She’s From Rochester?: Julia Nunes

A couple of days after I moved up here, “YouTube’s Ukulele Queen” appeared on Conan:

Julia Nunes has no record label; what got her onto a national late-night talk show was her success raising well over $75,000 on Kickstarter to fund her new album, Settle Down. Buy it; you’ll like it. My favorite songs is “Odd.”

People have been excited about Nunes for a while. Back in 2008, after seeing her video cover of his song “Gone,” Ben Folds invited Nunes to open for him on tour. When she got his e-mail, Nunes “thought it was spam.” 

Nunes is from Fairport, which is close enough to be Rochester, I guess. The Erie Canal runs through it, and it seems like a nice place:

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Cheesy Classical Music You Should Know: The Hallelujah Chorus

Pretty well everyone has heard the Hallelujah Chorus:

It’s a Christmas staple, on its own or as part of Handel’s Messiah; it’s also become one of those pieces that people love to make their own.

Since 1993, Marin Alsop has been performing a gospel version of Messiah, conceived with Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson, called Too Hot to Handel, with a particularly swinging Hallelujah Chorus:

Here’s a “mildly cynical update” by Edward Current and Steven Clark from the UK (only Brits would find this “mildly cynical”):

And only Canadians would find a Hallelujah Chorus flash mob cool:

This Week in National Anthem Disasters

Anthem fails: they’re not just for Americans anymore.

Deadspin gives an account of this very, very unfortunate version by Measha Brueggergosman of my country’s big song:

While the average length of “O Canada” as sung before an athletic contest is a bit shy of 50 seconds, Brueggergosman stretched it to almost two minutes and drew titters from players on both benches as she warbled her way through a nearly unrecognizable rendition. 

The most cringe-worthy moment comes when, clearly dying out there, the Canada’s Got Talent judge enthusiastically calls for the crowd to sing along. Polite Canadians, they do.

I wonder how the Kazakhs would handle a butchering of their national anthem? Maybe we’ll find out:

It was pretty classy of the medalist, Maria Dmitrienko, to keep her composure in what could only have been a humiliating and confusing situation.

Beer Music

Signature Brew of London has released Craig Finn’s Clear Heart, a nod to the Hold Steady singer’s new solo album.

Pairing up with musicians to co-brand lines of beer is Signature Brew’s marketing hook, but so far it has only one other act on its roster, a band called the Rifles.

And how do you drink this beer? In a red solo cup, of course:

I Went to a Concert, and a Hockey Game Broke Out

Last Thursday, someone punched a 67-year-old man in the face while listening to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play Brahms.

It didn’t really rise to the level of a riot, but a lot of concerts have. Josh Kurp picked his top five music riots on Encore Magazine’s website. So did Laura Mann of the Dallas Observer.

Both mention Altamont and the Who’s 1979 concert in Cincinnati, as well as the 1913 Rite of Spring premiere. But Mann picks as her top choice something we don’t hear much about: a 1949 concert by Paul Robeson show in Peekskill, NY that was undermined by the KKK.