hope our video for the song “Waiting” effectively conveys that. We often worry about the future, or obsess about the past and forget that we live here and now. “Now is the day that is here” sums up the song fairly well.
It is a summery song in many ways with catchy guitar hooks, honest lyrics, and melody and harmony that grabs your ears as you would expect from any Barley Station song.
“Waiting” appears as track 1 on the Barley Station album Back There Somewhere, released Sept. 14, 2017.
Katie’s enthusiasm for music and singing has been consistent since an early age. Following her dreams, working hard, and learning from her mistakes with an always upbeat attitude has helped her multi-task successfully as a musical entertainer and in fashion as a model.
Since her very first music release, and even since my last review of her music, she has come a long, long way, and like a fine wine, only improves with time.
She has that special “it” in all that she does that brings me to her Christmas song, which I pulled from her back catalog of other great songs.
Blessed with natural vocal talent and an ear for a good melody, Katie brings home the Christmas cheer easily with her song “You Are My Holiday“. I dug this song up by accident and was surprised I didn’t find it before. It is from 2012 but sounds as fresh as yesterday! It is pure goodness!
I can hear this song being covered by other artists in the future in a big way. And it is also a great candidate for a Christmas movie soundtrack.
The rich warm acoustic guitar played by song co-writer Kip Williams starts the song out accompanied by Katie’s naturally pure and very tuned vocals and with the snare brushes and brush hits that give it a light and smooth feel.
Katie’s vocal gives a rich, warm, and enchanting beginning to the song that when the chorus kicks in knocks you out with a fantastic hook that will be stuck in your head for life.
As the song progresses from the perfect opening sparse arrangement, more instrumentation comes in and the bass picks things up a notch and never lets it back down.
With dramatic vocal pauses before the chorus, the song is well arranged and puts the “Merry” into Merry Christmas.
The song will fill you with feelings of jubilee and bright cheerfulness washing away any kind of sadness that sometimes come to many this time of year. The song is like an escape into merriment and blissful joy.
As a connoisseur of original Christmas music it’s always great to find something new that is full of festive joy, delight, and fabulous vocals! “Christmas For Two” by Canadian recording artist Olivia Penalva is just one of those songs. With a fresh clean sound that has a somewhat Jazzy and R&B old motown rhythmic feel combined with a very contemporary vocal and lyric, Olivia delivers a song that reminds us of the joy of the season, and just enjoying life and having fun. It is the perfect Christmas feel-good song!
As a singer, not only on this song, but in all of her work, her voice has a timbre and character that make one think of a voice like that of Andrea Wittgens, Nora Jones, or Colbie Caillat. Olivia’s voice has a mature tonal quality to it and a special warmth with a sultry yet innocent character to it that will capture your heart and ears.
Perhaps it’s that innocence of youth that can best create the atmosphere of a joyous life-is-good Christmas song.
At a mere 15 years old, Olivia has already begun making a splash in music, and the addition of “Christmas For Two” to her repertoire will only further the ripples created by the waves she’s already making.
This new Holiday song has already gained some radio play alongside other well established artists with Christmas songs on this years Christmas playlists such as 103.5 QMFM in her home area of Vancouver, BC; Majic 100 in Ottawa, ON and more. But this isn’t her first airplay.
Then there is Miss Penalva’s recent single “Ferris Wheel”, a song that has a carefree atmosphere with a strong rhythm section, once again, giving a solid beat behind the song which is, more than less, a celebration of life. With another powerful vocal performance, the song will simply leave you in a good mood! The control she has over her voice allows her to naturally move around her notes and move in and out of vocal inflections with great ease. This is a very note worthy song also garnering airplay support.
Another song I should mention is a song called “Forgettable” which Olivia co-wrote and collaborated on with a Canadian DJ Group called Project 46 who released it as part of their own album called “Beautiful”. And indeed it IS a beautiful! At this stage in her career, the music seems to be defined by strong rhythm section and very powerful vocals.
So don’t shrug off the “fifteen years old” part because her voice is like that of an experienced 20-something, and one only needs to be reminded that when LeAnn Rimes came out with “Blue” and floored everyone with her mature sounding voice at age 14, they said the same thing with a similar “Wow” effect. Her voice simply commanded respect and admiration.
So naturally, one of the questions I wanted to ask leads right into my interview:
Barley Station’s video for “Younger Summer Memories” is now premiering Coast to Coast on “Bongo Boy TV Episode 1057 “What About You”.
The Bongo Boy Rock n’ Roll TV Show series has exclusive national airtime to over 15 million viewers in the USA on 9 major cable companies. (NBCUniversalComcast, FiOS, CableVision, Time Warner, RCN, AT TUverse, Verizon FiOS, Charter Communications, Suddenlink)
The video will be on Heavy Rotation on 33 TV channels.
This will be on permanent broadcast times in Nashville, Manhattan, Brooklyn, San Francisco, New Jersey, Down the Jersey Shore, Nevada, California, Montana, New Mexico and many other cities and towns across the US. Also International with Go Indie TV Roku Channel in the UK, Canada and The USA.
Bongo Boy TV is filling the void on Television that MTV once dominated.
Barley Station music video “Younger Summer Memories” aka winner of the BEST MUSIC VIDEO – Americana /Rock won Best Video Award by the Akademia Music Awards to American Television. (And the song itself won Best Song Award as well in Feb 2015)
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