A Little More Love is Just Around The Corner with a H.O.L.Y. Black Horse And The Cherry Tree

Kids are now officially on summer break – I’m going to enjoy the ensuing weeks of no rushing out the door and having my blood pressure get steamy in the crazy car lines. The weather is going to be absolutely stunning this week – not too hot and not too cold, sunshine and blue skies! Great way to kick off the summer.

Another great way to kick off the summer (and the week, considering it’s Monday after all) is music! This week is a freebie week, so grab a favorite tune and dance along, won’t you?

Let’s start with a duo who have been friends since the early 2000s, and are even signed by the same label, but up until now they’d never put out a song together. One of the two heard the song first, and thought it’d be perfect for his friend. But then he listened to it a few more times and decided he did want to be part of it, so they decided to do the song together.

Problem solved!

They were quoted as saying:

“We went old school: We stood in the same room. We used two different mics, but we sang at the same time, like back in the day when you had to. It made it way cooler, I guess, the vibe of being there together and capturing the essence of the hang in the studio.”

“It was not meant to be a duet at all – the groove, the message, the feeling of the song – it all screamed my best friend. We’ve been harmonizing together for years, playing live shows together for years, and you can hear that friendship on the final recording. We worked on a cool harmony part that almost sounds like two lead vocals going, rather than traditional harmony.”

Here’s the talented duo, Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice with “A Little More Love”:

Next up is one of my favorite artists who just premiered her music video for her newest song during the 2016 CMT Music Awards on June 8th. The song is the official Band Against Cancer anthem and a single from the artist’s newest album. She was quoted as saying:

“We all know someone going through a difficult time, especially so many of our friends in the community who are diagnosed with cancer. And, having the strength and faith to know that there are better days just around the corner is such an important message for us to share with everyone fighting this brave battle.”

Band Against Cancer is a community-based movement led by Sarah Cannon (the cancer institute of HCA) in partnership with Big Machine Label Group and this artist. This song is a perfect anthem for the movement, it gives a huge amount of hope and optimism to those in difficult times.

Here’s the gorgeous and talented Martina McBride with “Just Around The Corner”:

Next up is the lead single from this duo’s latest album – they both passed on the song the first time they heard it. They were already halfway into recording the album when this song was sent to them late in the game – they only gave it half a listen, and decided it wasn’t really them, so they passed.

But they couldn’t get the song out of their heads, so a couple of weeks later, they talked about it, and decided it was a special song and they needed to record it. So they did! They were quoted as saying:

“We both kind of fell in love with it over those few weeks of living with it, you know, and realized the power. Sometimes a song doesn’t hit you right away, you know. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to actually get deep enough into the song to realize the power of that song.”

Here’s the inimitable Florida Georgia Line with “H.O.L.Y.”:

Last, but definitely not least, is a song I can’t remember where I first heard it (I think it was one of the last episodes of The Blacklist), but it stuck in my head and I knew I needed to share it when it played on the radio last week. The artist described the song as a metaphor for good and evil. She was quoted as saying:

“One summer, I was traveling in Greece on a little moped and this massive black horse had broken free in an olive grove and was going nuts. It looked apocalyptic: a seed was sown. I wrote the song years later in a tiny studio in Shepherd’s Bush. I was about to tour Scottish coffee shops and was worried about coming across like Phoebe from Friends.

At the same time I saw a brilliant guy called Son of Dave who looked like a ginger nylon 1980s’ Elvis: really raw blues with just voice and effects. I got a pedal and one of my techie friends helped me put myself and my guitar through it. It’s probably the most scientific I’ve been, but the song was written in a 10-minute burst. The lyrics where my ‘Heart stops dead’ refer to a heart murmur I had as a baby. I got into this fantasy that my heart felt betrayed and had decided to stop working. The song is about having to dig incredibly deep to find out who you wanna be.”

In 2007 Katharine McPhee was granted permission to cover the song on American Idol, in spite of the artist’s distaste for reality pop shows. She was pleased that Katherine demonstrated a bit of personality in what was otherwise a puppet show, and her appearance did the artist a lot of favors bringing the song to the forefront at the time.

Obviously it worked, since it’s still being played all these years later.

Without further ado, here’s the awesomely talented KT Tunstall with “Black Horse And The Cherry Tree”:

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday!

Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:   I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohorts, Callie from JAmericanSpice, and since our friend Naila Moon from Just the Stuff Ya Know.

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!