Madilyn Bailey: "Diva-Like" Musical Force

Well, I got back home today and after I unpacked a little, I went into the kitchen to make something to eat. I played Bruno Mars' first album and his latest one. Both are fantastic and I was just reflecting on the amount of covers I've seen of "Grenade" and "Just The Way You Are". Something about those songs just reached into people's souls, who were thirsty for some good, simple melodies (much like Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" and "Someone Like You"). I personally feel that if Adele was the moonlight of the past few years, then Bruno Mars has been the sunlight. But, I must say, since I grew up being a great Motown fan, and also a Michael Jackson fan, I see a lot of influence on Bruno's latest album.

Let me cut to the chase. I was thinking of one of the first covers I saw on youtube of a Bruno Mars song and I believe it was by Madilyn Bailey. I subscribed to her channel quite a while ago and she's been very successful doing covers of recent hits (usually sooner than most other youtube artists). I don't know how she picks up on the songs so quickly but I must say it's admirable. Learning the guitar part and the vocal melody to a song may be easy but understand the emotional background of the song can be tricky. I've been curious if she always relates to her covers but I guess it'll remain a mystery, just the way I like it. So, I'd like you to have a listen to Madilyn's cover of "Just The Way You Are" (Bruno Mars) and appreciate the simple breakdown of Mars' first single.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G5b0K2Spt0

Beautifully done. What caught my attention was that she switched "When I see her face" to "When I see his face" and so on. I guess that makes it easier to digest across the world. I always try to keep the lyrics exactly as they are (much like Cyndi Lauper did with Prince's "When U Were Mine"). May I just say, there is no right or wrong way to do things. I just like the fact that there is a variety of approaches to the song, and Madilyn's is really great. I really love the fact that she comes across as this simple, approachable girl singing a very simple song. Please note, when I say simple, I do not mean boring, I mean "easy to understand" and "likeable".

Well, it's been about two and a half years since Madilyn uploaded that video and now her channel has amassed a crazy 61,721,005 views and 439,570 subscribers (which will probably change by the time I finishing writing this). I can only guess that it's an incredible feeling to be so greatly appreciated, and rightly so. She has evolved from that simple and approachable girl to a diva-like musical force. Her latest cover is the most definite evidence of this. Listening to her cover of Lana Del Rey's "Blue Jeans" makes me feel like she's found a sound that really works for her. She hits each note and each word very thoughtfully and seems to be constantly improving. Have a listen and check out the evolution!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WxQLDSi6ZM

If that isn't beautiful, I don't know what is. I have to say that the man accompanying her does a fine job and the video editing is phenomenal, which parallels Madilyn's sound. I appreciate the fact that she works hard and pushes the quality of her videos to the maximum. And this stands for her originals too, which are really easy to listen to. She writes the kind of song that would appeal to a variety of people and that's a great talent! I really like her song entitled "Crescent Of The Moon", which you can find on Youtube, or buy on iTunes (along with a bunch of other albums/EP's/covers). Make sure you subscribe to her channel, if you haven't already, check her out on Facebook and really get into this phenomenal youtube artist! She's one to follow. Check back tomorrow for another fantastic youtube artist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WxQLDSi6ZM

Alex Hamel