Rising Stars: Karmin

You know how sometimes you hear a song and it just speaks to your soul? How you catch a band performing and you’re riveted to your seat? You find that their voices are beautiful, or powerful, or inspiring. The beats make you want to get up and dance or sing along to the slow melody. And the lyrics feel like they’ve been written for you?

That’s how Karmin is for me. They’re a new band – YouTube stars, actually – and I really, really want to do this article justice because I believe in them so much.

To start off, let me just quickly talk about their rise to fame (or almost fame, as I think a lot of people still don’t know who they are). Amy and Nick hail from small towns in Nebraska and Maine and met at Berklee College of Music in Boston. They both had been in bands before, but nothing was working out. They had already been dating for a little while before they figured they would just form their own group – thus Karmin was born. “Karmin” is a combination of “carmen” (Latin for “song”) and karma. Nick lends his classic rock/jazz style and appears to know how to play just about every kind of instrument  from the keyboard, to the trombone, to the cajon (that’s a wooden box). He’s got a pretty good voice too, and brings wonderful harmonies into the mix. Amy is the power singer. She can play guitar, but she’s got some pipes and she puts them to good use. Did I mention she’s also an amazing rapper?

If you think you’ve heard of Karmin before, chances are that it was this song:

They started off doing covers on YouTube as well as original songs. Musically, their style is simple, catchy, and amusing. They change the songs they cover to make them their own, and keep it PG for all ages. They’ve got just the right mix of sincerity, humor, and talent. Nick seems to be an easy going guy and you can tell he’s really into the music – I get dizzy just watching him bob his head up and down as he plays. Amy has got this great ‘40s look down – suicide roll (Karmin style) and bright red lipstick to boot. She’s got a great and distinctive style – though that doesn’t hold them back: not only can they rap, but they can do country songs and pop songs equally as well.

Check out this great Adele cover:

These guys are the real deal. They’re down to earth and genuine, and you can tell they care about staying who they are and true to their fans. They are engaged and the chemistry between them is off the charts. They’ve got raw talent and great song writing capabilities. And they just signed to Epic Records with L.A. Reid. These guys are ones to watch, I promise.

Please do me a favor and check out a few of their other covers (I love “6 foot 7 foot” and “Written in the Stars”). They’ve covered a huge range of really popular songs, so I’m sure you can find something you’re interested in. While you’re at it, listen to some of their original songs, too.

Here’s their first single “Crash Your Party” which debuted a couple of weeks ago.  Their album will drop early next year.

(As I was writing this, I found out they are now VEVO Lift artists. AND the retweeted me!)

Some other info:

Their Youtube Channels:  KarminCovers and KarminTube

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Itunes

**Please leave me a comment below! I’d really like to know if you’ve heard of Karmin before, or if this is your first time being exposed to them. Which are your favorite covers? Which are your favorite original songs?**

Rising Stars: Dia Frampton

I know I have trouble sitting still long enough to read a huge blog post, so I apologize for my previous entry. I promise to keep this one a bit shorter!

This is a new series I’d like to call “Rising Stars.” I’m not a huge music nerd, and I mostly listen to mainstream pop and hip-hop, but there are some artists that are unknown to the world at large that I like to keep tabs on. These posts are for them – for the people that I think are so incredibly talented, but have yet to make a huge impression in the industry. Word of mouth (both spoken and typed out in this day and age) is still the best way for them to become better known, and this is my way of helping them to do that.

I first saw Dia Frampton on The Voice – a show that is, basically, a better version of American Idol. I instantly liked her. She was soft spoken, intelligent, and unique. She also had this wonderful voice that really stuck with me. I became a solid fan when she covered Kanye West’s “Heartless.” Her cover is nothing like the original, but it was haunting and beautiful and I couldn’t get it out of my head. (Watch it below. It doesn’t have the best sound quality, but it’s the only one where you can see her performing it on the show.)

 

The change in style of the song was entirely Dia’s idea. She just knows what works and what doesn’t when it comes to giving a performance. Oh, and she plays the guitar. And she’s been in a band since 2005. And she’s a novelist. How can you not love this girl?

Dia just came out with her first single called “The Broken Ones,” which is off her album Red (it drops December 6^th). I love this song – not only because it speaks to me personally, but because of her voice, the music, the story, everything. Oh, and something else that’s really important to me? When singers write their own songs. Yep, she does that, too.

Watch the video for “The Broken Ones” below. It’s beautiful!