When I was about 12 or 13, I was listening to music on YouTube after school, as I always did. I clicked on a video of The Blizzard of ’89 by Never Shout Never and The Ready Set. They were two of favorite artists at the time, so I was beyond excited to find that they did a song together. The video said that someone named Cady Groves was singing harmonies, though. To be honest I thought it was a band name at first, and was excited to hear them, hoping it would be some neon pop punk bullshit. When the song was finished I searched Cady Groves to find out she was actually a solo artist. I played the first song that came up (I believe it was Phoenix, but it’s hard to remember at this point) and my life was changed forever.
Cady’s music wasn’t like anything I had ever heard before and was very different than what I was expecting. I listened to her whole EP, A Month of Sundays, that night and it truly made me so happy. She had such a unique voice with the most adorable southern accent. Her music was mostly acoustic with just enough instrumentation to make the songs beautiful and relaxing to listen to. It was a mix of country and indie in a way that just worked, while still having the MySpace scene kid aesthetic. I would say imagine if Taylor Swift shopped at Hot Topic, but even that can’t describe her sound well enough. What really sold me on Cady Groves, however, were her lyrics. Everything she sang seemed profound to me as a little middle schooler. From songs like Life of a Pirate, to Last Straw, she really made me feel seen. I obviously never knew her personally, but it seemed like we had a lot in common. Her songs spoke about wanting to leave home to find something bigger and fighting for love. I could tell she meant what she said. It got to the point that when I would have bad days I would call them “Cady Groves days” and just blast her music in my headphones and cry. Her song Blend is still one of the most beautiful and relatable songs I’ve ever heard. I’ve been toying with the idea of both covering it and getting it tattooed, though I only have $3, so we’ll see. Around when I really got into her music she was excited about signing to major label RCA to put out her debut album. She ended up putting out a few really poppy songs that strayed very far from her old music. The label kind of screwed her over, from what I understand, and never put out her album. She later left the label and released her fourth EP, Dreams, under indie label Vel Records in 2015. I hadn’t really heard much about or from her since then until on May 3rd 2020, when I saw on Twitter that she had passed away a day prior. Her family and team had stated that she had passed due to natural causes and was in the middle of working on new music and preparing to tour before Covid-19 hit. I was heartbroken. They released her last EP, Bless My Heart, on May 29th, 2020. It is has a mature country sound that shows her growth, while still sticking to her roots. I highly recommend everyone listen to it and share it with their friends, so that Cady can realize her dream of being the star she deserves to be. I can’t say that I still listen to and relate to all of the music I listened to in middle school, but Cady is special. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I’ll never forget you Cady.
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When I was younger I was always obsessed with sad songs. I loved “Someone’s Watching Over Me” by Hilary Duff and pretty much all of Simple Plan’s discography. I was pretty much a sucker for anything that could make a seven-year-old cry. I have always loved all different kinds of music, but for some reason, the more slow and depressing songs stayed with me for most of my life. A few years ago, however, I noticed that that started to change; I became obsessed with upbeat, “girly” pop music. Even the music I was writing began to change from somber guitar music to danceable synth based pop. I was a little confused by myself, but not upset.
While exploring my love of pop, I noticed more than a few critics of my new obsession. Many of my friends said they couldn’t relate to my new taste in music, and some people even said they hated it. Think about it, how many times has some random guy at a show or on Facebook told you that pop music sucked with no real reasons or facts to back it up? Maybe none, but I promise it’s happened to me. Another thing I’ve noticed when it comes to the world of pop music is the misconception is that it’s easy to make and anyone could do it. If that were the case, though, wouldn’t everyone do it? Once I heard someone in my class say that he was in two bands, one that made good music that he enjoyed playing, and one that made pop music like The 1975 so he could get famous and pay the bills. I found this very silly because I may be wrong, but I don’t think it’s particularly easy to make music as good as The 1975’s on a whim. I also don’t think that everyone who copies their style is automatically going to get rich and famous. The comment seemed a little narcissistic to me, but maybe I’m just a blind pop music fan. I wonder how his bands are doing. I also believe that successful pop musicians are, for the most part, very talented, at least in their own way. If being a pop artist were easy, again, everyone would do it and be successful. For example, the Madison Beer and Burlesque challenges didn’t exist on TikTok because those songs were easy to sing. Another great example is Ariana Grande. She is arguably one of the most successful and popular pop stars on the planet right now. Although she uses samples a lot in her music (but who doesn’t), she still has raw talent. She writes the majority of her own songs and has a four octave vocal range. She also broke the record for singing the highest note ever. Even if it’s not something you enjoy listening to, or if you’re turned off of her music by some of her past scandals, you have to admit that having that kind of talent isn’t something easy that everyone can do. At the end of the day, pop music is never going to be for absolutely everyone, and that’s okay. However, “pop” does stand for popular and it’s popular for a reason. It can lift people’s moods, as well as make them dance, laugh, and enjoy life. In today’s society we will never know if anything is actually good, but pop music will always hold a special place in my and many other’s hearts. |
Kay RomanKay Roman is a 22 year old DIY pop musician Archives
December 2020
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