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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 81: TIM MCGRAW

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Influence is a funny thing. It’s a topic that, by all accounts, is very, very subjective. Something or someone that you may believe to be influential, for either your own life or for the wider world, either at a national level or at a global level; may in fact be regarded by myself or by someone else as not influential at all, and perhaps superfluous. When we’re speaking about influence, we’re usually speaking about people and the mark they’ve made on human history, for either good or bad, and the impression that they’re destined to leave us all when they die. Sure, you can measure popularity by the numbers- if it’s a music artist, then by number of albums sold or songs streamed, or even twitter followers or hit radio singles; or if its an actor then number of movies starred in or number of Golden Globe or Academy Awards won. Influence, on the other hand…. Well that’s measured by…that’s measured by… well what is it measured by? Number of lives impacted after watching a movie or listening to a song? How would you determine the magnitude of the impact and whether the direct impact of a song or an album on a person is life changing or not though? Did the song save them from death or give them a sense of direction or purpose? Or is a measure the number of people directly inspired by that artist, so much so that a person considers said artist a role model and someone they look up to? How about during an unforeseen tragic circumstance, a song from left field, by an artist one would never imagine or think they’d ever listen to, inspires and comforts and heals, and brings them back from the brink, from depression and from hurt and pain unimaginable. Is this artist influential to that person? If the artist has had little sales and hardly any radio hits, but has changed lives for the better, and has released maybe the ‘theme song’ for someone’s marriage or graduation or something like that- are they influential? Maybe… maybe not. But regardless, don’t you reckon influence is now a bit grey and dependent on a variety of factors that can change as they days, months, years progress?

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Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 40: Marie Miller

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The other day I was contemplating, reflecting as we often do during this uncertain time of COVID-19… with no end in sight. I was contemplating as to why people have certain likes and dislikes, and why other people have others. I know, I know, it’s a strange topic to dwell upon. But bear with me for one second. See I love Chinese food, and most things Asian. Noodles, rice, laksa, curries, stir fry, satay, teriyaki, tom yum soup, wontons, dumplings… you name it, anything remotely Asian I will try, and I will most definitely like. I’m pretty much easy to please on that front. Food-wise I’ll give most things a go- and perhaps it’s because my mum’s Malaysian; that an innate part of me will always be drawn back to Asian food. On the other hand, though my dad is German, his cuisine has hardly grabbed a hold of me- not in the same way that Chinese food has. Sure, there’s Adendbrot, and Kassler, and Red Cabbage (maybe that’s a family tradition on Dad’s side rather than a German tradition!); but aside from that there isn’t much more that resonates with me. Though there are a lot of German dishes– some that probably Dad hasn’t heard of! Dad really loves liquorice, and Jon and myself do not. Dad loves Dominostein, and we don’t. Pfeffernüsse is ok-ish, but again- Dad loves it! And this got me thinking. That if our likes and dislikes in terms of food can be so contrastingly and vastly different, with only a few things in common… then does that translate into other areas and aspects of our own lives? And more specifically in terms of music (of course I’d go back to music… as I am in the midst of a blog series on artists and their burgeoning influence!), how do we all find one artist resonating and deeply impactful, and someone else find the same artist downright horrible and uninspiring?

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