Zedd & Alessia Cara - "Stay"

This catchy little number has been floating around my head for the last few days. It's got a great beat and a fun hook, but the best part about it, is that for my heart, it rings true. Stay, stick with me, stick around, and if you have patience all the gifts of my heart will be given to you. 

Anton Zaslavski better known by his stage name Zedd, is a German record producer, DJ, and musician. He primarily produces and performs electro house music, but has diversified his genre and musical style, drawing influences from progressive house, dubstep, and classical music. Zedd grew up and began his career in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Zedd's best-known productions to date are today's song "Stay" with Alessia Cara which is his highest single charting at number 7 in the Billboard Hot 100 and also "Clarity" featuring Foxes which charted at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number one of the US Hot Dance Club Songs; and "Break Free", a song which peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, becoming his second song to do so before "I Want You to Know". Zedd won the Grammy award for Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards for "Clarity".

Alessia Caracciolo known professionally as Alessia Cara, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After producing acoustic covers of songs on YouTube, she signed with Def Jam Recordings and released her debut single, "Here", which was a sleeper hit and reached the top 5 in the United States and the top 20 in Canada. Cara's debut studio album, Know-It-All, was released in 2015. The third single from the album, "Scars to Your Beautiful", reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year. 

So today, with perseverance and a promise, I choose Zedd & Alessia Cara's "Stay" as my, hold on for one more day, don't let go, promises are meant to be kept, song for a, time the great healer, love the great builder, hope the great planner, Thursday.

Ryan Adams - "Wildest Dreams"

This cover is one that most people forget about. Ryan Adams put out a beautiful retelling of Taylor Swift's 1989 and it is the kind of music that stays on my radar for years. His voice is poignant as ever and his critical eye of both Swift's beauty and her faults in these songs gave him a plethora of opportunities to make something really beautiful. He fleshed out what was narrow and refined what was bloated, giving each song (of which many already stood to become classics) something magical and lasting. 

Ryan Adams was one of the most popular artists to emerge from the Nineties alternative-country scene, having led in the North Carolina band Whiskeytown before going solo in 1999. Notorious for his hard-drinking and mercurial temper, Adams nonetheless managed to turn out a prodigious catalog of acclaimed music, which ranged from gentle folk to soulful rock to hardcore punk.

Over the course of his career, Adams also developed a reputation for being just as prolific with starlets as he was with music, at times being linked to stars like Winona Ryder, Alanis Morissette and Parker Posey. However, in March 2009, Adams married pop singer and actress Mandi Moore in a ceremony in Savannah, Georgia. While plagued by substance abuse problems early in his career, in 2006 Adams revealed he had kicked drugs and alcohol.

His taste in music is impeccable, as is his taste in women. Kudos Ryan, I'm happy to support both choices!

So today, with the wilderness all around, I choose Ryan Adam's cover of Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams" as my, like a panther on the prowl, like mist in the jungle, like rain on a canvas roof, song for an, eagles would fear to fly as high, even diamonds need to be refined, feathers falling all around, Wednesday.

JoJo - "Good Thing"

Few singers have had such a fabled career with so few hits as JoJo. Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque had 3 back to back hits in the mid 2000's but it was her story of being locked into a deal with her record label as a minor that really made for gripping drama. in 2015 after her "Tringle" III was released it seemed like she was back and ready to tear down the musical walls. We've been waiting a while for this next club thumper to come out, and the wait was worth it. 

Never lacking for talent JoJo's vocals are flawless as ever, but it's her delivery and drive that make this song the kind you want to bounce to. 

So today, with a beat in my back pocket, I choose JoJo's "Good Thing" as my, shake it don't break it, let no one else tell you your limits, fight long enough and you are sure to outlast the enemy, song for a, go on and do it, jump - you just might flight, release the burdens that have been weighing you down and live in the joy you've been denying yourself Tuesday.

Father John Misty - "When The God Of Love Returns There'll Be Hell To Pay"

Joshua Michael "Josh" Tillman also known as Father John Misty, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and drummer. Maintaining a steady output of solo recordings since 2004, Tillman was a former member or toured with Saxon Shore, Fleet Foxes, Jeffertitti's Nile, Pearly Gate Music, Siberian, Har Mar Superstar, Poor Moon, Low Hums, Jonathan Wilson, Bill Patton, The Lashes, Stately English, and has toured extensively with Pacific Northwest artists Damien Jurado, Jesse Sykes, and David Bazan. He has also made contributions to albums by popular artists, including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Kid Cudi.

What he is, is different, his mind works in beautifully different way, and he sees the world from an inherently different angle. This gives him to the power to change perspectives through his words. Not always lovely, and not always perfect, the pits and flaws of his music make it that much more personal, allowing the listener to dive that much more into their own psyches and find the truths lingering there.

So today, with confidence and crazy side by side I choose Father John Misty's "When The God Of Love Returns There'll Be Hell To Pay" as my, open your eyes, unlock your heart, remember what happiness is to be found in the smallest of attentions, song for a, live without fear, walk without shame, sing without concern, Monday.

Colour Coast - "Walls"

Fronted by Lead Singer, Canadian songstress, Marley Otto, Colour Coast features band members Frank Tobias, JP Grado, Kevin Martin, and Theron Lynott. They're a new band from the LA area and have quickly gained a cult following. Playing August 9th at the Satellite in Silverlake they're already almost completely sold out. 

Otto has had a number of other ventures, from child TV star in Canada, to on air Personality at KPCC Talk News Radio, and it's no wonder with her smooth velvet voice she immediately invites the listener into a private, personal, space.

Their most recent work is blowing up on Soundcloud, and their Instagram is definitely worth the follow (@thecolourcoast)! Walls is a California sun-drenched disco pop song about trying to unlearn how to keep your heart safe, once you've met someone worth falling for, and it's in HEAVY rotation on my stereo.

So today I choose Colour Coast's "Walls" as my, sun-drenched daze, one brick at a time, like opening the door - rather than looking through the keyhole, song for a, here's to hoping, the little miracle of "who knows?", so right it scares you, Friday.

Waxahatchee - "Sparks Fly"

When Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield emerged with 2012's American Weekend, she was a chronicler of life's rawest nerves and realest emotions — dark, gripping stuff born of rootlessness and self-discovery, ideally suited to the album's ragged and unrefined acoustic arrangements. In the years since, Crutchfield has polished Waxahatchee's sound to maximize its glimmering-but-spiky forcefulness, but her words remain as bracing and unsparing as ever.

So today, with my face to the storm, I choose Waxahatchee's "Sparks Fly" as my, brace yourself, take a deep breath, spread your wings, song for a, you can fly if you just leap, lift yourself back off the ground,  at the edge of the stormwall like a sparrow in a hurricane, Thursday.

Caitlyn Smith - "Before You Call Me Baby"

In a time when everything is big, fast and bombastic, it's rare to find an artist who can hush a room with just the power of her voice or the will of her pen. Caitlyn Smith, one of Nashville's most prized writers, is one of them: and, after years spent composing songs for and with everyone from Dolly Parton to Garth Brooks to Meghan Trainor, she's finally ready to unveil all sides of her enormous talent with Starfire. Long lauded for her ability to whirl pure emotion into unforgettable tracks, Starfire is a raw, visceral journey about love, hardship and the struggle to pave your own way, all anchored by her unforgettable tone. A few minutes of listening and one thing becomes abundantly clear: there is no one better to sing the music of Caitlyn Smith than Smith herself. "I wanted to unlock my heart and dig around inside a little," Smith says about the songs of Starfire, with the first five songs available now, with the complete album to be released this fall. "And I wanted to be more vulnerable, and tell the stories I have lived. It's more raw of a process to write for myself." 

She's got something unique in her sound, a small hint of a cry all while calling out for the world to listen. She draws you in with her powerhouse vocals only to seduce you with her sly turn of phrase. She's got the rare ability to sing the works and make you not only listen, but understand. 

So today, with a hint and a leap, I choose Caitlyn Smith's "Before You Call Me Baby" as my, sure why not, not no, just say yes, song for a, simple little songs, honest little words, bright smiling eyes Wednesday. 

Chet Baker - "I Fall In Love Too Easily"

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr.  was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, and vocalist. He is a legend in the Jazz world, and his cult status as an indie musician has never faded. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings, It Could Happen to You). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one." His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame; Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s.

Baker was born and raised in a musical household in Yale, Oklahoma; his father, Chesney Baker, Sr., was a professional guitar player, and his mother, Vera (née Moser), was a talented pianist who worked in a perfume factory. His maternal grandmother, Randi Moser, was Norwegian. Baker notes that due to the Great Depression, his father, though talented, had to quit as a musician and take a regular job. Baker began his musical career singing in a church choir. His father introduced him to brass instruments with a trombone, which was replaced with a trumpet when the trombone proved too large. His mother notes that Chet had begun to memorize tunes on the radio before he was even given an instrument and that after "falling in love" with the trumpet, he already developed noticeably within the first two weeks. Peers later described Baker as a "natural" musician, and that playing came effortlessly to him.

In subsequent years, the release of Baker's unfinished memoirs, As Though I Had Wings (1997) and James Gavin's Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker (2002), provided details of the jazz icon's troubled but memorable life and career. In March 2016 the Chet Baker biopic Born to Be Blue was released, starring Ethan Hawke in the role of the troubled jazz man. 

So today, with a twinge of fear mixed into the excitement, I choose Chet Baker's "I Fall In Love Too Easily", as my, I didn't know what time it was, lord help us, with a wink and a smile, song for a, give in to the sway, hold my hand, maybe this time, Tuesday.

I'm giving you both Chet's version as well as the Trumpet only Miles Davis Version. You're welcome.