Answer: Me.
I, Julia, have returned from the murky depths of the end of my second-to-last Grad School semester. Shit got heavy, but I finally finished up (for the most part) this week. I have one last 4-5 page paper that I should be doing now, but I suddenly - inexplicably (wink, wink) - got the urge to revisit my Youtube reviews. When inspiration/procrastination strikes, you must follow the crazy creation train.
Anyway. Exciting news on the Youtube Reviews front. I have a response from Mr. Johnnie Shaneyfelt to share, as well as what I'm assuming are well-wishes from Haley Barnes and those crazy folks from Ancient Cat Society.
After firing up the internet machine and surfing over to Ye Olde Facebook and Google+, I found our young musician friends amongst the tangled web of social networks. With only a little bit of groveling, I received responses back from both featured folks, which was super exciting.
Unfortunately, I have not heard back from Haley since her initial response, even after sending her a list of my best interview questions. I am now assuming the Ancient Cat Society has voted Ms. Barnes in as resident Goddess of All Felines, which I can imagine keeps her quite busy. Haley, if you read this, I wish you nothing but success, whether in music or in ruling over the society of meow meows,
On the other hand, I did receive a lovely response from Johnnie Shaneyfelt. This is like the closest I've ever come to speaking with a famous person, so I was pretty psyched to get such a heart-felt email in return.
So, without further adieu, I present to you the story of Johnnie Shaneyfelt, told by the humble man himself:
First of all, I am quite flattered. Thank you for taking the time to write about some guy that put some videos up a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
I've never done this so I apologize if my story seems a little scrambled.
I tried to sing before I could talk. I would just hum to myself all the time. After acquiring some vocabulary, I immediately started singing my heart out in church. Singing has always been my instrument of choice. My grandmother bought an old tired no name acoustic guitar from my uncle when i was about 6 or 7. It was always around and i learned a few chords. I didnt really pick up the guitar until I was about 15 or so and started writing my own songs. Honestly while most of my friends were in their room mastering scales and shredding their fretboards, I was jamming Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men singing until my head would hurt. I remember listening to Silverchair and deciding that i had to at least write one song that would impact someone the way a Silverchair song impacted me. My music has always been simple, so I never have been super flashy on guitar. As long as I could pluck a few chords that would help carry a melody.
Sometimes I will just waste half a day on YouTube. There are so many people like you and I out there that go to school or work and no one knows how incredible their talents are. I took a long music hiatus and when I found some videos on YouTube it inspired me to do the one thing I truly love again. I'm currently in a band called Colossal Gospel and I love doing it. It's good to play music with people and not just in my room. Our record comes out in late may/early june. You can stream the whole thing at colossalgospel.bandcamp.com
Thank you Julia
-johnnie
(Seriously, please do check out Johnnie's new band "Colossal Gospel". Folksy fun goodness. Sounds kinda like Grizzly Bear mixed with a little bit of Heaven.)
In other news, I promised a review of Alain de Courtenay. I will provide this.
Alain de Courtenay (anaker00 on the Tube) is a dapper young fellow whose covers of Regina Spektor and and Stevie Wonder make me swoon. Maybe it's the perfect pitch. Maybe it's the skillful guitar playing. But, most likely it's the wife beater he's wearing in his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". I'm sold.
This gentleman is easy on the ears AND the eyes.
So, god only knows why the font formatting changed when I copied that email into this post. I apologize. I spent 20 whole minutes trying to fix it! While I may be able to write adequately well, my abilities in technology are severely lacking. Super Secret Confession: It's because I'm 26 going on 80.
Speaking of which... keep your adult diapers in easy reach, cuz I'mma throw some guys with ukuleles at you next post!
(...They're so good, they'll make you poop yourself, is what I'm saying...)
UPDATE: FONT FIXED! (But I still have the weeknight bedtime of an 80-year-old.)
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