The New Face of Music-A Changing World

(Ho hey, ho hey) by the Lumineers is an example of music that will have a musical longevity, even though they did not win the major awards from the music industry.   The Lumineers were nominated for The best new artist and best Americana Album, but did not win the Grammy.  The group is comprised of Wesley Schultz, Stelth Ulvang, Jeremiah Fraites, Neyla Pekarek, and Ben Wahamaki, the epitome of five nerds, who do not follow the usual flashy, Hollywood looks or style of singers you usually see or hear.

In the video on Youtube, the group is in this old empty apartment with lights strung along the wall and old pictures hanging down the hall in a rustic setting and yet you do not  mind the setting with the sounds of the band strumming and singing so well. 

There is a timelessness and melodic continuity in this song which appeals to real music lovers.  It does not have a genre, gender or age appeal and will be used for many valentine dates, anniversaries, and any loving moments, to be shared by people in the future.   There is no gender specific theme in this song, so it can be song from anyone to anyone.  This helps with the universality of the song, as shown in Wikipedia, where it is cited as being part of Country Music Television, Indie folk, folk rock, Americana, and found on different billboards around the world.

Photo provided by Wikipedia.

Stelth Ulvang, Jeremiah Fraites, Wesley Schultz, Neyla Pekarek, Ben Wahamaki

They are giving their audience what they want, good music sung by someone they can relate to.  The words in the song which resonate are “I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart.”  This can even be song as a lullaby and that is true versatility.

In order to continue getting those royalties and being remembered by generations to come, more artists will have to come up with lyrics and melodies, like this one unforgettable and lyrical.

This group was started by Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites on the east coast and they decided to start over by moving to Denver, where they used Craigslist to find Neyla Pekarek, their celloist. 

Using Youtube to advertise their talents, the group made another smart decision, which paid off when Onto Entertainment managers, Christen Greene and David Meinert, saw the video of this song and signed them.  Social media has been the impetus of the success of this and other groups in this internet savvy society.

After The Grammy Award loss, Wesley Schultz said, "We were nominated for two awards but didn't win. As we were walking in Elton John stopped us and said he has been listening to our album and was a fan. Our drummer said, 'There's no f--king way you are a fan!' Elton just slapped him in the face and put him straight. It was a special moment."

There was one review posted by Melanie Haupt, music review for The Austin Chronicle, said the band is "uniquely American in all the best ways: gritty, determined, soaked in sweat and love and drive. There's nothing precious or affected here, just three dedicated artists opening their hearts."

When asked to explain the song’s success, by Sean Plummer, writer for MSN entertainment,  Pekarek said, “I think it’s kind of refreshing for people to see human beings playing instruments, as opposed to everything being so digital in music and just life in general. I think it’s refreshing for people to see just somebody stand up with an acoustic guitar or whatever and play a song that somebody actually wrote.”

This song has been downloaded, not only by my family, but sitting in my geology class, the teacher was playing this song on her computer while waiting for class to begin.

Reviving this style of music, the ones that will last through time, is the way of the future, using social media to find your audience and support for your art is going to be the wave of the future.

Links are attached to key words in this blog and listen to video by clicking on Youtube in text.