My wife told me about one of the contestants on American Idol that sounded interesting, so I looked for a video of the performance this morning, and happened across the audition by Caleb Hawley. Wow. He had judge Steven Tyler backing him up on makeshift rhythm, and even J-Lo and Randy were grooving. Hard to imagine the pressure of walking into a room with three mega-stars (and cameras rolling), and giving an a capella audition. And killing it.
So I thought, “well this isn’t your standard AI fare, how refreshing”. So I googled him and watched some YouTube videos, and came across this and this.
Man. This guy is the real deal. Great hands (really great hands), great feel, great singing. And great songwriting. There have been a few bright spots on American Idol (hard to argue with Carrie Underwood, whether or not she’s your cup of tea). But by and large, to me, that show represents all I hate about the current pop music industry, which seems to churn out manufactured pop stars based on looks alone. Oh, and their ability to dance. When did music become about dancing?
Having said that, most musicians I know hold Prince in high regard, and besides, he’s all about The Godfather Of Soul, and who was more badass than JB? (I’m not referring to Justin Beiber.)
Still, it sometimes seems like being into guitar-based music is decidedly dinosaur-ish, so it’s always cool to see someone carrying the torch to the next generation. Hope Caleb Hawley does well on Idol, because he has massive talent. Talent worth watching American Idol for.
