Community Blog - Page 3

As a lifelong musician, shoegaze was my first love. I tried to get with the Madchester sound, but as a guitarist, I just never was able to bond with wah-wah pedals. Shoegazing seemed to arrive just in time, back in the early 1990s – when grunge was oversaturating the airwaves. Some of us who never even-flowed or snuffed a rooster turned to this innovative music scene that was emerging in England. At first, the shoegaze sound blended the haunting beauty of ‘80s goth with the distorted six-string experiments of indie rock. But shoegaze very soon evolved to take on many different styles within the genre.

February celebrates Black History Month and as the Classical Programmer at Pandora, I am excited to share the ‘Black Classical’ Mode on Classical Radio. ‘Black Classical’ features Black composers, vocalists, instrumentalists, and conductors from the 18th to 21st Century.

MLK Day never fails to find us reflecting on Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. But as a lifelong record collector and musician, it also reminds me how the birth of the civil rights movement was a groundbreaking era in music. It was a time that inspired songwriters of many genres to pen some of the most powerful and beautiful songs in the history of recorded music. During this part of the 1960s and 1970s, gospel, folk, rock, funk, soul, blues, and jazz included musicians singing about themes of freedom and equal rights.

Long before the inception of Pandora, I can vividly recall the very first thumbs down that I gave to a song. This was during the Holiday season of the then-new decade. But it also happened to be my first-time butting heads with one of my parents on musical taste.

Good gravy, November was bountiful with some stellar songs! This decorative gourd season found us indulging in comfort food music - the kind of songs that make you want to loosen your belt and put your feet up. But also, some songs that make you want to put your feet down and groove like a new year is just around the corner. You can listen to our Pandora Picks for the month right here.