Top Stories
Stories in Beat that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
When I see you in my dreams
When I saw him the second time, it was quiet, save for the regulars’ idle chat, in hushed whispers, excitement lacing their words, bouncing in jittery waves. Whether it was from their conversation or the anticipated performance, I didn’t know. The small stage in front was still and dark.
By Melissa Ingoldsby11 months ago in Beat
23 Line - an Original Song
This piece is for my New Year's resolution to share one original song, however imperfect/unfinished it may be, per month! I'll put the link to the article in which I wrote about this resolution at the end of this piece. I am just getting this submission in in time - drat February for having a quicker deadline than other months! I definitely would like to make some lyrical and melodic changes to this piece, and would very much like to do a few more takes in the hopes of a better-sounding version than this draft. But I'm tired and have a sore throat today - and I intend to keep my promise of sharing one song each month! So here is my early version of "23 Line." The title and chorus refer to the number 23 bus line in the city, which I often find myself taking to get here and there. One day, I was sitting at a bus stop for the 23 line and enjoying a particularly lovely sky - while a song began to play through my battered headphones, whose central theme also pertained to enjoying the 'big sky.' Feeling inspired in that moment, I jotted down a few lines about feeling like a rich man with 'the whole sky' being mine. Over the next little while, it developed into more of what you'll hear below. More themes, moments, and reflections gradually fed into it, adding some other layers - but I'd love to hear what you think of it, if you have the time to listen and comment! I understand the words and scenes might be a little ambiguous (especially the ending) but I would love to know what it makes you lovely folks feel and think about. I know what it means to ME...but that's not necessarily the most important thing when sharing a creative endeavor. But anyhow, that's just about enough blathering from me for today (though I do need to meet a 600 word minimum word count). Thank you kindly for stopping by! It means more to me than I can say whenever folks take just a few moments to take in a creative endeavor of mine. It's a true gift- so cheers, all. :)
By Gabriel Huizenga11 months ago in Beat
Talking Drums to 21st-Century Parties: The History Behind Owanbe
Parties Colorful, loud, and joyous. His music and the irreplaceably catchy slang made the term Owanbe a national one, being used to describe any large gathering, from weddings to birthdays to corporate events and literally everything in between. Over time, it evolved from being a specific reference to waist beads to a term that covered a whole party vibe, one teeming with life, color, and, of course, music.
By Rohitha Lanka11 months ago in Beat
Roberta Flack 1937 - 2025
✨ Roberta Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2024) ✨ I remember the first time I heard Roberta Flack’s voice—or at least, the first time I truly noticed it. I was a 13-year-old boy in 1973, just at the beginning of my lifelong obsession with music. I played my little pocket-sized transistor radio day and night.
By Rick Henry Christopher 11 months ago in Beat
Playlist: Singing in the new
Pit Pony – Cut Open One of the most exciting releases scheduled for early 2025 is Pit Pony’s second album, Dead Stars, is set to be one of the most exciting releases scheduled for early 2025. Their debut, World to Me, emerged from the wreckage of lockdown back in 2022 with a noisy blast of indie rock. But the new stuff shows signs of greater breadth.
By Andy Potts12 months ago in Beat
Lady Blackbird in Concert
Going to see Lady Blackbird I realised that, maybe, I don’t have the vocabulary to describe music. I understand genre, tone and the way a bass note can hit in the chest, or a sustained high note takes you floating. But music, it seems, is a language of its own that gets lost in translation. Something gets misshapen when words do their clunky business.
By Rachel Robbins12 months ago in Beat
Review of David Browne's "Talkin' Greenwich Village"
If ever there was a time-travel ticket to a past and a place that you knew so well you could still see the sun glinting through the tree leaves, hear the din of the eateries as you walked by, and, most important, still hear the music that actually defied any given time or place, it would be David Browne's book, Talkin' Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America's Bohemian Music Capital. That's because Browne has a way of writing, an eye for detail, a penchant for commentary, that draws you in to fill the background you in one way or another actually experienced, or, what Marshall McLuhan called "cool".
By Paul Levinsonabout a year ago in Beat
Ethel Cain's New Album 'Perverts' is Cinematic, Skin Crawling Excellence
When I first wrote about Ethel Cain in July 2023, her debut album Preacher's Daughter was reaching its crest of viral fame, garnering millions upon millions of streams on Spotify and, in turn, a newly expanded fan base that seemed to be slowly turning her dark, twisty, pioneering concept album into meme fodder.
By Erin Latham Sheaabout a year ago in Beat
Standing up . Runner-Up in The Soundtrack of Your Year Challenge.
Lemonade never tasted so good- photo by M. Dion The hotel lobby is busy. I slip through the bustling throng of guests to the bar. Raising my voice above the din, I ask my friend Pam for a simple lemonade. I've dreamt of this moment all year. I quickly add one additional request and hand her a glass I produce from my bag.
By Meagan Dionabout a year ago in Beat
Song for a New Year
A BRIEF POINT OF NOTE: I must say from the outset of this that the following is NOT an entry to either the "Soundtrack of the Year" challenge, nor the brand new "New Year, New Projects" challenge! I most unfortunately have not had time to work up a submission for the former, and have only just moments ago learned about the latter. I certainly intend to write something for the new challenge, which I find SO cool - perhaps even pertaining to the subject of this piece!
By Gabriel Huizengaabout a year ago in Beat
