music

“I know it’s been a long time comin’…”

Steve Perry, former leader singer of Journey and THE greatest male singer of all time if you ask me, posted this statement on his new social media accounts and website earlier this week, seemingly alluding to a new album on the way. Well, today his accounts confirm that he does have a new album coming out! It’s named Traces and is scheduled to be released on October 5, 2018. This is really exciting since it’s been 24 years since his last album, For the Love of Strange Medicine, came out in 1994. His music has meant so much to my family and me, so I love this news and chose to quote his hint for my one-liner Wednesday entry for this week! I also wanted to spread the word to those of you who are also fans of his but may not have heard about this yet!

Did you catch U2 on Jimmy Fallon a few months back? I happened to, and I found their performance to be so good that it’s actually stuck with me ever since. I was surprised, because although I’ve liked some of U2’s songs over the years, I’ve never closely followed them — now, though, I could imagine myself going to one of their concerts.

What made the performance stand out so much was how it was done in such a natural, real way, without the smoke and mirrors we usually see in music today, including live performances. But with them here, there are no major special effects — just raw talent.

I found their approach so refreshing and positive, including how they stayed by Jimmy Fallon versus standing in the stage area — that made it feel so much more intimate, like how it might feel if you got to be with them during a songwriting session. Their delivery was more about the song and not so much about them; a humble approach to music that is, sadly, very rare today in my opinion. At least among well-known artists, anyway.

They also genuinely seemed to enjoy the company of each other, Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show band The Roots, and the audience. The whole thing seemed kind of…uplifting to me, if that makes sense!

Anyway, here’s the performance — I wanted to share it in case people missed it, or just want to see it again (like me!):