Most fans of popular music are susceptible to the sway of image. But there was a stark contrast in Nashville between the Americana fans in pursuit of roots-related music and the hordes of Taylor Swift fans in town for the final three shows of her North American tour. Swift fans seem to be enamored with the idea of Swift, more so than her music. Up and down Broadway, Swift fans paraded in Swift paraphernalia, thus serving the same purpose as the eight 40-foot trailers parked outside the Bridgestone Arena: vehicles for promotion of the Swift brand. By presenting traditional American music with an emphasis on music, its history and a suggestion its future, the AMA also is a welcomed anecdote to the overly lacquered, thoroughly calculated brand of contemporary music Swift and her peers represent.
[I skipped some blah blah blah in the article}
On his 2012 debut disk “From the Ground Up,” John Fullbright showed considerable promise as a singer-songwriter – it was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Americana Album category. When I saw him perform last May in Dallas, he seemed to be groping to find a way to present his songs; perhaps he was a tad too earnest and self-contained. But no more: Fullbright was so strong as to startle during his one number at the AMA Honors and Awards show; and on the following night at the Cannery, he was astonishing. Whatever was roiling inside of him during that show in Dallas now explodes when he performs. I’m given to hyperbole when I’m knocked out at a concert, so I was prattling on about him to anyone I ran into the next afternoon in Nashville (except those Taylor Swift fans I chatted with at the hotel). But I think I can stand behind my assertion that Fullbright may be a once-in-a-generation talent.
Treacherous
I Knew You Were Trouble
Holy Ground
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Begin Again
All Too Well
Red
Stay Stay Stay
I Almost Do
Starlight
22
Sad Beautiful Tragic
Everything Has Changed
State Of Grace
The Lucky One
The Last Time
Treacherous
I Knew You Were Trouble
Holy Ground
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Begin Again
All Too Well
Red
Stay Stay Stay
I Almost Do
Starlight
22
Sad Beautiful Tragic
Everything Has Changed State Of Grace
The Lucky One
The Last Time
FU if you don't recognise this as Her best album.
Treacherous
The Last Time
All Too Well
State of Grace
Holy Ground
Begin Again
Stay Stay Stay
Sad Beautiful Tragic
Red
The Lucky One
Starlight
IKYWT
Fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff says co-writing with Taylor Swift helped him become a better musician.
Antonoff co-wrote Swift’s song, “Sweeter Than Fiction,” which will appear or the upcoming “One Chance” soundtrack; the film is about “Britain’s Got Talent” winner Paul Potts.
"She’s just like the most incredible writer and singer and performer," Antonoff said in a recent interview. "She feels completely unaffected by all the stuff happening around her, so working with her was like the most amazing experience. … It made me better at what I do just watching her process.”
Antonoff, 29, added that he and the country-pop princess decided to work together after he told her about a song he was writing that featured the snare drum. He added that the collaboration worked so well because there was “no label involved, no one put us together.”
That was such unholy list. Especially the bottom 5. Travesty.
Sad Beautiful Tragic
Treacherous
Begin Again
Holy Ground
State Of Grace
All Too Well
Red
I Almost Do
I Knew You Were Trouble
Stay Stay Stay
The Lucky One
The Last Time
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
22
Starlight
Everything Has Changed
That was such unholy list. Especially the bottom 5. Travesty.
Sad Beautiful Tragic
Treacherous
Begin Again
Holy Ground
State Of Grace
All Too Well
Red
I Almost Do
I Knew You Were Trouble
Stay Stay Stay
The Lucky One
The Last Time
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
22
Starlight
Everything Has Changed
That was such unholy list. Especially the bottom 5. Travesty.
Sad Beautiful Tragic
Treacherous
Begin Again
Holy Ground
State Of Grace
All Too Well
Red
I Almost Do
I Knew You Were Trouble
Stay Stay Stay
The Lucky One The Last Time
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
22
Starlight
Everything Has Changed
Parents End Mosque Field Trips Because "Pushing Tolerance" Is Bad
Thanks to the watchful stepfather of a Henderson High School student in Hendersonville, Tennessee, teachers will no longer be “pushing Islamic tolerance” on the students in the form of religious field trips.
Mike Conner, concerned his stepdaughter would be exposed to knowledge in a 36-week world studies course, got angry at back-to-school night when he heard of a planned Sept. 4 field trip to a mosque and a Hindu temple. So he spoke up because, you know, “If we as parents don’t begin speaking up, no one will.”
Oh, it gets better.
Quote:
The honors course – which is an elective – has been offered by Hendersonville High for a decade. The curriculum includes world religions, and students spend three weeks on that topic, learning about Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, said school system spokesman Jeremy Johnson. In the past, the students have typically visited a Jewish synagogue, a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque without parental complaints.
Conner's stepdaughter, who elected her elective, decided to forego the field trip. So when she elected to stay home from her elective field trip, she was given an alternate assignment “comparing and contrasting the religious teachings of Jesus, Gandhi and Muhammad.” But this assignment was too difficult for her because the materials she was given “contained a page of Bible verses, two-thirds of a page about Gandhi and five pages about Muhammad.”
But Conner hadn’t reached the height of his anger yet:
Quote:
When his stepdaughter decided she could not compare and contrast the three because she was given unequal information, she was initially told that she would receive a zero and would not be given another assignment, Conner said. That’s when he really became upset. However, school officials later agreed to give a second alternative assignment.
Did he get even angrier? Yes, he did. He got angrier when he heard students who elected to go on the elective field trip were given copies of the Quran and a tour guide demonstrated Hindu meditation.
Conner believes that between the trips and the assignment, the school was clearly promoting the Islamic faith.
Quote:
“The teacher was pushing Islamic tolerance,” Conner said. “We did not want to make this about religion – they forced us to.”
And he won by force. On Sept 17., the school system issued a statement:
Quote:
“After receiving a parent complaint regarding field trip locations, our district has reviewed the practice and decided to eliminate field trips to religious venues from this class, as it does not provide equal representation to all the religions studied in the course unit.”
So this was not about religion at all, ok? It was about equality. And equality won.
It's interesting to me that Taylor doesn't seem all that religious considering her background. Sometimes the comments on country blogs give her **** for not thanking God when she wins an award. There was also a radio interview she gave at the ACM rehearsals where the DJ was trying to pin her down on 'thanking God for her success' and Tay kept dodging and saying she thanks 'some kind of higher power'.
It's interesting to me that Taylor doesn't seem all that religious considering her background. Sometimes the comments on country blogs give her **** for not thanking God when she wins an award. There was also a radio interview she gave at the ACM rehearsals where the DJ was trying to pin her down on 'thanking God for her success' and Tay kept dodging and saying she thanks 'some kind of higher power'.
