“You Be The Judge” has a bit of a twist to it this week. Usually, when we look for a fan to feature, the first thing we check is their judging history, Predictor awards and Connector badges—things that immediately tell us the user likes to listen to a lot of music. This time, the first thing we noticed about our featured user was his affinity for writing reviews. We found Trabue in the comments section of Daniel Palmer’s Fanclub page, and asked him right away if he’d like to review a couple of his favorite OurStage tracks. Rather than the usual quick picks, we had Trabue share some more in-depth accounts of why he likes the songs he chose.
Trabue: a man of many words...
Bio: Trabue Gentry began his musical career writing music at the age of 13 and has since penned over 150 musical compositions. He started out as an apprentice engineer at Kings Studio in 1965 and eventually received an artist contract by producer Pete Drake (George Harrison, Ringo Starr, et al) in 1977. Today, Gentry continues to write and produce music, and advise and collaborate with artists around the world.
Deepest Water by Mikle Krizanovski for All Instrumental
“Admittedly, I am biased since I featured Mikle’s awe-inspiring guitar work on my composition ‘Lost In The Wax’ But my bias goes well beyond that. Quite simply, Mikle is a brilliant composer, arranger, musician and engineer. His genius in all of these areas is no more evident than in his haunting beautiful composition ‘Deepest Water.’
Mikle is best known for his OurStage contest-winning ‘TeeAKKee‘ which personified what we all expected from him as an extraordinarily talented rock guitarist.
Recently, Mikle expressed to me his concern that his yet-unheard classical compositions might not be well received by OurStage audiences and sent me an advance copy of ‘Deepest Water’ for my opinion. Naturally, I was caught completely off guard. This is perhaps the most beautifully written, orchestrated and executed classical rock masterpiece I have ever heard.
The complexities and intricacies of ‘Deepest Water’ may well be the topic for heated discussion and debate among the most accredited academic music theorists for many years to come. No matter what genre you prefer, everyone should experience the lesser-known and perhaps more brilliant side of Mike Krizanovski in ‘Deepest Water’.”
Break Me by Descending New Angels in Rock
“Locked and loaded and ready to rumble. That’s the best way to describe Descending New Angels’ ‘Break Me’.
‘Break Me’ screams, not at you, but with you in its defiant message of ‘never give up’. This is one tight and powerful song. The front man conveys this inspiring and hopeful message with his biting guitar and ‘in your face’ vocals while the rest of the band literally steamrolls the song along in a perfectly coordinated attack.
Descending New Angels is one of the those rare bands that supplies a consistently good stream of music. Every song is unique and conveys an honest, meaningful message. There is not a single hint of pretense with this band. What you hear is what you get and what they say is what they mean.
I met with this St. Louis area band’s manager this weekend and you’ll be happy to know they will be releasing their debut CD this month. So, if you’re ready for distraction with action, Descending New Angels’ is, without a doubt, ready for you.”
Spoken like a true music lover! Thanks, Trabue.
