Krystal Andrews

UWRT 1101
27 February 2015
Analysis : Musicians
"The Art of Asking." Amanda Palmer:. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015
Amanda Palmer starts her TED Talk with how she started. She mentions that she
did a statue thing called the "8-foot Bride". She was also in a band playing keyboard and
writing music. She had certain connections with people as that statue and did not want to
lose that connection when she stopped the statue gig and did shows with her band. Palmer
goes on talking about how they would stay after shows to sign autographs, talk, even just
to hang out with their fans. When Twitter came around she was able to ask questions and
get nearly instant replies. Palmer brings up a question, "Where in Melbourne can I get a
Netty Pot?" and within in moments a nurse drove to the caf she was at with one and they
shared a smoothie and felt that close connection with someone again.
Palmer continues with stories on encounters she had with her crew. She began to
have different kinds of connections with people. Couch surfing was one of the things she
mentions. She stayed with people worse off than her and they still gave what they could
to her whether is was money or shelter and food for the night.
"I didn't make them, I asked them. And through the very act of asking people, I
connected with them. And when you connect with them, people want to help you." When
she said that she opens herself up on how she felt from back when she was the statue to
how she is now an artist. Palmer speaks about how she wants to be closer to what she
calls "My crowd." She trusts her fans who she considers to be friends in a way or the title
"my crowd". She wants to let people know that it is okay to take risks, make mistakes,

and to ask.

Davis, Kevin. ""God's Not Dead" by Newsboys." #307. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
Kevin Davis interviewed Jeff Frankenstein, the keyboardist for The Newsboys, to
get the story behind the song "God's Not Dead." The first question Davis asked
Frankenstein to describe the story behind the band recording the song. Frankenstein talks
about how he first heard the song. He mentions how his manager handed him a CD with
16 songs on it with no titles or artist names listed. When he hears God's Not Dead, song
by Daniel Bashta who named it "Like a Lion", it stood out to him and later when they had
all these plans set out for this song, he said that Daniel Bashta himself was going to be
joining them on the "God's Not Dead" tour.
Davis then asks him what Bible verses were connected with the message of the
song. Frankenstein gives three verses. This here tells me that the Bible for this band is
their main text that they draw their inspiration from and something they share in common
with other Christian musicians. Each of the three verses Frankenstein mentioned have
only one thing in common and that is talking about how the LORD will call for his
children. "Roar like a lion." That line is even in the song "God's Not Dead."
Lastly Frankenstein talks about how listeners can apply the message when they
listen to the song. Considering that this song was also in a movie about an atheist who
wanted others to admit that God was dead, Frankenstein brings up how "atheism has
become more and more prevalent". Frankenstein wants Christians to stand up for God
and bring Truth back into this world and culture. God is being taken out of most
everything. Davis's interview with Frankenstein shows a deeper side to Christian
musicians and how they are inspired and how they think, even how they feel.

Harrison, Thomas. "Neotraditional Female Artists." Music of the 1990s. Santa

Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2011. 123-28. Print.
This section of Harrison's book talks about the influences that women artists had
on the society. Mostly focused towards women. He also mentioned that these women
artists like; Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, and Patty Loveless are only a couple he
mentions, they took personal experiences and put them to music and into words for those
who are going through the same or even similar situations could find something to relate
to and find comfort. Harrison puts a quote in his own text from something Reba McEntire
said that explained why her music focused more towards women, "to say for them what
they can't say for themselves. I want to be those women's friend." There are several
women artists that Harrison talks about each had their own inspiration for why they did
the kind of music they have done or still doing.
One of the other women he spoke about was Trisha Yearwood, matter of fact that
was the second woman he brought up. Harrison spoke about that she was the first since
the 1970s to have a single rise to place one on rating lists. After a certain couple of songs
were released he mentions that she was going through a divorce and that was her
inspiration for many of her other songs. When her album in 1998 came out, it showed
similarities to the style related to one of her primary inspirations, Linda Ronstadt.
Harrison's writing included a few other women artists from the country genre of
music. He used these women to show how they used their music to help others in times of
need. Many of the women artists had personal or outer influences that guided them along
the way to become great musicians in their careers.

Harrison, Thomas. "The Decline of the 1980s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal." Music
of the 1990s. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2011. 72-74. Print.
It is a section in the book American History through Music : Music of the 1990s
that talks about why the classic hard rock and heavy metal bands went out of style during
the late 80s to late 90s and what fans of that age were looking for in their style of music.
Page 73 "Fans had shifted and now wanted something rooted in reality and not in a rock
star fantasy." Which brings me to the next statement on the same page. "Other groups in
the genre declined quickly because of this shift." Being a fan of 80s and 90s music
myself, this part of the chapter intrigued me due to some of the names that had been
mentioned I had never heard of and this section explains why. As fans changed their
preferences of what they like to listen to, most bands from that era couldn't keep up and
slowly became history.
Harrison brought of bands from the metal genre and what they had done to keep
afloat for a while, but he ultimately said that they even declined as the 1980 era began to
die out. He specifically mentions Metallica and how it seemed that their 1991 self-titled
album hit big and settled well with the fans. But their later albums that they released did
not sit well with their fans. Harrison says this about the fans, "Who believed that the
group was truing too hard to sound modern among other mid- 1990s groups, reinforced
by a change in the groups physical appearance." This says to me that the bands that died
out were only trying to please their fans, but in the end doing so caused them to die out
and move on.

Interview of William Chipps : Drummer of Mission 217 Church's Praise and

Worship Team

I chose to interview William Chipps because he is a friend from my church. My

other sources are about different artists from different genres of music. Chipps is the
drummer of the praise and worship team at my Church, Mission 217. I wanted to get a
different side of musicians when it comes to Faith and Religion. I used facebook
messaging due to the fact I only see him on Sunday mornings. It worked better because
he could take his time and give me elaborate responses in order to do well for this
analysis.
This is an interview that I conducted and received answers from my friend on the
Praise and Worship team at the church I attend. The main question I asked him was, How
did you become a member of this community? I got two different answers, the first one
was specifically for how he became a member of the Praise and Worship team. This was
his answer, "I talked to the guy who was looking for musicians to help with the praise and
worship group. People who were dedicated and loved the Lord. So I put my name in and
tried out for the team." So being a part of the Praise and Worship team is what he wanted
to be a part of and it only took a mustard seed of Faith to get there. I then asked him how
he originally got into music and wanting to pursue that path. He told me about his stepdad, who was a musician as well, got him into it unknowingly, at a young age even
though he didn't pick up sticks until he was around 16. He said how excited he was when
he found his first drum set on the side of the road. Other than his step-dad, Joey Jordison,
drummer from Slipknot was the main reason why he pursued at being a drummer.
Being a part of the Praise and Worship team, they main text the go to for
inspiration is the Bible itself. He talks about how the group does what they can to inspire
others through their music. I know first hand how inspiring their music can be, they are
only covers of other music. Their lead singer sometimes between songs says a bit about
God or how the songs is making him feel.