History of the Soul Train Music Awards.

Soul Train began in 1971, as the first African American music variety show in the history of American television, with a format including a dance club ambiance playing the day’s most popular urban music, complete with dancing men and women throughout the show, dressed to impress, along with hosts and performances from among major figures in Black entertainment. Though it initially aired in only the seven cities of Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, the show met with a successful start. Within seven months, the show had achieved its goal of airing in syndication in 25 major cities. The show had been the dream of Don Cornelius, the program’s founder, producer, and host. His mission had been to establish a vehicle to offer recognition to Black artists who, in the 60′s and 70′s, did not receive much television air time on other programs that featured music.

The Soul Train Music Awards began in 1987 as a program for honoring each year’s greatest achievements in Black music, and to generate more exposure and recognition for the overlooked artists and performers supported by Soul Train’s mission. The first year, the award show’s hosts included R&B legends Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, and Dionne Warwick, with performances from Run DMC, Whitney Houston, and LL Cool J. Deriving its name from the show from which it sprang, the awards ceremony broadcast includes two hours of live performances by popular R&B, hip hop, and gospel artists. Winners are determined by a voting committee composed of active professionals within various fields of the music industry, including radio programming, music retail, music management, and notable recording artists (as determined by whether their records have reached approved music charts during the past year).

Since the very first year of the awards show, winners have not received traditional crystal awards, but trophies designed as African ceremonial masks, in representation of the heritage and culture from which Black music has derived. Janet Jackson has received more Soul Train Music Awards than any other artist in the history of the awards, with eight, and is tied with R. Kelly for the record for most nominations, with nineteen. Categories honor best albums and singles of the year separately within the genres of R&B/Soul, Gospel, Jazz, and Rap, along with Best New Artist and a category called The Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video. A category called The Sprite Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut was introduced in 2005 and retired in 2007, with its only three winners being for the videos Yeah by Usher, Lose Control by Missy Elliot, and Chicken Noodle Soup by Young B & Webstar. Special awards categories include the Quincy Jones Award for Career Achievement, Heritage Award for Career Achievement, Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year, Stevie Wonder Award for Outstanding Achievements in Song Writing, Artist of the Decade Award for Extraordinary Music Achievements, and the Humanitarian Award.

After the show did not air for two years, in 2007 and 2008, in the aftermath of Don Cornelius’ sale of his ownership over the Soul Train company to MadVision Entertainment, the show’s return in the year 2009 marked the first time that the awards show took place outside of Los Angeles, held in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center that year.

The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.

History of Percussion Instruments
Anthropologists and historians repeatedly speculate that percussion instruments were the first musical apparatus ever came into being. But with the utmost certainty, the human voice was the first musical instrument, and surely, percussion tools such as feet, hands, rocks, sticks and logs came in second to the on-going evolution of music. When humans developed tools for hunting and agriculture, their knowledge along side with skill, enabled them to produce more complex tools. They use slit drum, made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. For instance, a simple log may have been shaped to generate louder tones (log drum) and may have been pooled to create numerous tones (set of log drums).

As time moved on, so is the evolution of percussion instruments. In the early 10th century, it was known that most tribes in Africa use sorts of percussions such as djembe, macaras used in Latin America, karimbas in Asia and seed rattles in Australia for their recreational and worship rituals and sometimes used in sending signals.

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Percussion instruments that are displayed in orchestra first came from Asia Minor. In the 15th century, people began migrating east and brought with them numerous instruments. Our percussion instruments got their initial stages there, when the Crusades took back the drums that they found in the Middle East. From then on, evolution of percussion and drums kicked up a notch and assortments of percussion instruments came into being.

Percussion is categorized by a variety of criteria at times depending on their cultural origin, construction and function within musical orchestration. It is generally referred as ?the hearbeat? of a musical ensemble, often functioning close collaboration with bass instruments if present.

Drums and percussions as well as bass are known as the rhythm section of the most popular music genres. Most classical pieces written for an orchestra since the time of Mozart and Haydn are schemed to put emphasis on strings, brass and woodwinds. However, time and again they include a pair of timpani (kettle drums) although not played continuously. But moderately, they serve to offer additional accents when needed.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, more percussion instruments (like the cymbals or triangles) came to being and frequently, again moderately and cautiously played in general. The massive uses of percussion instruments become more recurrent in the 20th century, on classical music.

In almost all types of music, percussion plays a fundamental role. In a military parade, it is the strike of the bass drum that holds the soldiers in step and at a normal speed, and it is the snare that endows that crisp, vital air to the tune of a troop. In traditional jazz, one almost instantly thinks of the distinguishing rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word “swing” is uttered. In more current popular music genres, it is almost impossible to name at least three or four rock, hip-hop, rap, funk, punk, techno, grunge, alternative and blues songs that don?t have some kind of percussive beat maintaining the tune in time.

Because of the mixture and wide assortments of percussive instruments, it is not unusual to find large musical gathering composed wholly of percussion. Rhythm, harmony and melody are all evident and alive in these musical factions, and in live performances they are quite a spectacle to see.

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We are proud to offer our customers high quality ethnic percussion instruments that are sourced ethically from around the globe.

Country Music Singers: Paying It Forward
Country Music Singers:
Personal Lives and Paying It Forward

Country music singers can appear one way to the outside world, and another way to those with whom they have close relationships. As fans or country music lovers, it is easy to forget that the artists we see on the TV screen in our family rooms, or the “big screen” at the movies are people just like us. There is one exception-they “scored it big” with their talents, but humanly, they have the same hurts, pains, likes, dislikes or loves as everyone else. In many instances, the country music songs they sing tell the world what is going on in their souls. Listen and you will hear!

Just as we enjoy touching the lives of people in a positive way, so do country music singers. Having this awareness is the focal point of this article. It takes a look at the personal lives of artists, who they were before, during and after fame and fortune, and how they use their wealth, knowledge and connections to impact the lives of others.

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Personal Life Defined

How does one describe an individual’s personal life? Wikipedia says, “In modern times, many people have come to think of their personal lives as separate from work. Work and recreation are distinct; one is either on the job or not, and the transition is abrupt.” The definition makes a distinction between being on the job and not being on the job. Being on the job seems to dictate one method of behavior, while off the job signals another. Once the job is clearly known, the behavior when one is there should be different from the behavior when one is not there.

Personality, on the other hand, defines the core of a person’s being-his individuality. Unless he is especially clever in deception, observation of habitual patterns and qualities of behavior give a glimpse of who a person really is. Watch the attitude! Check out the physical nuances, and soon, the real person shines through.

Society equates financial success and prestige with good character and sound moral values. One has nothing to do with the other. A DUI for a country music singer should not make the headlines if a DUI for “Joe Blow” does not make the headlines.

There are those who would argue “That’s the price you pay for fortune and fame,” or “Fortune and fame are only placed on broad shoulders, wear them carefully.” The flip side of that argument is “As long as I give you great music, what I do outside of that, is my business and not your concern.” Should character, conduct and motives be private? Such a question is food for thought and not the focus of this article.

The underlying principle that governs what one does on the job, should govern his motives and actions outside of the job. There are consequences for all actions-famous or non-famous, rich or poor.

Paying It Forward

The phrase “paying it forward” is tossed around in today’s conversations like a basket ball in a “play-off” game. What does it mean? How does it apply to country music singers?

I read several definitions before writing this article, and the one many readers chose was: “When something, usually good, happens to you, you turn around and do something good for someone else. Instead of paying something “back” you are paying it “forward” on to the next person.”

The writer is simply saying one kind act done to you, deserves your doing a kind act to someone else, not necessarily the person who did it for you. It is simply the Golden Rule jazzed up a bit. Now that we are all on the same page with the meaning, the question arises, “Do you believe country music singers pay it forward?” This article takes the position that they do. Millions of fans pay it forward by buying the artists’ CDs and DVDs. How do the artists respond?

Five Ways Country Music Singers

Pay It Forward

1. Support of numerous of charitable organizations.

2. Promote and help other struggling artists achieve success.

3. Become role models for youth in deprived communities.

4. Share personal failures in their lives so that others may avoid the same mistakes.

5. Develop networks that help others to establish the core values that bring happiness and success.

6. Use songs and ballads to inspire thoughtful ways of “paying it forward.”

Examples of Artists Paying It Forward

Country music artists have a unique way of telling a story–a story that digs deep and pulls the strings of your soul. The song The Chain of Love by Clay Walker spells out the essence of this article. It says, “A kindness extended to you should be passed on to someone else.” Here’s how he said it:

“THE CHAIN OF LOVE” by Clay Walker

He was driving home one evening,

In his beat up Pontiac

When an old lady flagged him down,

Her Mercedes had a flat

He could see that she was frightened,

Standing out there in the snow

‘Til he said, “I’m here to help you ma’am,

By the way my name is Joe”

She said, “I’m from St. Louis,

And I’m only passing through

I must have seen a hundred cars go by,

This is awful nice of you”

When he changed the tire,

And closed her trunk

And was about to drive away,

She said, “How much do I owe you?”

Here’s what he had to say

You don’t owe me a thing, I’ve been there too

Someone once helped me out,

Just the way I’m helping you

If you really want to pay me back,

Here’s what you do

Don’t let the chain of love end with you

Well a few miles down the road,

The lady saw a small cafe

She went in to grab a bite to eat,

And then be on her way

But she couldn’t help but notice,

How the waitress smiled so sweet

And how she must’ve been eight months along,

And dead on her feet

And though she didn’t know her story,

And she probably never will

When the waitress went to get her change,

From a hundred dollar bill

The lady slipped right out the door,

And on a napkin left a note

There were tears in the waitress’s eyes,

When she read what she wrote

You don’t owe me a thing,

I’ve been there too

Someone once helped me out,

Just the way I’m helping you

If you really want to pay me back,

Here’s what you do

Don’t let the chain of love end with you

That night when she got home from work,

The waitress climbed into bed

She was thinkin’ about the money,

And what the lady’s note had said

As her husband lay there sleeping,

She whispered soft and low

“Everything’s gonna be alright, I love you, Joe”

Another artist named Brian Asselin actually made a CD entitled Pay It Forward. It has been described by some listeners with these superlatives: “Amazing! World Changing! Awesome!” and “Fate in Humanity Restored!” I am not sure I agree with all of them, but what I can agree with, is that he suggests clearly that man’s humanity to man needs an adjustment. His version of paying it forward just maybe the answer. Find it at iTunes.

In 2000, a movie called Pay It Forward establishes that “when someone does you a big favor, don’t pay it back,” by doing something helpful for the same person, but pay it forward by helping someone else. You may find that that person needs it more that the one who bestowed the favor on you.

Supporting charitable organizations is another way country music performers pay it forward as seen in 2009 by Brad Paisley. He attended a fundraiser for the Shjon Podein Children’s Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota. The organization supports charities that help to improve the lives of children in many situations and conditions. He also donated an autographed guitar for the auction.

Finally, in 2010, an online program called Not Alone used country music artist Craig Morgan as its new spokesman for soldiers suffering from combat stress. Morgan, once a soldier himself, understands the hardships military life places on individuals and families. The purpose of Not Alone is to offer confidential counseling and support to military personnel dealing with depression, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. These are a few examples of artists paying it forward.

Most country music singers who achieve success do not get there without many human sacrifices. These sacrifices help to mold and shape their personalities, define their ideologies and determine their core values.

Behind the glitter of stardom, many have fragile souls that are ripped apart by gossip, headlines and unthinking individuals who have not learned what it means to “pay it forward” themselves. Money has no power to heal the pain and mend the broken-hearted. It simply allows one to purchase “things.”

Since early childhood, author Mamie Smith has been a lover of country music. Getting its source from the blues, country music tickles the spirit and soothes the soul. Exactly the kind of writing Smith is known for. See other articles on her website @:

http://smithmamie.com

View her videos @: http://youtube.com/metayett

House music is the direct descendant of the 1970s dance style of Disco, which blended soul, R&B, funk, salsa, rock and pop with a progressive, pro-diversity message. House music also incorporated other influences, such as new wave, Reggae, Euro-Synth Pop, Industrial and Punk as well as the emerging Rap and Hip-Hop styles. House music DJs experimented with new editing techniques and electronic instruments, such as “remixing,” “sampling”.

House music was developed in the houses, garages and clubs of Chicago and Detroit, and it was produced for local club-goers in the “underground” club scenes, rather than for widespread commercial release. As a result, the recordings were conceptual, longer than the music usually played on commercial radio. Read the rest of this entry »