My oldest son gave me a great Christmas gift a few Christmases ago. He gave me a CD that was a personal introduction to The Black Keys, "Brothers."
I've been a fan since the first listen.
It's good to know that The Black Keys are being recognized by a broader audience these days as well, including at this year's Grammy Awards.
The duo took Grammy honors last weekend for "Lonely Boy" as top rock song, "El Camino" as top rock album, and "Lonely Boy" again for top rock performance.
That's a nice haul for a couple of guys who play some of the crunchiest music to come down the musical road in a while. I couldn't be happier for them.
I go for a good pop song as much as anyone, as long as it's got some originality, creativity, and artistry to it. Cookie-cutter music doesn't quite cut it for me.
The same goes for R&B, soul, dance, all the rest.
I can be tough to please when it comes to music.
But I'd be raked over the coals if I went through this week in which I give some attention to the 2013 Grammy Award winners without paying some attention to those genres as well. I'm still picky.
You'll just have to bear with me while I check out ...
Pop solo performance: "Set Fire to the Rain (Live)," Adele.
Pop vocal album: "Stronger," Kelly Clarkson.
R&B performance: "Climax," Usher.
Traditional R&B performance: "Love on Top," Beyonce.
R&B song: "Adorn," Miguel Pimentel.
R&B album: "Black Radio," Robert Glasper Experiment.
Dance recording: "Bangarang," Skrillex featuring Sirah.
Dance/electronica album: "Bangarang," Skrillex.
Latin pop album: "MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition," Juanes.
Latin rock, urban or alternative album: "Imaginares," Quetzal.
Reggae album: "Rebirth," Jimmy Cliff.
Traditional pop vocal album: "Kisses on the Bottom," Paul McCartney.
I don't always agree with the winners who come out of the Grammy Awards. Isn't that pretty much the way it is for a lot of people when it comes to music? It's such a subjective thing -- dealing with perspective, feelings, beliefs, desires -- that disagreements between different listeners is a way of life.
There is one area when it comes to the Grammys where I don't usually have much quarrel, and that's in the jazz category. There were some great artists taking home trophies this year.
For best jazz vocal album, it was "Radio Music Society" from Esperanza Spalding. Best jazz instrumental album went to "Unity Band," from the Pat Metheny Unity Band. For large jazz ensemble album, the winner was "Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You)," by Arturo Sandoval. I'll throw in the winner for instrumental composition: "Mozart Goes Dancing," from jazz keyboard great Chick Corea.
There are plenty of Grammy winners to highlight this week ... too many to list here, in fact. But I'll do the best I can, all while providing a bit of variety.
It's all part of that "crossover" thing.
Today, it's a look at the winners from the country side. There's Carrie Underwood's best country solo performance for "Blown Away" along with its writers Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins winning for best song, the Zac Brown Band with the best country album for "Uncaged," Little Big Town taking country duo/group performance honors with "Pontoon," and the Steep Canyon Rangers with the top bluegrass album for "Nobody Knows You."
I've got some catching up to do. I've been away a while, trying to adjust to a new job and all -- different hours, different tasks, different things overloading my brain cells. Things like that tend to get "in the way" at times. Forgive me, would you please?
But here I am, working on making a comeback with my music blog as the adjustment continues. And what better way to kick things off this week than by taking a look at just a bit of what was honored at the Grammy Awards Sunday night?
Leading things off, we have the English folk rock band Mumford & Sons, winners in the categories of Album of the Year for "Babel" and long-form music video for "Big Easy Express."
They take rootsy instruments like banjos and mandolins and give them a tough, touching edge. They're a group to be reckoned with, and the Grammy voters reckoned it was time to give Mumford & Sons a big prize or two.
