NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

When  Acceptance  released  "Cold Air, " in the summer of 2020, I was immediately taken by the catchy, '80s New-Wave electronica meets  The Outfield -style harmonies sung by lead singer  Jason Vena . However, the rest of the album failed to pack the punch that their 2005 debut and 2017 sophomore record had. Acceptance had become known for their lyricism, Vena's near-perfect execution in his mid-to-high range vocals, and often haunting/ mysterious guitar parts--all mixed and produced by  Aaron Sprinkle . However, what  Wild, Free  offered was clipped guitars, electronics, and gruffer vocal takes by Vena. There were certainly some highlights, but other than "Cold Air," there hasn't been much to come back to--except for a song that got stuck in my head today: "Wasted Nights." I THINK WE MET AROUND THE FIRST OF MAY.  Billy Power  had an  interesting interview with Jason Vena  back in 2015, in which Vena talks about how his first marriage dissolved

  In 2017, Aaron Sprinkle released Real Life , his last release on Tooth & Nail Records . The legendary producer had released solo work sporadically since the ‘90s; however, being the go-to producer for some of the most successful bands in Alternative and Hard Christian Rock was time-consuming, and Sprinkle felt that producing great records was more successful than trying to promote a solo career. Sprinkle’s production always felt cutting-edge when he recorded, whether for Anberlin , Acceptance , Demon Hunter , Falling Up , or a host of other bands. Real Life, however, feels very 2017. Today, let's explore the album, track by track. 1. Invincible kicks off the album with that 2017 electronic sound. Featuring Poema ’s Elle Puckett contributing a spoken-word/ rap part, the song sounds nothing like what you’d expect from either artist. The lyrics seem to be the speaker coming to realize that he is not invincible. Puckett tries to convince the first speaker that he never needed

Aaron Sprinkle began his musical career as the guitarist for Alternative Christian Rock band Poor Old Lu . The band released albums between 1990 and 2002, starting as BellBangVilla before changing their name in 1991. As the Chronicles of Narnia - inspired band was winding down, releasing In Their Final Performance in 1998,  Sprinkle started the band Rose Blossom Punch , releasing two albums before disbanding. Next, Sprinkle began releasing solo records, starting with Moontraveler in 1999. He released albums consistently until 2004’s Lackluster . In 2006, Sprinkle released The Best Worst-Case Scenario by a new band called Fair . COULD THIS BE OUT OF LINE? Fair only released two albums, concluding with 2010’s Disappearing World . In 2013, Aaron Sprinkle released Water & Guns , his first solo album in nine years. Readers of my blog will know that what Sprinkle lacked in building a concert and solo record franchise he was more than prolific in his songwriting and producing for othe

This Is All I Know is the final album by Number One Gun . The band from Chico, California, became one member-- Jeff Schneeweis —in 2007 on the band’s The North Pole Project . The other members went on to form the band Surrogate and work with other bands such as Emery .  There was a lot of controversy surrounding Number One Gun's last album, related to the late fulfillment of crowd-funding. Some backers for the 2014 album claimed as of 2021 they hadn’t received what they had been promised. After releasing This Is All I Know, Schneeweis declared that Number One Gun finished and started releasing music under the moniker Lael . This Is All I Know is the end of the Christian Rock era. HEAVY IS UPON US. Just as Anberlin had announced their farewell in 2014, several other bands called it quits. In 2017 the band Yellowcard , along with Anberlin drummer Nathan Young, recorded their final album and gave their farewell tour. After Anberlin ended, Stephen Christian was busy first in Nash

Spotify Wrapped probably flooded your social media right last month. Two years ago, I got jealous, so I subscribed to Spotify. Apple Music started Replay in response to that Wrapped jealousy, but I still don't see many people posting their Replay stories on Instagram.  I never stopped listening to Apple Music, though. I have different habits for listening to Spotify and Apple Music, and today I'm going to discuss the differences between those two listening habits. HONESTY WAITS HERE FOREVER .  I started using Spotify last year. I decided to start linking the artist, album, and songs on Spotify if available because it seems that Spotify has more listeners than Apple Music. Last year, I used Spotify mostly for my blog and didn't listen to it much. I listened to Apple Music on my own time, and whenever I was in the middle of writing my blog and needed to listen to a song, I listened to it on Spotify. This year, I listen to Spotify for my blog but I also switched to Spotify at

  Sleeping at Last   is a band that almost made a song of the day two days ago for their   cover   of " Chasing Cars " until I made time to listen to the Snow Patrol version and their music, eventually settling on " You're All I Have."  Like   Snow Patrol , Sleeping at Last came to fame, albeit not Snow Patrol-level of fame, from a well-placed appearance in Season 3 of   Grey's Anatomy .  The indie-rock band turned solo project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist   Ryan O'Neal   has had many songs included in the ABC drama and its spin-off,   Private Practice .  Their cover of   "Chasing Cars" was used to add a dramatic counterpoint in the series, as the audience had already heard the original in the Season 2 finale. O'Neal stays busy producing lots of music, composing albums based on larger concepts, such as the solar system, the Enneagram, emotions, land, oceans, and many other topics.  WAR IS OVER, IF YOU WANT IT.  In the band