Stories Untold Through Music

Hello hello, it's music Monday!

I was riding in the car with my boyfriend yesterday listening to one of our favorite bands, and I mentioned to him that I am so glad we have so much music in common but also both listen to a wide variety of music!


Today on the blog I am sharing some music that's been on my mind lately, hope you enjoy and link up with Music Monday too!





This indie original is by my dear friend Erin Rea, currently performing in New York and sometimes Virginia. I cannot recommend her enough! My other favorites of hers include: Keys, Days, and Yellow Umbrellas. Let The Light is her latest single, and she has two EPs available on itunes OR free download on her site www.erinreamusic.com

She speaks to the subjects we can all relate to, but with a sweet beauty of music that resonates so very well with each of us. I love her "storybook" telling through music, I am always captivated by her songs!

Here's another vid from Erin that I adore :)






This past weekend I have also been on a musical theatre kick (thank you Wind Ensemble for playing a Phantom medley!), so of course, I watched my Phantom of the Opera dvd this weekend and have plans to watch Les Miserables tonight!

But here is a great live cast for Phantom and I adore this cast so so much!


Could Ramin Karimloo be any hotter?? And Sierra's high notes? YES. (Fun fact, she also has played the Little Mermaid on Broadway!)


My other indie love is definitely Lindsey Stirling! She is my dancing violinist love and I have been following her music for a few years now! It all started with her Zelda video...



Boyfriend and I were hooked!!

Her latest video came out today but can (for now) only be seen on this BuzzFeed article! Check it out :)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/reggieugwu/premiere-lindsey-stirling-roundtable-rival#3jg0947


Next weekend the boyfriend and I are going to a heavy metal concert. Yeah, you read that right! There are three bands playing but we are going for Sabaton, a Swedish power metal band that sings about historical events! Their music is awesome and someday when I teach my kids history I will definitely be utilizing this music for their educational purposes too. Plus, they just rock, literally. ;)

This song is from their latest album "Heroes." If you watch the video you will see what the song is based off of. Can't wait to see them live!!!




My other favs from this band include: Primo Victoria, Swedish Pagans, Night Witches, and many many more :)




I'll leave you with a few other songs for funsies :)
Have a great musical monday and a great week!






xoxo, 
Alexandra Anne 

Some Lindsey Love

I study classical music. It's what I want to make a job out of someday. This means that most of my concert/show attendance includes operas, orchestras, jazz ensembles, and the occasional choral group. I basically go watch other classical performers.

Well, on February 27th, my concert attendance took a turn. I haven't been to a "rock" or "pop" or "non-classical" concert in...years! (I remember going to Jump5 and ZoeGirl and BarlowGirl as a kiddo....trying to think if I saw anything else "non-classical")

Who shook me out of my classical niche for a night? 

The one and only Lindsey Stirling.

Yeah, she's amazing. Seriously, this show was AMAZING. She reminded me why I want to be on a stage; I want to invoke "the feels" in an audience too! She's super talented, and if you don't already know who she is, well, thank goodness you're reading my blog today because you need to know!! ;) 

^^This was my first Lindsey video, thanks to my boyfriend who sent me the link about a week after it was posted :) :) :)

We followed her vids for about a year when we heard that she was coming on tour! Unfortunately, she wasn't coming to Texas at that point, but she would be where boyfriend is: Huntsville, Alabama. I was super jealous. Well, turned out that she couldn't make that show, which saddened both my boyfriend and myself.
She won him back over though.
Second tour, Spring 2013.
February 25th he went to Birmingham, AL, to see her, and had a fantastic time. I had to tell him to not tell me too much about the concert because I didn't want spoilers for when I saw it!That's right, she came to Houston two days later!

Oh oh oh my goodness the concert was fantastic...I couldn't process it for at least a week. SO wonderful.

If you didn't watch the above video yet, shame on you. That's pretty much what she does LIVE at a show. Yeah, she plays violin and dances and it's just amazing! Oh and she's also a decent singer too, which we didn't know because her music tends to not be lyric based.

She was #8 on YouTube's top 10 videos in the year 2012 for this one:





A lot of my favorite songs of hers don't have videos yet, but that doesn't stop me from rocking out to them ALL the time...yeah, she's awesome.

I had so so much fun at the concert!

My swag ;) Poster, keychain(not pictured), sticker, shirt. Can you say fangirl?

Drew, the drummer! (We got a pic with Gavi, keyboardist, too, but the camera didn't take apparently :( sad day! Gavi had even replied to my tweet on twitter! )

Oh yeah, I met Lindsey and got my poster signed. <3 <3 <3 this was the only pic I got though, as she was tired (we stayed out til midnight waiting for her to come out to the bus) and wasn't sticking around long. 

So yeah, I MET my favorite violinist. And had a great time at the show!

Fun fact: I've loved violinists for almost a decade now, AND I used to play the violin myself. :) (Formerly loved violinists: Hilary Hahn, and Lucia Micarelli, both are still favs!)

I want to be like Lindsey. I want to share what I love with an audience. And hey, she did say to follow our dreams :) :) :)

Here are some more music videos, because you obviously haven't seen enough yet :)

http://lindseystirlingviolin.com/

Thursday Nonsense

I cannot come up with a proper title for today's post, because I have SO much to say! :) :) :)

Thank goodness for Sar's Thursday Thoughts and It's OK Thursday link ups

Um, let's try bullet points, because this ADD chick has way too much on her mind.

*In two weeks I move to Houston, Texas, and in 6 days I visit briefly for orientation (anyone in Houston wanna hang on the 15th or 17th in the evening?)

*I'm singing at churches here at home for the next two Sundays, so I'm looking forward to that

*My wonderful/amazing/sneaky/lovely/awesome boyfriend surprised me with a picnic in the park last night! (Story below)

*We watched Phantom of the Opera when we came home, so all morning I've had "Angel Of Music" and such in my head. That show always makes me want to have multiple voices so I could sing every part at once. ;) Yes, I want to eat my cake too.

*I want to start composing music and writing stories again. Seriously. I'm terrible about finishing (I stink at follow through...) but I think I am willing to train myself to have better self discipline.

*I love love love classical music; or even just big orchestral music. That has been playing on my iTunes a LOT this week.

*Apparently I won a giveaway on Whitney's blog! I will soon have ad space on Myra's blog :) Thanks ladies!

*I am obsessing over Lindsey Stirling's music lately; violin amazingness.

*At some point I should take that math placement test...like...today, probably...which means tomorrow ;)

*Thank you pinterest for awesome workout ideas! I had a PUMPIN' workout yesterday!! :) I got so so into it, and that NEVER happens. I just kept going and going and loved it. However, my body hates me today hehe, we will work on this. Meaning, I will push and push more.

*God is SO good and is constantly surprising me with His blessings, and sometimes He even lets me in on His plan ;) (I'm sure He laughs at me A LOT because I'm little miss planner girl.....yeah, I know it isn't up to me....)


Ok, now for the story of my date last night ;)
(Btw, for the sake of clarity, M = boyfriend. It's just easier to type ;) )

On Tuesday M asked me if he could call my mom to work out our schedule of dates for the rest of the week. He then chatted me online saying he'd pick me up Wednesday at 6. Cool beans. He also told me that his mom wanted to cook for me, since we would be hanging at his house. I, of course, reacted with "awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

Wednesday 6pm came around, and he arrived at my house to pick me up. He came inside to say hi to my family, as is the norm for us. Mom asked me to go practice piano with Thomas really quickly before we left, especially because she had a piece of furniture for M to put in the truck (I didn't question this, as, I cannot lift big furniture, plus she had mentioned it the other day anyway).

We get in his car a few minutes later, and he starts telling me about his day and then says "I still have one more errand to run actually, downtown. Your mom said you wouldn't mind." I replied "all I want is to spend time with you, so I'm chill." It is true! I would've been content to just drive around all day with him, if that were our plan.

So, the exit comes up for downtown Huntsville, and I ask where he has to go and he says "well, once I find the park then I can know where it is in relation to that." Ok, that makes sense, the park is a good landmark. Plus, driving downtown is horrendous in my opinion.......silly one way streets. We eventually do find the park, and he pulls up to the parking meter to park. As we get out, I ask him, "so where are we going?" He merely says, "Right here." I think I looked at him funny, and he walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk and said to me "A reliable source says you likes picnics at the park." XD He pulled out a picnic basket and a blanket. I was COMPLETELY surprised, and so so very very happy.

Turns out that he and both our mothers were in on this. His mom made us the yummy food, he and my mom coordinated a cover story (hehe, the little liars pulled it off) and she donated a huge picnic basket.

I had a lovely time with M on a beautiful day at the park. It was so nice to enjoy each other's company, even though for an hour or so I could not process that it was actually happening. I was in such shock ;)
We even heard someone playing saxophone (of course it was "for us" we said), and a gentleman who walked by gave us the thumbs up and said "Great idea! Good job!" I'm so glad we gained a stranger's approval. =P

M was a true gentleman, and even defended me from evil  geese and a monstrous (ok, it wasn't that bad) bee. It was a perfectly lovely evening with my man :)

Have a good rest of the week ya'll!
xoxo, alexandra anne