Kina Grannis: Gentle Sound, Strong Feeling

I only came across Kina Grannis a couple months ago. I've always listened to Bob Dylan and his song "Boots Of Spanish Leather" is a personal favourite. Any Bob Dylan song can be a personal favourite really. Anyways, I was surfing around youtube, checking out cool covers of "Boots Of Spanish Leather" and that's how I stumbled upon the gentle force that is Kina Grannis. Her cover of the song was one of the best I've ever seen and the song fitted her way so perfectly. By "her way" I mean the way she touches the words, the way she sings, the way she looks around and closes her eyes and gives herself to the song. Her voice and her way are so powerful, yet her approach to music is so gentle and approachable by anyone. Listen to her cover of "Boots Of Spanish Leather" and tell me what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFLmB0P3V8I

There's just an aura about Kina that makes her so approachable and easy to understand. I always enjoy going through her covers and originals and am glad I looked up covers of "Boots Of Spanish Leather". One of her other fantastic covers is a collaboration with another fantastic youtube artist called Boyce Avenue. I'm sure you've heard of them as they are one of the most viewed artists on Youtube. They did two covers together I believe and the one I'd love you to listen to right now is "Fast Car" (Tracy Chapman). The song may be "overplayed" for some but every performance is different, so give it a chance, and give yourself the chance to find a version you may enjoy more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4zCOHFrLVY

I'll definitely have to write about Boyce Avenue too sometime, since they're so successful and have such a simple and loveable sound. Together with Kina Grannis, there is a harmony but there's also a contrast between their styles. For some that doesn't work but for them it's a beautiful musical fusion, like that of The Light Parade, who I wrote about yesterday. What I have to note about Kina that I love so much is that she doesn't "shut out" music as some youtube artists might tend to do. Some stick to recent hits, others cover oldies and some only do originals but Kina is a balanced artist and that is so admirable and rare.

Her gentle approach and simplicity in style make her music so easy to absorb and accept. Her originals are truly works of art and I urge you to subscribe to her channel, check her out on Facebook or her website and give her originals a listen. She's a "feel good" artist and her song "In Your Arms" is my personal favourite, amongst her many originals. Not only is the song a melodic adventure, but the video is an artistic masterpiece. She notes that 288.000 jelly beans were used in this video and my question is, what happened to them after? Listen to "In Your Arms" now and check back here tomorrow to read about another great youtube artist I'd like you to hear!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOu0DuxFAT0

Alex Hamel