A Great New Talent!

[12voltman59]

This morning on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, Scott Simon interviewed a new and emerging musical talent--Marie Digby.

For the past year or so--Digby has been doing both videos of her favorite cover and original songs from an album she was in the process of bringing to reality.

She had posted them up on YouTube and to date--has something like 22 million hits on her pages there--and her first album has been released to some critical and commericial success.

She is a very talented young lady---she writes some very good songs, can play electric and acoustic guitar and piano--she sings well and she is pretty-almost angelic like--and I say I find her pretty not from any sexual meaning---simply that she is an attractive young woman who is of the age that she could be my daughter. While being pretty should not really have any bearing on one's success in a musical career as far as I am concerned---the reality is---it seems to often be more important than one's musical chops.

I wish her well in her career and urge you to go check out her story and music.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90134978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIjZ8NpgDTU&feature=user

[arana]

Thanks volty, she does have a nice voice. You are right about looks being a big factor in making it these days over talent. MTV really changed things musically for people.

A friend of mine has a niece who's trying to break into music. I think she's pretty good even tho I'm not particularly a country music fan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp_3hyF6678 She has won a bunch of competitions and performs around the bay area.

[12voltman59]

Thanks for the post Arana---I think I may have your friend's niece's band as a MySpace "friend" since that is more my style of music---and her band is great.

I was thinking after I posted up about Marie Rigby--I am not gonna go out and buy her music, as good as I think it is--I have a few reasons why I won't--first--her target audience is most likely the demographic of somewhere from pre-teen to mid-20ish girls--her music is a bit too popish for me to be sure----give her ten years and exposure to other genres and working with some other artists---I bet she will be making some really great music then.

I was just interested in her story because it does show how the internet has changed the landscape of so many things---at one time---for anyone to get music made to a record or CD and to get that music out there with any hope of making a go of it--you had to go through the channels of the record companies and the radio stations--and they want to take "talent" molding it to some narrowly prescribed parameters of what is commercial---that is one of the major reasons the record companies are in trouble---and so is commerical radio--even Clear Channel is in trouble--they killed the goose that laid the golden egg and made music too formulaic and boring so no one buys the music or listens to the radio.

While some musical artists--like one of my favorite groups---Over the Rhine---- has pretty much forged their own way for 20 years now and made a decent living with their music over the years--- it is much easier now thanks to things like YouTube, podcasts and the like to get a following---it is possible for someone to build a nice musical career rather quickly, bypassing the whole standard music system--and that is one of the great things about the 'net!

We do need to keep the corporate interests from getting total control of the 'net as they are seeking to do, keeping "net neutrality" so that the internet does not become the sole province of the mass media gatekeepers.