What music have to listened to lately?

[GReedDiamond]

15. Today I was listening to Grammy nominated artists...

...as part of the voting process.

It was down to the wire to get the final ballot in, which I did this afternoon.

So, I listened to (and continue to listen to) a bunch of the nominees, to name a few: Yeah, Lady Gaga, along with Foster the People; Death Cab For Cutie; Radiohead; Mumford & Sons; Foo Fighters; Kings of Leon; Skrillex - who are up for several awards, including Best New Artist.

And in the Americana category, upstart Linda Chorney, with her CD "Emotional Jukebox." She's a totally self-produced and self-released, "unknown" indie artist, check her out.

Also nominated in Americana, these other known unknowns you may have heard or not heard of: Ry Cooder, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris and Levon Helm.

The Grammys are not as BigCorporately-controlled as they maybe used to be, IMO. They are definitely not as staid and backward as they were when I became a member 20 years ago.

NARAS now has their own social networking site, Grammy365.com, where members may promote their music and gain support during the whole nominating and voting process. If you're not a member, you may check out the necessary qualifications for joining, and join, if you meet the criteria.

It's not that big of a deal - if you are a serious musician with published music, stuff that's been released and offered for sale to the general public through, something like CDBaby.com, you may qualify for membership.

Disclaimer: If it sounds like I work for NARAS, be assured I do not, I just want more indie artist representation amongst the voting membership.