Car accidents in the US are often referred to as "fender benders". I think it's pretty obvious where the name comes from, but it's still a bit funny to say it or think about it. I find it so interesting how people are so taken with rhymes and how for many people the brain just seems to process words that go together like that a bit differently.
I'll be the first to admit that I am pretty horrible with remembering people's names. Throw that name into a rhyme or some kind of alliteration and the odds of me remembering it go up about 60%. It's kind of crazy isn't it?
While this post isn't about rhymes exactly, there are a lot of songs out there that incorporate rhyme into their lyrics, so I guess in a roundabout way, it actually works.
Once again this week I am going to take a step away from my rock and roll hall of fame highlights to cover someone a bit newer with you. As I told you a while ago, I have been listening to the "Life With John Mayer" channel on Sirius/XM satellite radio a bit more lately. I think it's channel 14 or something like that if you have the service but haven't checked it out yourself.
Besides just playing his own music on the channel, they also play a lot of music that John appreciates or enjoys listening to, that's how I stumbled up on this artist.
Believe it or not, I had never heard of Sam Fender before he was introduced to me on John Mayer's channel. Apparently he has been gaining a lot of recognition over in the UK since his unofficial debut in 2017 or so, but I swear, I had never heard of him. In fact, I thought sure he was someone from a band that had just recently decided to go solo. I'm not sure why I thought that, but I did.
According to Wikipedia, Fender got his first guitar when he was something like eight years old and became pretty proficient at playing it by the time he was 10. By the time he was 12 he was playing gigs and at 14 started writing songs.
Apparently his young life was pretty all over the place moving between his mother's house and time with his father who was also a musician and music teacher. Many of his friends got involved with drugs and music was his way to escape from that same fate.
While Fender has been kicking around over in the UK for quite some time and folks over there are probably quite familiar with him, it took a little bit before his music made its way over to the US. I have a feeling that's probably how it was for Ed Sheeran a bit at first as well. Only time will tell if Fender ends up doing as well as Ed has.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, my topic for #threetunetuesday sponsored by @ablaze this week is Sam Fender.
Again, according to Wikipedia after Fender learned to play the guitar and he was starting to learn to sing, he relied pretty heavily on early records by Bruce Springsteen as well as some other artists to accomplish that. I think that influence comes through really well with the song "People Watching". This is the first Sam Fender son I ever heard and I was immediately taken with it.
The similarity to Bruce is pretty obvious, but I also hear hints of The Killers and some other artists in there as well. Okay, call me crazy, but I also hear a bit of a modern Roy Orbison in there as well. Especially with this song. People Watching is just a fun upbeat song. Obviously, if you watch the video it would appear there is more to it than that, but I still really enjoy the song.
One of the big names in American music right now is Noah Kahan, he came on the scene big time with the song Stick Season and has been tearing up the charts and concert venues ever since. I'm pretty sure he has some collaborations with Hozier, and now "Homesick" his collaboration with Sam Fender.
I think that speaks volumes that two up and coming artist like Sam and Noah would be collaborating like this. I actually think it's pretty cool that someone who has been kicking around for close to a decade now is totally new to me. Despite the fact that music is accessible all around the world these days, I still that speaks to the fact of just how disconnected we are. I think it also sheds a light on just how hard it is to become and international star still.
Finally, I am going to share with you the song "Little Bit Closer". Oddly enough, there isn't a ton of content by Fender on Youtube from what I could find. Compared to some other artists, it was pretty sparse. I think part of that might be due to his limited live performances due to an immune system disorder that he suffers from. Apparently, he also has ADHD which he says helped him focus on his music. I wish I could have had that side effect from the disorder... No such luck!
That's all I have for you this week. If you are familiar with Fender, I hope you enjoyed listening to my picks. If you have never heard of him before, I hope you found something new that you like!
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