Brittany Howard entered the music scene as the lead singer/guitarist for Alabama Shakes, but her solo album is a glimpse into her pre-musician life. The themes she talks about in her album "Jaime" - race, religion, self-love, isolation, resilience - make this album the perfect listen for the tumultuous times we're living in. In this episode, I talk about her life, and analyze the song "History Repeats", the opening track on that album. 

You might think you don't know who Tayla Parx is, but I guarantee that you've heard one of the songs she's written! In this episode, though, I talk about her own solo album, "We Need to Talk", and how she uses the musical concept of the interlude in that album. My friend Keaton also hop on the podcast to talk about how the interlude, or intermezzo, was used in opera! 

Big Freedia is the biggest name in bounce music right now, and is breaking into the mainstream with her collaborations with artists like Lizzo and Kesha. In this episode, I talk about what bounce music is, who Big Freedia is, and I talk about the musical elements in the songs she and Kesha collaborated on - "Chasing Rainbows" and "Raising Hell". Then, I have a friend of mine join in to talk about Big Freedia, LGBTQ artists of color, and what these artists mean to her and to those communities.

Spotify Playlist for all of the songs mentioned: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5evBJ6BpfHekWcIfKhS9eC?si=r8b0uVqHRt6iyc6rRf3nKg

"Can I love the world and hate how it makes me feel?" is a quote from Son Little's song, "O Mother", that was written in response to hearing about the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. On this episode, I look at the musical similarities and differences between 16 different songs written by Black artists that speak about oppression, these shootings, or are a call to action, from the past six years. Here is the list of songs I mention in this episode: 

America – Abraham Alexander; Glory – Common and John Legend; LAND OF THE FREE – joey bada$$; Freedom – Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar; Alright – Kendrick Lamar; This is America – Childish Gambino; Black Man in a White World – Michael Kiwanuka; Rise Up – Andra Day; Don’t shoot – The Game, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Faboolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beats, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharoah, TGT; I Might Need Security – Chance the Rapper; What am I – Jordan Mackampa; On my own – Lecrae, Leon Bridges; Revival – Gregory Porter; O Mother – Son Little; 16 Shots – Vic Mensa; This Land – Gary Clark Jr; Nina Cried Power - Hozier, Mavis Staples, Sheep - Mt. Joy

How much do I have to say about the "woo" in "Truth Hurts"? A lot, actually. I talk a little about the music theory of the song, about the concept of the "isoprinciple" in music therapy, and another famous "woo" that I think speaks volumes.  Shout-out to the Selena Gomez fans, because I talk a little about "Look at Her Now" at the very end. How are these concepts and songs all tied together? Listen and find out!

A few weeks ago, a viral video went around that showed a baby crying during Frozen 2's song, "Into the Unknown". Then, more and more moms started sharing that their babies were crying during the exact same line of melody. I decided to look into the melody's musical elements, and some developmental psychology research, to see why that melody made babies so sad!

The song "Shallow" worked well in the movie, A Star is Born, but it's always sounded out of place to me on the radio. I dug into the song's structure and musical elements to find out why. 

In this episode, I look at the musical elements behind what I believe to be the first two big hits from Post Malone: "Better Now" and Psycho". I really enjoyed the song "Psycho" especially when it first came out and couldn't understand why. This curiosity led me to create this podcast! My goal in this episode is two answer two questions: 1. Why did these songs become so popular? and 2. Does the music behind these songs pump us up or calm us down? I hope you enjoy my first episode! 

This is a short episode to explain why I decided to start this podcast, what it's all about, and a little bit about me! Get to know me and my reasons for deciding to record a pop music theory podcast!