New Single From Jessica Meuse - "Rio Grande"

I have been following the career of Jessica Meuse ever since she was on some season of some music competition show. Enough being coy, Jessica Meuse finished fourth on American Idol and was the only finalist to perform an original song in the finals.

"Rio Grande" is her second single release post Idol following "Done" in the summer of 2015. "Rio Grande" shows another step in the progression of this singer/songwriter. Listen to the song she did on American Idol, "Blue Eyed Lie", and then "Done". Both decent songs and you can hear the growth. Then listen to "Rio Grande". Jessica Meuse is coming into her own as a viable artist.

Lyrically and musically, this is her best effort yet. While "Rio Grande" should fit comfortably into the country genre, it doesn't have near enough EDM beats, pseudo rap sequences, 80's rock guitar or shallow lyrics to be played on country radio.

Here is an acoustic live version. Judge for yourself.



You can get the studio version on itunes here.

Q and A With Singer/Songwriter Jessica Meuse

If you're a fan of the reality TV music shows like American Idol and The Voice, you probably know the name Jessica Meuse. She was on season 13 of American Idol and finished fourth. That's not important. What is important is that she is making new music that's good.

She made it onto the show by playing an original song, "Blue Eyed Lie". The singer/songwriter will make it in the music business, or not, based on her original material. That's a good thing.

I stayed away from the show in the interview purposefully. It's all about the music now. I did offer her the opportunity to comment on the show. I think it's telling that that is only question she did not answer.

Be advised, there are a lot of exclamation points in the Q and A that follows.

Singing Rock is Harder Than It Seems

The day after the election would be apropos to post something on the results.  But we are politicked out.  So let's go on a guilty pleasure journey.

We admit it.  And without shame.  We love the singing competition shows.  The Voice.  X Factor.  American Idol. Actually kind of addicted.

One thing we have noticed: It is really hard to sing rock songs well.

All the people on these shows make it primarily because of their ability to sing.  For the most part, they are all incredibly talented.  Pop songs they all do well.  But, have mercy, when they try to do rock. OK, some can pull it off (because they're rock singers), but for the most part it is a train wreck.

I can't count the number of times a Bon Jovi or Aerosmith song has been butchered on these shows.

You don't have to be the best singer technically to sing rock.  But those that do it well have something that can't be taught or learned.  We can't explain it, just know that it is.