Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » Jason Mraz

What Country (and Non-Country) Songs Kelly Clarkson Should Cover Next

Nicole Piering — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 15:56:05 +0000

Kelly Clarkson has become a genre-defying queen of cover songs lately, throwing a new random offering into each of her live shows. While we love pretty much everything she does, we’re naturally more drawn to her country covers. Here are just a few suggestions that we’d love to hear from Kelly.

1. Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks - At a recent concert, Kelly tackled “Wide Open Spaces,” and although we totally dug it, “Not Ready to Make Nice” is the Chicks’ classic that we’re DYING to hear KC take on. It’s got that power and grit that we know Kelly would sound incredible with.

2. Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts - Kelly has a bit of a history with Rascal Flatts and has both covered “I’m Movin’ On” and performed “What Hurts the Most” with the band. However, we’d love to hear her softer side on this ballad because we’re pretty sure she’d hit it out of the park.

3. Kerosene by Miranda Lambert - It’s no secret that Kelly and Miranda are like totally BFFs. And although we’ve heard Kelly cover the Pistol Annies and sing “Gunpowder and Lead” with Miranda, she’s mentioned that she’s been a Miranda fan since day one of “Kerosene.” We think she’d rock this.

4. Back to December by Taylor Swift - Now don’t get us wrong here, we love us some Taylor, but Kelly has the extra vocal prowess to really take this song up a notch. Plus, she had an album called My December so this cover would be only fitting.

5. Until You by Billy Currington/Dave Barnes - We’re categorizing this one as country because of the Billy Currington version, but really, the slowed down acoustic Dave Barnes version is the one we want to hear. Immediately. It’s sweet and lovey-dovey, without being too saccharine. Plus, KC has mentioned a penchant for “happier songs” since she’s found herself a man, so this is the perfect choice.

Since we’ve got a few faves that aren’t country, here are a few other tracks we’re dying for Miss Clarkson to tackle. We won’t go into too much detail here, but we’ve been a fan of “Feels Like Home” since it’s days on the “Dawson’s Creek” soundtrack and it’s a song that KC would more than slay. We’d also like to hear “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz and “Sigh No More” by Mumford & Sons. Frankly, I could go on and on, but basically, we’d enjoy it if Kelly covered every song, ever, in the universe.

Want to make a request for an upcoming show? Tweet the song to @kelly_clarkson and @jasonhalbert with the city, your name, the song and #kcrequests.

What song do you want to hear Kelly cover? Let us know in the comments!

The Voice: Team Blake Recap – Week 8

Jeanna D. — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 07:12:44 +0000

And there you have it…

The Voice‘s battle rounds are now complete, and six members from each team are moving on to the live shows.

As we already know, Team Blake consists of RaeLynn, Jordis, Charlotte Sometimes, Erin Willett, Jermaine Paul… and tonight Naia Kete was added to the group!

Coach Blake Shelton paired Naia up against country boy, Jordan Rager. The amazingly talented Kelly Clarkson and Miranda Lambert were there once again to help mentor the team.

For the battle, Naia and Jordan performed Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” As the coaches pointed out, we have seen better from both contestants and their full skills were not on display this round. When it was time for Blake to make a decision, he decided to advance Naia to the live shows.

Continue reading to check out video of the battle…

Naia vs. Jordan

Naia is very unique and we are sure she will shine next week! We are looking forward to seeing her perform again. We will miss Jordan with his country rasp and charm, but we wish him the best of luck and know we will be seeing great things from him.

And we are so excited for Team Blake! They definitely are a strong group of artists, and now it’s time to take on the competition.

@Blakeshelton: Now the battles are over, the war shall now begin…. #TEAMBLAKE!!!!

The Voice is about to really heat up!

Tune in next Monday on NBC at 8/7c to catch the first live episode of the season! You won’t want to miss it.

To check out behind the scenes videos, interviews, blogs, photos, and all things The Voice… visit http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/. Also, you can purchase full length recordings of the audition and battle round songs on iTunes!

Go Team Blake!

REVIEW: Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Tour Leaves Fans Enchanted

Elise Stawarz — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:22:48 +0000

I had the pleasure of attending Taylor Swift’s sold out concert at the Staples Center on August 24. Some people are befuddled as to how this girl, who isn’t scandalous or scantily clad, could manage to sell out such a massive venue (four nights in a row, thank you very much). The answer can be answered in one word: quality.

It was clear from the moment fans stepped into the venue that the experience (and show) was going to be top quality, something especially impressive considering the top ticket price was $79.50, which is peanuts in comparison to most A-level tours. Immediately upon entering Stapes two things became very clear: Cover Girl was sponsoring this tour and girlfriend was selling a lot of merch. The merch was, for the most part, well thought out and under $30 (an ill-conceived $50 blanket being the exception). Fans had options ranging from tees (mostly $25) and glowsticks ($5) to her American Greeting Cards (lucky number 13 for $20) and, best of all, autographed CDs ($20). It’s no wonder T-Swizzle is still selling 13,000 copies a week of Speak Now.

And the product paled in comparison to the actual show. Swift’s primary openers, Needtobreathe, was an excellent choice. Unheard of by most of her fans until this tour, they clearly have a lot to gain from the exposure and certainly weren’t wasting the opportunity. The boys, with a country tinged, gospel rock sound reminiscent of a more catchy Kings of Leon, put on an energetic show that engaged the crowd and, during the last song, made fun use of a handheld spotlight. Their performance was very different from what Swift would later deliver, but was exciting nonetheless.

By the time Tom Petty’s “American Girl,” began blaring through the loudspeakers, fans were primed and ready to go. The stage was covered with a massive red, theatrical curtain that was pulled back just in time for Swift to pop up from the floor amid swirls of golden smoke and head right into “Sparks Fly,” a fan favorite. Each of Swift’s songs is written like a mini-vignette about her life and those stories were perfectly brought to life onstage, whether it was through the down-home country front porch for “Our Song,” the snow and white baby grand piano for “Back to December” or the flying balcony in the concert finale “Love Story.” With each song Swift made fans feel that they were immersed in the experience.

Standouts for me were the incredibly emotional “Dear John,” complete with fireworks during the bridge, a Swift-played banjo instrumental interlude before “Our Song,” the triumphant nature of “Long Live,” and the incredible lyrical prowess in “Fifteen.” As a fun bonus, Swift also performs a couple of “local” songs in every city. We got fun Beach Boys and Gwen Stefani covers. We also got Jason Mraz. Certainly Swift’s Los Angeles concerts were more star-studded than most. Over the course of four shows Justin Bieber, Jason Mraz, Hot Chelle Rae, Ellen Degeneres and Nicki Minaj all made surprise on-stage appearances (and forget about the star power in the crowd – Hello Taylor Lautner!). I can only speak to Mraz. Swift normally mixes her own “Fearless” with “I’m Yours” on the ukulele and having Mraz there in person, with his incredible voice and funky attitude, was a nice bonus.

As thrilling as the entire experience was, it wasn’t perfect. Swift still plays to the crowd a bit too much, encouraging applause for the sake of applause and acting shocked when she gets it. It was cute it the beginning of her first tour, but at this point it’s just awkward for her to act shocked that, having four sold out shows, people are excited to be there. I was also a bit bothered by both “Enchanted” and “Love Story.” “Enchanted” is one of my favorite tracks on Speak Now but for some reason it seemed to fall flat in concert. Swift put more emphasis on the ballad part of the song as opposed to the natural pop hook, a musical arrangement I think was a mistake. “Love Story” was also problematic. While the gag of sailing through the air in a balcony was cool, allowing Swift to get up close and personal with almost the entire arena, it’s a bit of an energy sapper if she’s not in your area and so not exactly the energetic high note I’d hoped she would go out on.

These, obviously, are small qualms and the Speak Now World Tour is a perfect example of a great artist marrying her music with compelling onstage storytelling and caring about the fans enough to create a great experience well worth the price of admission.

Show: Taylor Swift’s Speak Now World Tour

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

REVIEW: Taylor Swift's Speak Now Tour Leaves Fans Enchanted

Lydia Picknell — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:22:48 +0000

Show: Taylor Swift’s Speak Now World Tour

Rating: 9.0 out of 10