I’ll admit to being bit skeptical about Blake getting a new single released, based on the lack of radio response to “Break Anotha” and “How Many Words.” (I’m not even going to speculate on why the response has been so lukewarm. I’ll leave that to peeps in comments! ) So, when I heard through the grapevine that Josh Hoge announced at a recent concert that Blake was pushing for “Know My Name” to be the next single, I took it with a huge grain of salt. Then this popped up:
He may have been a runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol, but singer/songwriter and beatboxer, Blake Lewis is still a winner. And with his album (A.D.D.) Audio Day Dream still pushing out singles like “Break Anotha,” “How Many Words” and the upcoming, “Know My Name/Hyper Psyche” (featuring Lupe Fiasco), Lewis, in an exclusive interview with UGO, is out prove to that he can “beat box” any competition.
Is it wishful thinking? Maybe. We’ll have to sit tight and see. I know many peeps thought KMN would have made a better first single than BA. I have to agree.
The video interview does mention some other projects on the horizon for Blake:
BT- song on his new album
Collaborating w/ The R**** on a song for the AIDS charity, Dance for Life (I couldn’t make out if he said the Roots. It sounded more like the Rude. But isn’t he doing something with Black Thought? Help!). ETA: It’s Darude.
We’ve decided to declare today KJ Sawka Appreciation Day at Team Plaid! Why? Well, the selection of today was kinda random, but we wanted to recognize Kevin for being such a kick @SS drummer. If you haven’t already, you should check out some of his some of his solo stuff, including his most recent effort, Cyclonic Steel.
We were about 3 rows of people back from stage center…so we had a good spot. Blake came out and did a little beat boxing before Baby Bash. I completely agree with MemphisLisa…the rest of the concert was ok, but nothing amazing. Blake was definitely the best part of the evening.
When it was time for him to perform, I saw them move the drums out and then put down his loop pedals. I got all excited and told my friend he would be next. KJ came out, and they so could be twins! My friend even asked if they were brothers! MemphisLisa pretty much covered the performance, but I will say that Blake and KJ are amazing! They are so high energy and just fun!
So on Wednesday of this week, thanks to my new boyfriend KJ Sawka’s myspace, I found out that Blake had been added to the line-up of 107.5 The River’s Acoustic Christmas concert. At first I thought my chances of being able to attend were slim to none, because the only way to get tickets to the show was to win them off the radio. And I just don’t have that kind of luck, so I spent some time pouting about not being able to go until an infinitely awesome friend of mine directed me to Craigslist. I managed to find a pair of tix on there for a very reasonable price, and so it was on. Or was it? Friday afternoon came and I actually wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it (long story) but the planets aligned and StarSis and I arrived at the venue exactly twenty minutes before showtime.
The concert was held at the Gibson Showcase at Opry Mills. I’ve been shopping there before but I had no idea there was a little theater in the Gibson store. It was a cool place! There are tables spread all over the room, so people can sit and have dinner and watch a show on the stage down front. Unfortunately since we got there a little late all the seats were taken so we had to stand. The place was pretty crowded! I guessed there were 500 people there but I noticed one of the photo albums on the station’s website mentioned 700, so this was good exposure for Blake! We found a nice spot like one level off the floor to stand, stage right.
ETA: Check out our Team Plaid photobucket for a few pics from last night’s gig. We’ll be adding more today and tomorrow.
Our very own Star is at tonight’s gig in Nashvegas and has been sending me texts! Blake has already been on, so here are a few highlights of what going down:
- She thinks there are probably about 500 people there.
- Blake did “Break Anotha” which according to Star is awesome live. He mentioned that he wrote it with Ryan Tedder (nice plug, Blake!).
- Also did “She Loves the Way” and a beatbox battle (with KJ, I’m guessing).
- KJ is “adorable.” (I agree!)
- Did a Q&A that was lame sweet. - from her description, I’m thinking the questions were like “OMG Blake what’s like your favorite color?” and “OMG, Blake, like do you have like a girlfriend?” *yawn*
- Haley Scarnato was there and sang “Silent Night”. Star said she sounded good.
Check out this link for lots and lots of pics from the event! I’ll be adding a few pieces of eyecandy to this post soon. :)
And, Star says that she’ll do a short recap for us when she gets back. So stay on the lookout for that. And keep your fingers crossed that she’ll get to meet him. :)
We were about 3 rows of people back from stage center…so we had a good spot. Blake came out and did a little beat boxing before Baby Bash. I completely agree with MemphisLisa…the rest of the concert was ok, but nothing amazing. Blake was definitely the best part of the evening.
I found out that Blake had been added to the line-up of 107.5 The River’s Acoustic Christmas concert. At first I thought my chances of being able to attend were slim to none, because the only way to get tickets to the show was to win them off the radio. And I just don’t have that kind of luck, so I spent some time pouting about not being able to go until an infinitely awesome friend of mine directed me to Craigslist. I managed to find a pair of tix on there for a very reasonable price, and so it was on. Or was it? Friday afternoon came and I actually wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it (long story) but the planets aligned and StarSis and I arrived at the venue exactly twenty minutes before showtime.
