Shania Twain Releasing New Album Soon

CBC News:

Twain is charting a return to music after suffering from dysphonia — a vocal cord disorder that she attributed to stress. She has had intensive voice therapy over the past few years to relearn how to sing.

[…]

She plans to release her first new music in 15 years later this spring, revealing she’s been writing new songs that reflect in part on her painful 2008 breakup with husband and producer Robert “Mutt” Lange.

Shania Twain is one of my long-time favorite country artists and I’ve been hoping she would release new music for years. I can’t wait for her new album, and am curious what her new sound will be after her dysphonia.

A Different World, Bucky Covington - Song of the Week

This is part of a weekly series where I share a song that I connected with in the past week. Send song suggestions to songoftheweek@colincwilliams.com. I post every Monday so you can enjoy the song over the course of the week.

Every generation has a unique experience during their childhood as technology and culture changes over time. The 20th century drew particularly distinct lines between generational childhoods, ushering in the eras of automobiles, flight, computers and much more.

Born in the last decade of the 20th century, the current world doesn’t feel that different from my childhood yet; however, I have always been interested in the childhoods of my parents and grandparents, in a time that was so dramatically different than the present. That interest is what captures me with Bucky Covington’s A Different World.

Covington touches on many of the key cultural changes between the past and present, including increased safety concerns and electronics usage, tastefully romanticizing the past. While objectively I realize that life’s complexities generally shift from generation to generation, not increasing or decreasing in severity or quantity, it’s nonetheless calming to look at the past as a simpler time with less worry and stress than seems so prevalent today.

I hope you enjoy the trip into the past, or even down memory lane, as much as I do every time this song comes on.

Purchase this song:

I Hold On, Dierks Bentley - Song of the Week

This is part of a weekly series where I share a song that I connected with in the past week. Send song suggestions to songoftheweek@colincwilliams.com. I post every Monday so you can enjoy the song over the course of the week.

Every artist has songs they connect with at a deeper level. Songs they wrote, which reference specific events in their past. For Dierks Bentley, I Hold On is one of those songs.

From the album Riser, I Hold On was written and produced after his father’s death. The authentic and raw emotion from Dierks’ loss can be felt with every word, with the music video further emphasizing it. This emotion quickly drew me into the song when I first heard it and still does with every listen.

Beyond the emotion, the lyrics present a person that I aspire to be. Someone who can be relied upon and perseveres through challenging times with those I care about most.

Purchase this song:

Let's Take it Outside, Johnny Reid - Song of the Week

This is part of a weekly series where I share a song that I connected with in the past week. Send song suggestions to songoftheweek@colincwilliams.com. I post every Monday so you can enjoy the song over the course of the week.

If I had to pick one song that I wish I could dance to it would be Let’s Take it Outside by Johnny Reid. Every time it comes on I’m compelled to tap my foot with the beat and sing along, itching to get up and move.

I hope you have as much fun listening as I do. It’s one of Johnny Reid’s classics for me.

I was unable to find this song for purchase through major digital music retailers. You can find it in Johnny Reid’s album, Dance With Me.

Tiny Dancer, Elton John - Song of the Week

This is part of a weekly series where I share a song that I connected with in the past week. Send song suggestions to songoftheweek@colincwilliams.com. I post every Monday so you can enjoy the song over the course of the week.

I first heard Tiny Dancer, by Elton John, was in my grade 12 English class while watching the film Almost Famous. Beyond just being a good song, its use in the movie was perfect.

Almost Famous is a fictional story, set in the 1970’s, about a young journalist trying to document the new and upcoming rock band Stillwater for Rolling Stone. he leaves home to follow the band, finding himself along the way. The Tiny Dancer scene happens when the group has hit rock bottom.

Bernie Taupin wrote Tiny Dancer “to capture the free spirits of the women he met in California on his first visit to America in 1970”. In Almost Famous, that lighthearted tone brings the group out of their dreary mood, letting them have a fresh perspective on the situation. It’s a pivotal moment in the story, and is portrayed perfectly along with Tiny Dancer. As a viewer, I immediately connected with the scene and the song, remembering it ever since.

I’ve embedded the full scene from Almost Famous below, however Tiny Dancer starts at 1:23.

Purchase this song:

Telluride, Tim McGraw - Song of the Week

This is part of a weekly series where I share a song that I connected with in the past week. Send song suggestions to songoftheweek@colincwilliams.com. I post every Monday so you can enjoy the song over the course of the week.

When I was a child, I remember visiting my sister. She could drive, while I still had a number of years until I would get my license. Riding in her red Dodge Neon, Tim McGraw’s album Set This Circus Down was playing off of a CD. That car ride was when I discovered my love for country music.

Shortly thereafter I asked my Dad to burn a copy of the album so that I could listen on my own, and listen I did. The album quickly became my favorite, with one song that stood out from the rest: Telluride.

Over the years, Telluride has made times of joy more joyful, with it’s uplifting melody and talk of love. It has made times of sorrow easier to bear, reminding me to remember the good times and move on.

To this day Set This Circus Down is my favorite album, and Telluride my favorite song. I love them for the memories, music and lyrics.

Purchase this song:

Song of the Week

Music:

an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

I believe music is one of the key differences between humans and the rest of the animals on this world. Music communicates emotion strictly through sound — from joy to sorrow, anger to love. It can lift us up when we are down, helping us through troubled times. Music will cause us to sit in contemplation or dance with glee.

We connect with music.

Throughout my life I have connected deeply with music. It has helped me through many tough times in my life and brought me great joy in others. Music has taken some of the best moments of my life and made them better, and helped me reflect back on others.

I want to share the music that connects with me in case it should connect with someone else. Every week I will be posting a different song that I have connected with in some way. Take a listen. If you like it, add the song to your library. If you don’t, wait until the following week; we all like something a little different.

I also want to hear what music you connect with. Send suggestions to songoftheweek@colincwilliams.com. I promise I’ll listen, and may post it as part of the series.

Remember, life is an Open Road; turn up the radio and sign along.

Purchase Open Road, by Bryan Adams: