It’s always unfortunate to hear someone has passed away, but it seems all the more sad when it’s someone who has touched our lives in some sort of profound way. It makes us all pause and take notice, but it also forces us unwillingly, yet undeniably to accept our own mortality and time’s cruel, relentless passage.

Donna Summer possessed a voice so immense it will undoubtedly live on forever in the annals of music history, but for me her music is a direct link to my youth. I was introduced to Summer’s music by my older sister in my teens, which continued to provide a rich musical soundtrack throughout my adult life. I always cringed a little at the title, Queen of Disco, which was reluctantly heaped upon LaDonna Gaines during the peak of her career, because as real Donna Summer fans know, her albums always included soulful ballads, pop, rock, and electronica. Therefore, Queen of Disco never really quite summed her up for me at all.

During the singer-songwriter’s 40-year career, Summer managed to create some of pop music’s most memorable and iconic songs. Her 16-minute debut smash “Love to Love You Baby,” was the very first 12-inch single. Sure everybody knows the five-time Grammy winner’s “Last Dance,” “Hot Stuff,” and “She Works Hard For the Money,” but many of Summer’s real gems lied within the grooves of songs that weren’t in heavy rotation on radio’s airwaves. For example, her renditions of classics like “Lush Life,” “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,” and “The Way We Were,” were shining examples of the rich, powerful voice with which she had been blessed and wielded with remarkable skill.

Of course there is no denying the fact that Donna Summer knew how to create a dance record. Her magnificent 17-minute non-stop epic “MacArthur Park Suite,” which took up an entire album side, weaved Jimmy Webb’s unforgettable melody and poetic lyrics around two of Summer’s best original songs (“One of A Kind” and “Heaven Knows”), creating a magical musical opus which I’ve never managed to grow tired of hearing or erase from my memory in 30 years.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Summer once in a brief, but memorable encounter, during my days of working in a record store, back when such treasured things still existed. Although I only had the opportunity to utter a few words, she was as beautiful and gracious in person as I had always fantasized she’d be in my youthful mind.

Donna Summer’s voice and music inscribed an indelible mark on me, for which I will be eternally grateful. She may have left us all too soon, but her musical legacy will live on eternally. So let’s dance in memory of Donna Summer, indefinitely.

A memorial service has been scheduled for the legendary music diva on Wednesday, May 23, in Nashville, where Summer had relocated with her husband and daughters in 1994. Summer’s family chose Music City as the memorial’s locale because Summer revered Nashville as a very special place, as well as being one of music’s largest epicenters.

Country singer and best-selling cookbook author Trisha Yearwood’s new Food Network series, Trisha Yearwood’s Southern Kitchen, debuted April 14 to overwhelming response.  The six-episode series was filmed in Nashville and features appearances by Yearwood’s family members and close friends. Although fans were delighted to see their favorite vocalist on television, they also want to know about the musical treats Trisha has been cooking up lately. In a recent press tour to promote her new show, Yearwood revealed she is currently recording a new album, which should be released later this year. Trisha also talked about a possible duets album and world tour with her country superstar husband Garth Brooks, which could happen in 2014.

TY at A Glance

Trisha Yearwood made her chart debut in the spring of 1991 with her number one hit “She’s in Love with the Boy,” which was followed up with a string of five number one singles during her 21-years of making music. The triple Grammy-winning singer has managed to build an impressive musical resume as one of country music’s favorite best-selling artists with 10 studio albums, four best-of compilations, and a holiday recording. She has amassed a remarkable 43 singles, 19 Top 10 hits, three number one albums, 10 Top 10 albums, six platinum and 11 gold albums, and sold 13 million records. Although her musical output has slowed down over the last few years, Trisha is currently in the studio recording a new album, which is sure to rack up even more hits for country music’s beloved majestic voiced songstress.

© 2012 Popmartzoo

The past year has been filled with a lot of hoopla surrounding Tim McGraw’s eleventh studio release, Emotional Traffic, ever since Curb Records indefinitely shelved McGraw’s latest project (his last for the label), during their desperate attempt to keep the best-selling country star on their dwindling roster of megastar artists. As spectators may have predicted, the record label’s decision to withhold the album didn’t sit well with McGraw, which eventually led to lawsuits, countersuits and ample amounts of press statements, including the singer’s very vocal and public criticism of the incident. McGraw refused to stay silent on the matter and eventually went as far as to boldly tout the highly anticipated release as his “best album ever.”

Although Emotional Traffic may have become notorious for its pointlessly delayed release (the album was completed in late 2010), don’t let that distract from nor diminish the disc’s ample amount of sublime merits. Anyone who’s followed the music scene for any amount of time knows record company politics are nothing new. McGraw’s latest and final studio album for Curb is an impressive offering, which sounds decidedly determined to end the country artist’s 20-year relationship with his long-time label on a resounding high note.

After much suspense and skepticism, Emotional Traffic has finally landed, and the result is a stellar collection of high caliber tunes contributed by such heavyweights as Angie Aparo, Rhett Akins, and Rivers Rutherford. The album’s highlights include a surprising, but instantly likable Ne-Yo duet “Only Human,” a notable cameo by McGraw’s country superstar wife Faith Hill (who provides a superb harmony vocal on the bouncy “One Part, Two Part”), as well as the stunning “I Will Not Fall Down,” which was co-written by McGraw himself, along with Martina McBride and The Warren Brothers.

While McGraw has never been known primarily for his vocal abilities, he shows ample skill and disparity here. Besides, when has vocal ability been considered a mandatory criterion for male country stars? Vociferously, he runs the emotional gambit and uses the necessary inflection and attitude appropriate for whatever persona the songs require. He’s sultry on “Halo,” delightfully playful on “The One,” and hypnotically somber on the closer “Die By My Own Hand.” His ability to let it rip and restrain himself when necessary clearly demonstrates how much he’s grown as a vocalist over his-long term career. This is most obvious on “The One That Got Away,” which McGraw didn’t write himself, but nevertheless sounds remarkably autobiographical (“Everybody wants a piece of you/Everybody wants to be a star just like you are/Everybody wants to see you/Everybody wants to be you too”), despite being told from a female perspective.

For those thinking this is simply a sub-par effort to satisfy contractual obligations, think again. Emotional Traffic contains all the essential musical ingredients an idyllic country blockbuster requires: remarkable songwriting, moving ballads and a smattering of top notch toe-tappers. All 12 tracks included here are easily strong enough to stand on their own. There’s not a clinker to be found anywhere throughout the disc’s 52-minute duration. From the brooding lead-off track “Halo” (co-authored by Music City’s heavyweight songsmith Luke Laird and Australian country artist Jedd Hughes), to the feel good playfulness of last year’s number one hit “Felt Good On My Lips,” and current single “Better Than I Used To Be,” Emotional Traffic is McGraw’s best and most accessible album, which could easily end up becoming the superlative album of his career.

© 2012 Popmartzoo