GRAMMYs 2018: 60th Birthday in Manhattan

So here we are again! It’s that time of year, it’s GRAMMY TIME.  This year we’re headed to New York for Music’s Biggest Night, and this year we couldn’t be more excited because this year we have a dog in the fight, that’s right: this year we got to peruse the list of nominees and VOTE!  Yup, we got a new fancy status as a voting member and we exercised our power. 

Boy howdy, did we ever.

So, this year, instead of giving you our predictions on who will win what (which, let’s be honest, were never very accurate anyway), we’ll give you a rundown of a few works we voted for.  Here’s the categories we feel most strongly about, in no particular order:

Record of the Year:

This is a production award, which made this category a bit of a runaway. We hand this honor to “Despacito.”  Hey, we have no idea what he’s singing about, but we figure any producer deserves a Grammy if they can make Justin Bieber sound 1. Like he’s bilingual, 2. Good.

...or 3. "Un hombre afortunado para estar con Selena Gomez"

Album of the Year: 

There’s a soft spot for this one, and it belongs to “Awaken My Love” by Childish Gambino.  You can’t beat the creativity on this project, from beginning to end it will captivate you.

Song of the Year:

This is a songwriting award, remember- we’re giving this to “Issues” because, well, we like pizzicato. (Yes, we know that probably wasn’t “written” but we’re going with it anyway.)

Best New Artist:

And since we’re there, we’re going to go ahead and give this one to Julia Michaels too.  Truth: Julia wins our vote because we did some random sampling of all of the submissions.  Out of 25 chosen samples, hers was the only collection that never landed on lyrics that included the N word.  Just trying to keep it classy over here at BentBeat…you’re welcome.

Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media:

Oo! Oo! Speaking of “you’re welcome,” we strongly and emphatically put “Moana” in this winner’s spot.  (We’ll go on record as saying we don’t think it will win.)  Here’s why: this is a tight race between “Moana” and “La La Land.” We give “Moana” our vote because while “La La Land” has some good music, it’s basically just a recording of a Broadway musical. We give full credit to the engineers and performers for the necessary manipulations to make that a good album. However, the Moana vocalists were sought out for purposes of authenticity (Opetaia Foa'i, Jermaine Clements) and talent (maybe we concede the exception of The Rock here), and the resulting recordings are, frankly, quite good.  

"Hey... wait...  Well, actually you make a fine point."

Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals:

Here’s where we’ll give “La La Land” it’s due and vote for “Another Day of Sun.” Although the irony of being able to award Seth MacFarlane a Grammy for “I Like Myself” was not lost on us, we decided to go with the deserved winner here and not the punch line.

Pop Vocal Album:

“Evolve” from Imagine Dragons wins our vote.  See the note above regarding creativity in the Childish Gambino section.  Oh, hey, Grammy coordinators: can we officially request a duet here? We’re drooling at the possibility.

Pop Duo/Group: 

Here’s some PDX hometown love: we give our vote to Portugal. The Man and “Feel It Still.” It’s fun, guys.

Pictured here after losing a bet with a promoter

Country Duo/Group:

We love Zac Brown.  Have we ever mentioned that we love Zac Brown? Zac can have this one for “My Old Man.”

Country Song:

We give this one to “Drinking Problem” by Midland.  Anyone who can write an entire song based on a pun (and make it work) deserves an award.

Country Album:

“From a Room, Volume 1” by Chris Stapleton.  Let’s be honest.  With all of the country crossover happening today, don’t we really all just want to listen to this?  A bunch of amazing dudes sitting in a studio for a jam?  This was so refreshing and wonderful to listen to.

Country Solo:

Speaking of country crossover, Miranda Lambert gets this one for “Tin Man” purely for clinging to her country roots and making a brilliant song out of them.  Thanks for keeping the country in country music, Miranda.

Rock Performance:

We don’t have a lot of words to say about this except that there was NO WAY ON EARTH that this vote wasn’t going to “The Promise” by Chris Cornell.  We’re not crying, you’re crying.

Pop Solo:

And, while we’re busy not crying, we’ll just slide in our vote for Ke$ha and “Praying” here.  Okay, this vote isn’t a slide, it’s probably our most vehement vote of the whole bunch.  There’s a lot to say about this particular recording, but maybe another time and another place.  Excuse me while I go out and get some waterproof mascara. 

Video of the Year:

We gotta end this on a more chipper note.  Our extremely emphatic vote goes to “Makeba” by Jain. If you haven’t seen this video yet, stop reading this long-winded post and go watch it.  Right now.  In fact, you can find it here:

And that’s our votes! Sure we voted in more categories, but those are the ones we feel strongest about.  What do you think?  Did we pick the right winners?  Do we need a drinking game for the ones we got right/wrong?  We’re open to suggestions of course.  

The chaos awaits

The 60th Annual Grammys Awards are Sunday, January 28 at 4:30pm PST on CBS, and we’re ready for the countdown to begin!  Follow us all weekend on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook where we’ll be sharing our New York adventures and red carpet action on Music’s Biggest Night.  

We’ll see you there!

The BentBeat Team
bentbeat.com
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Dustin Rose Releases His Newest Album, "Catch The Wind"

Dustin Rose releases his first Christian album, "Catch The Wind," with Portland-Based BentBeat Productions - available on Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify, and all major music sites.

Dustin Rose's "Catch The Wind" album is available now

Portland, OR, December 05, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Northwest-based Dustin Rose releases his third solo album, “Catch The Wind.” Rose is a Portland native and a 6th generation Oregonian who has been performing live for over 20 years, most recently with the band Wilson Fifer Rose.

“Catch The Wind” features local and national musicians and two featured guest singers. “Holy Is My God” features Amber Schroeder, the Director of Choral Music at Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, and Dustin’s wife Andrea is featured as a duet singer for the song “My Father’s House.” The song being co-written by the Roses for a nonprofit that shares the same name in Gresham.

“My Father’s House, A Community Shelter” is the largest privately funded homeless shelter program in the nation with an 85% success rate helping people secure stable employment and housing upon exit from the program. Dustin and Andrea have been involved with the shelter in various capacities for over 17 years. “We composed the song because we wanted to convey to everyone how important the community shelter was to us,” said Andrea. “Residents of the shelter take classes in renter education, financial management, and other life skills. There are up to 30 homeless families at a time taking part in their program. We hope that the song will encourage others to join us in supporting their ministry to Multnomah County’s homeless population.”

This is Dustin Rose’s first collaboration under the Portland-based BentBeat Productions label. Produced by Dave Beatty, Rose found great freedom in the partnership. “The team was easy to work with. I was able to come to creative sessions with ideas and partial songs and somewhere along the way it turned into a full-length album. I was very pleased with how everything turned out.”

“The best way to have great music is to start with a great artist. We heard Dustin sing and were hooked,” said Beatty. “It's great to have an entire album featuring both an artist's playing and singing talents."

Rose recently took the stage at Creation Northwest in Tri-Cities, Washington, to promote his upcoming project. “It was exciting to get to play some of these new songs for such an enthusiastic crowd,” said Rose. “It was great to see people enjoying themselves and stepping away from their daily lives, and I was glad to be a facilitator for that.”

The CD release party for “Catch The Wind” will be on Friday, December 8th, from 5:30-7pm at Clinton St. Bible Chapel, 18255 SE Clinton St, Gresham, Oregon 97030. A portion of the evening’s album sales will go to benefit “My Father’s House.” All ages free.

Dustin is a sponsored artist of Breedlove Guitars in Bend, Oregon.

About BentBeat Productions: BentBeat is based in Portland, Oregon. BBP’s focus is on partnering with musicians to produce, record, and release high quality broadcast-level music through streaming services, social media and traditional distribution. BentBeat’s portfolio is available on Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify, and all major music sites. Please join in supporting musicians.

Contact:
BentBeat Productions
Dave Beatty
503.489.8275
info@bentbeat.com
www.bentbeat.com

Mike Brandow: BBP's Newest Artist

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, and what have we been up to in the meantime? Well, we’ll tell you! There’s been lots of behind-the-scenes going on: moving, mixing, ADR-ing, conference-attending, etc. The boring stuff, right? 

Buuuuut, there’s one thing we’ve been working hard on that is pretty exciting, and we couldn’t wait to share it with y’all. It’s time for us to welcome a new artist into the BentBeat family: Meet Mike Brandow! Mike hails from Eugene, Oregon and came to us with the goal of publishing a project “35 years in the making”- and we can’t wait to get into the studio to work on it! (In fact, we can’t wait to get into the studio to work with him on this project… and the next one… and the next one… and the next one…) 

We first met Mike in our songwriting class at Worship Northwest conference. His special combination of exceptional skills and unique sound caught our eye immediately.  After many conversations and considerations, we all decided it would be a fabulous idea to work together.  He’s in the middle of money matching fundraising for the album that we hope to see in an early summer release, and he’s doing great! To get a taste of Mike’s style, go check him out at his Kickstarter that can be found at mikebrandow.com. Welcome, Mike! We’re excited for the journey ahead! 

The BentBeat Team
bentbeat.com

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Chris Voigt Releases Studio Album, “All I Need"

Portland, OR, June 10, 2016 -- (PR.com) -- 

“All I Need” is a collection of original songs performed by Salem-based worship leader and musician Chris Voigt (www.chrisvoigtworship.com). The album has 12 tracks with varying musical styles and will be released in tandem with a Spanish-language version by label partner BentBeat Productions. “These songs reflect several aspects of my perspective of worship,” said Voigt. “What worship means to me can’t be fully realized inside of just twelve songs, but anyone who listens to this album from beginning to end will come away with a fuller and more meaningful understanding of what worship really is.”

The project features Chris Voigt delivering all lead vocals, with guest musicians and vocalists appearing on every track. The Spanish-language sister project was also sung in its entirety by Voigt. “This project was really a foray into new territory for all involved,” said producer Dave Beatty. “The number of songwriters and musicians alone was more than we’ve ever had involved with a single project. Added to that was a multitude of consultants, advisors, and translators being that none of the songwriters speak fluent Spanish. It’s pretty amazing how the entire thing came together and created something that I consider both universally relevant and also incredibly personal to Chris and his ministry.”    

Voigt has been involved in leading worship for over 25 years, and this is the first full-length studio album. For this project, he teamed up with BentBeat Productions, a Portland-based boutique label. “I’ve always surrounded myself and my ministry with what I consider the best team of like-minded people I could put together to accomplish what needs to be done,” said Voigt about the partnership. “BentBeat had the ability to help shape the music into a really good album, but more importantly they respected our goals and message for this album. They just became part of the team.” 

The album was produced by BentBeat’s Dave Beatty, who was introduced to Voigt in 2015 after attending an event hosted by Chris Voigt Worship, a non-profit ministry dedicated to equipping and encouraging worship leaders around the world. “It was a very short time from inception to completion of the project on our end,” said Beatty. “Chris’s ministry has had this publication in mind for quite some time but we were partnered at just the right moment to make the music happen and happen well. There is such a stellar cast on this album that the final sound is pretty spectacular. We were even able to tap into Dayspring Fellowship’s [Voigt’s church in Keizer, Oregon] choir for some of the tracks and get a great ‘live’ sound.”

The Spanish-language version of this release was inspired by an upcoming trip to South America. Voigt and his team will be traveling to two different countries to facilitate their International Worship Conference. “Local churches in South America have access to far fewer resources than we do in the States,” said Voigt about the bilingual release. “We hope that having this music available will help them take their worship experiences and team members to a higher level of skill and understanding.” 

“All I Need” and its sister release, “Eres Todo Para Mi”, are both available on Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify, and all major music sites. 

About BentBeat Productions: BentBeat is based in Portland, Oregon. BBP’s focus is on partnering with musicians to produce, record, and release high quality broadcast-level music through both social media and mainstream distribution. BentBeat’s portfolio is available on Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify, and all major music sites. Please join in supporting musicians.

Grammy 2016: Four Big Predictions

Yep, we get it.  There are worse jobs to have.  We get to sit and listen to music every day, all day long.  We are going to take that into account and not feign a "poor poor us" moment where we complain about the inconvenience of working all day in the medium that we love. However, as our spouses can attest, it could be argued that listening to “music” and listening to “one note” over and over again for 15 minutes might not be exactly the same thing. 

"I know exactly what you mean."

Not the most fun. And not everybody can do that. Some people can't take more than 5 minutes of the same note over and over again. This brings us to the Grammys-  the time of year when everyone’s finally done watching football and the band geeks get to shine for a week. 

What if I told you that marching band was a sport?

On Monday night this year (because apparently even the lovely Taylor Swift can’t compete with Valentine’s Day), we will be privy to a red carpet full of people who CAN (and do) listen to one note over and over again for 15 minutes. Well, they probably listen for 45 minutes or so. But hopefully in the end, they created some music.  

"Tada!"

In our last entry, we asked you, our faithful followers, to vote for your favorite “non Taylor Swift” nominees in a handful of categories.  Here’s what came of the top four categories and who we are calling out for the big night at the Staples Center.

No, not you, Kobe.

The “Big Four”

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Chris Stapleton, Traveller
Taylor Swift, 1989
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness

This is the big one.  The Top Prize.  The whole CAH Deck.  Will Kendrick Lamar or Taylor Swift win?  Wait – déjà vu:  Don’t we recall them both being up for the exact same award in 2014? Who won that last, very close race to the finish line?

Oh, yes, now I remember.

We know.  You don’t like rap and you switch stations when you hear country. Let's get over that right now: Taylor has obviously made herself a full-blown pop album while Kendrick is on the hipper side of hop.  Lamar’s album is definitely the underdog here, but certainly is the rooting favorite (especially after getting “Macklemore’d” in 2014).  Which obviously brings us to…

BBP Winner: Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color

Ok, that's who we WANT to win. But we'll actually predict this one goes to Taylor Swift, 1989


RECORD OF THE YEAR
D’Angelo & The Vanguard, “Really Love”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face”

So, here’s a fun fact:  We’ve already covered that Max Martin and Shellback are on our fruit basket list for the rest of our lives.  If, and we do mean if, “Blank Space” and “Can’t Feel My Face” both end up duking this one out, our beloved producer pair will be competing with (drumroll) THEMSELVES. 

"I'll take Swedes in Pop Music for $100, Alex."

So, since the academy tends to spread the love around a bit, it is entirely possible that they will strip the dynamic duo of this prize in favor of the ear-bliss that is Bruno Mars and the 70’s-o-licious sounds of Mark Ronson.  However...

BBP Winner: Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud"

Sigh. Again, we wish.  It would be nice to throw a Grammy next to Ed Sheeran's name especially after, especially after the Great Snub of 2015. But as this is a production award, we really think it goes to: Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”


SONG OF THE YEAR 
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright” (songwriters: Kendrick Lamar, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams)
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space” (songwriters: Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift)
Little Big Town, “Girl Crush” (songwriters: Hilary Lindsey, LorWeMcKenna and Liz Rose)
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, “See You Again” (songwriters: Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa, songwriters)
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” (songwriters: Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge)

Ah, yes – Song.  This is the award for the 300 level.  Here’s a secret: The Staples Center isn’t a quiet room.  In fact, when you’re watching it on Monday, listen carefully after about the first 30 minutes.  Any time there’s a pause between presenters, you will be able to hear the “hum” of the room. That’s everyone talking to each other about who they saw at the pre-show, which artist just got robbed, or what dress Lady Gaga is wearing tonight.

...or not wearing

When this award (finally) comes up, listen again.  The room will be SILENT.  The cheap seats are finally on the edge of their composition book to see which “song” will win. Because, yes – it is all about the song. 

Kendrick – great job asking for help from Mr. Happy.  Little Big Town – a perfectly delivered, patient vocal hook.  But, let’s be real…

BBP Winner and Prediction: Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”

"I'll write your name."

BEST NEW ARTIST
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
TorWeKelly
Meghan Trainor

For those of you playing along at home, Trainor’s “All About That Bass” was up for record and song of the year last year, Meghan wasn’t eligible because the full album wasn’t released before the deadline.  Meghan, you took a good song and added a gutsy image to it (yourself). We can’t NOT like you for that.  Good showing, James, but... 

BBP Winner and Prediction: Meghan Trainor (WE REALLY WANT HER TO WIN BECAUSE SHE'S SO COOL EVEN THOUGH THIS AWARD SEEMS TO BE THE CAREER KISS OF DEATH)

Hopefully she won't meet the same fate.

Now, if you’re my teenage daughter, the only question left is: “Father, do you believe that these nominees truly reflect the mastery and skill of all the works released from the last year in contemporary music?"  Yeah, not really...  Her real question is: "What about Adele?!?”  

Hello.

So, I will answer the same way I answered last year when Taylor wasn’t up for more awards: The Grammy eligibility period covers commercial releases from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015, so Adele’s eligible for next year.  I guess we’ll just have to go to L.A. again next winter. 

Poor, poor, us.

Stay tuned, our flight leaves Portland at no-o'clock Saturday morning. Antics to ensue. Next stop: The Red Carpet.

The BentBeat Team
bentbeat.com
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What if Taylor Swift Didn’t Win?

Editor's Note: We want to know who YOU would choose for second place in each of her six Grammy categories. Cast your votes at the end - J+D

It’s awards season again, and we’ve dusted off the garb that we hopefully will fit into come red-carpet time.  So, let’s get this over with:  Taylor’s "1989" album will sweep the 2016 Grammy's.  

Pictured here preparing for her contribution on the next "Fifty Shades" Soundtrack

Answers to your FAQ’s:

• Yes, it is that good.
• No, it’s not just because she’s popular.
• Yes, it is really good.
• Everyone likes her music (or can at least objectively appreciate why "someone else" likes it).
• Why haven’t you bought it yet?
• Max Martin and Shellback are pure producer genius.  We wonder if either of them needs a job…

Like we needed an excuse to add this picture to this post.

This is an amazing album.  We could throw around comparisons like “Thriller,” “Pet Sounds” or “Sgt. Pepper,” but only time will really tell if it lives up to that level of respect. Having said that:  Tell me exactly, when was the last time you listened to an entire album start to finish more than one time?

That's what I thought.

Now that that’s all over with, let play a game.  Let’s all suspend reality for a minute and pretend that Ms. Swift’s most recent brilliance came out LAST year.  Wait… didn’t it?  I seem to remember stuffing a child’s stocking last Christmas…  Oh yes, now I remember. 1989 was released in October (not to be confused with "Shake It Off," which was only a single the summer of 2014).  Why is that important?  That is JUST AFTER the September 30th Grammy cut-off to allow for a whole year plus of ear-worm bliss.

Did I miss the deadline?  Whoopsie, my bad.

So, here’s your challenge.  Rather than us going on and on about TS1989 (which, may remind you, deserves to win), we want to give “the other guys” some airtime.  We would love to know who YOU would vote for in each of the six categories where TS will take home the golden idol.  Plus, we added in a bonus question for “best new artist” for a total of seven questions.  Take a minute to put your votes in (it's just seven, people), and we will tally up the results on our next entry.

BentBeat's Pretend 2016 Ballot (VOTE HERE)

Till then,

The BentBeat Team
bentbeat.com
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That "Are You Serious?" Moment

I almost deleted the email.  Then I looked a second time.  No, really, someone said we didn't suck so much.  

We are humbled to let you know that we received the 2015 award for "#1 Audio And Music Producer in Portland"   Well, look at that.  I guess that means that we have a lot to live up to.  

Cool your jets, Kanye

We appreciate everyone who made this award possible:  A great team of engineers, songwriters, musicians, and interns here at BBP.  Our cast of artist talent ranging from the casual musician to the world touring acts.  Lastly, to the internet reviewers (google, thumbtack, etc.) who thought kindly about the music we produce here. 

Looking forward to continuing to make artistic ideas become a reality.  Now, back to that album I should be working on right about now (sorry, Katrina!)...

The BentBeat Team
bentbeat.com
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