KINA GRANNIS: A Sincere California Girl

Kina Kasuya Grannis is an American guitarist and singer songwriter born August 4, 1985 in Mission Viejo California. Her background in acoustic and pop music began in elementary school where she composed piano compositions. She started to play the violin in elementary school and continued all the way through high school. By the age of 15 she started to teach herself guitar.

After attending Capistrano Valley High School, Grannis attended University of Southern California of LA in 2003. By her second year in college, Grannis was asked to produce her first album titled Sincerely Me. Grannis graduated summa cum laude in social science with an emphasis in psychology. Kina Grannis was a part of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi societies as well.

Now that you have a general background on Kina Grannis please enjoy the following:

Top 10 Reasons Kina Grannis is genuine:

1. Whenever she opens or closes a video on Youtube she says “I hope you are all doing well”, which may seem like a small act but it makes a big difference– it shows that she cares.
2. Kina Grannis is half Japanese and half European American now that sounds like a fabulous mix to me. Yay diversity!
3. She won Best Web-Born Artist at the 2011 MTV O Music Awards.
4. When she was in elementary school she composed and submitted piano compositions. Yes, shes smart.
5. Grannis’ first Youtube video Message from Your Heart was entered into Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest—she won. The prize included contract with Interscope Records.
6. Grannis wrote a song about one of the most important organs—your heart. In this song, Grannis sings about taking care of your heart, especially since we take it for granted from time to time.
7. In March 2013, Kina Grannis gave a TED Talk on “Finding Community Through the Internet”.
8. According to PetaPixel “The music video for the song “In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis is a stop-motion animation done with a background composed of jelly beans. It’s a crazy project that required 22 months, 1,357 hours, 30 people, and 288,000 jelly beans.”
9. “In October 2008, she participated in the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco to support the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in honor of her mother, raising $6,000 for the organization.” According to Wikipedia.
10. In 2012, Grannis launched a charity project called Run Team Kina which emphasizes the promotion of health and well-being. The proceeds go to Leukemia Lymphoma Society. In this same year, Kina raised $71,886 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

It is clear to see that Kina Grannis is a selfless person. She want to be successful but she doesn’t not mind helping others along the way. Good job Kina, keep up the good work!

Below you will find two videos of Kina Grannis “Message from your Heart” and “In Your Arms”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kina_Grannis

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/05/kina-grannis-in-your-arms-jelly-beans_n_1077702.html

http://www.runteamkina.com/

http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2014/06/12/kina-grannis-announces-australian-tour/

A Michaelson Experience

Recently, I have been listening to a lot of Ingrid Michaelson lately. Reasons for this—One: Her music makes me feel happier when I have the homework blues. Two: Her songwriting skills are flawless.  And three: She puts her heart into her music. Basically, she’s a very talented and genuine person who brings positivity into the world.

Ingrid Ellen Egbert Michaelson is a half Swedish American; New York based indie pop singer-songwriter who was born December 8, 1979. In 2006, Michaelson independently put out her second album, Girls and Boys. After a music producer from ABC Drama Grey’s found her music online, the producer made it possible for the single Keep Breathing to play during Grey’s Anatomy Season 3 Episode 25- Didn’t We Almost Have it All. After this, Michaelson was approached by many record companies. Michaelson, being the amazing person that she is, wanted to retain all of her rights as an independent artist and signed a deal with Original Signal Recordings. Michaelson wanted the label to act as the marketing and distribution arm.

In September 18, 2007, Michaelson re-released her album Girls and Boys into the mainstream market on September 18, 2007. This album peaked at #63 on the Billboard charts. That’s is a pretty great accomplishment. Now, if you are still not convinced that Ingrid Michaelson is a unique artist that you need to be listening to–here are my top four songs/reasons why Ingrid Michaelson is a spectacular human being.

Top Four songs that are also reasons why Ingrid Michaelson is a spectacular human being:

1. “Everybody”

This is an oldie that sure to put a smile on anyone’s face because “everybody wants to love and everyone wants to be loved.” If you are feeling down you better listen to this song right now!

2. “Girls Chase Boys”

Originally, intended to be a break-up song Michaelson’s framed this music video to simulate Robert Palmer’s late ‘80s single “Simply Irresistible”. The take away in this song is that “no matter who or how we love we are all the same” –Ingrid Michaelson

3. “You and I”

This cute and catchy song captures the idea that as a couple we may not have a lot of money but we can make the best of what we do have—and strive to get to where we want to be.

4. “Afterlife”

This is an empowering song that tells people to face their fears head on and to know that you are capable of doing whatever you set your mind to. This song gives me such a confidence boost.

CONCLUSION: Ingrid Michaelson is a great addition to society and her art through music has such a positive impact on the world and gives people those happy tingly feelings inside.

Ingrid Michaelson is doing a tour this summer called “A Summer Night Out with Ingrid Michaelson” and tickets are on sale now. Click on the link below to buy them! tickets.http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/tour

http://www.ironcitybham.com/event/817569-ingrid-michaelson-birmingham/

10. “Girls Chase Boys” by Ingrid Michaelson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Michaelson

http://outbuzz.net/girls-chase-boys-ingrid-michaelson-channels-robert-palmer/

http://www.riverinteractive.com/concertguide/Ingrid-Michaelson—Knitting-Factory—June-15-2015-297457281.html

Happy Birthday SELENA!!

Picture this: A small child, around age 4, is ready to go to school. Pre-Kindergarten to be exact; the father picks up the child and places her in the back of his black trail blazer. The car is so big she can stand inside of it without hitting her head on the ceiling. The child hears the engine start to rumble as the father pulls out of the driveway. The next thing that is heard is a warm, velvety, voice of a Mexican American singing Bidi Bidi Bom Bom out of the speakers of the car. This singer is Selena Quintanilla Perez; not only a singer but a songwriter, actress, spokesperson, and a fashion designer. This small child was me.

Selena Quintanilla Perez was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson Texas. Her parents’ names are Abraham Quintanilla, Jr and Marcella Ofelia Samora. Perez had two siblings, a sister, Suzette Quintanilla, and a brother, A.B. Quintanilla III.

Selena y Los Dinos is the band that Abraham Quintanilla, started when Selena and her siblings were young. This is the same band Selena was a part of when she passed away on March 31, 1995. The murder was done by her registered agent named Yolanda Saldívar. Initially, she seemed like a good influence that wanted nothing but good things for Selena, her career, and her fashion boutiques. Turns out, she embezzled more than $60,000 in forged checks from both the Selena’s fan club and the boutiques. Saldívar border lined on obsession with Selena–which is clearly not healthy.

Selena Perez died at the young age of 23. She not only left her family, but her husband Chris Perez, an American guitarist, songwriter. The man she married a few years back in 1992. Like most couples–this one planned on having little family and a farm together. Sadly, this never happened.

Growing up, my father played Perez’ music all the time. Although I didn’t know what she was saying some of the time, I loved the music. My father constantly tried to teach me Spanish when I was younger and this was one of his ways he taught me. My dad is Puerto Rican as well so I’m sure that helped influence this music as well. I can honestly say that Selena was a great role model for me because she was such a successful woman. She was able to handle her singing career with everything she was doing.

Selena was so influential, a movie was made about her. It is titled “Selena” starring Jennifer Lopez. I love Selena so much that I own this movie on DVD.  It is biographical drama covering the important events in Perez’ life. It’s such a great movie because you can gain more insight on her life, especially if you were old enough to recognize her work when she was alive. I want to close by saying Happy Birthday Selena you are truly loved and missed.

http://www.caller.com/entertainment/chris-perez-selenas-husband-authors-book-about

https://beta.prx.org/stories/82581

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena

Below is a clip of the ending of the movie “Selena”–enjoy!

A Capella is Important Too

A Capella has blown up so much in recent years, its become almost as popular as Gregorian chants during the Medieval Period. The media has helped push A Capella into popularity through various ways, one being a movie called Pitch Perfect and an A Capella competition titled The Sing Off. 

Pitch Perfect is about a young new college student named Beca, who immerses herself in an A Capella group and steers the gang towards success. The Sing Off features various A Capella groups preforming today’s popular music. This competition has celebrity judges that eliminates a group each week. Ultimately, an A Capella group wins a grand prize and becomes famous.

Due to Pitch Perfect and The Sing Off, A Capella has popped up at thousands of universities. Central Washington University didn’t have A Capella until 2011. In 2011, Isaiah Ragland, currently a senior at Central, brought A Capella to Central Washington University through Nada Cantada. Eventually more groups were formed like Boots n’ Cats, Fantastic Forte, and 20/20.

Last year, Emelia Blunt, another senior at Central, started a non-audition A Capella group named Blunt Force Trauma. This group is exciting because students can have all the fun of being in an A Capella group without auditioning. This is really important to me because although I haven’t always had professional training, music has always been a therapeutic getaway for me. This is a great opportunity for others who are in the same situation I’m in as well.

Recently, Central had its Fall A Capella concert called FallapaFOURza. This concert’s line up involves the groups I’ve mentioned earlier. Blunt Force Trauma’s songs include: “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit, “Make it To Me” by Sam Smith, “Your Love” by the Outfield, Ke$ha, and Moko. Here’s is a video of our performance if you would like to watch.

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