Rising Stars: Jackie Evancho

There are a lot of talented people in this world, you just have to know where to find them. I’ve already told you about the dangers of YouTube and how it holds a destructive power for me. There is so much talent on that website alone, that I’m surprised it doesn’t crash the servers on a regular basis.

Ironically, that’s not where I found this next artist. My mom called me into the living room one night, while she was watching TV and eating dinner. (Don’t judge. And I didn’t leave her high and dry – I was studiously writing!)

“Wait!” she said, before I made it all the way over to her. I stopped. “Don’t look at the TV.”

“Okay,” I said, slapping my hand over my eyes. “What?”

“Listen. What do you hear?”

What I heard, though I didn’t know it at the time, was Jackie Evancho. It sounded like she was singing opera. It was definitely in another language. Her voice was rich, deep, and practiced. The voice of an older woman with years of experience, I thought.

Wrong.

Jackie Evancho is eleven years old. ELEVEN. This kid can sing. And I’m not talking about belting out runs like Christina Aguilera, which would be talent enough. No, this girl is a “classical crossover” artist, whatever the heck that means. To me, it means that she sounds far older than her years. People train their entire lives and they don’t have HALF the talent that Jackie has.

Isn’t that just incredible? This type of music isn’t usually my cup of tea, but Jackie’s voice in otherworldly. Here’s another great one:

She also appeared on America’s Got Talent, which may be where you recognize her name from. There are videos on YT of her time on there.

One more thing that I love about her – almost as much as her voice – is the wisdom and age in her eyes. She doesn’t act like a child, for better or worse. She’s calm, respectful, and very thoughtful for a little girl. I worry that she might be growing up too fast because of her talent, but I think it has more to do with just being an old soul.

I’m not one for cheesy lines and sappy moments, but can I just say that we’re incredibly lucky to share the earth with her. I can? Good. I’m not taking it back.

Some links:

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Website

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!