Tone Deaf

AWOLNATION have dropped a new cover of Madonna’s classic “Material Girl,” featuring Taylor Hanson as part of their upcoming covers project

AWOLNATION have dropped a new cover of Madonna’s classic “Material Girl,” featuring Taylor Hanson.

The indie cover of the pop classic is the latest release from AWOLNATION’s upcoming covers and collaborations project My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me, out May 6 via Better Noise Music. Other tracks on the album include collaborations with Beck, Jewel, Portugal. The Man and more.

AWOLNATION’s frontman Bruno has said he was excited to Taylor Hanson on board for the new track.

“Taylor Hanson is a very very good singer. And an amazingly kind person. I asked him to try ‘Material Girl,’ and he was definitely thrown off by it at first, but after hearing the final product, I am so happy I convinced him to do it!”

Taylor Hanson, who made up one third of 00’s pop boy band Hanson, said that the unexpectedness of the cover is what attracted him to the project.

“My first introduction to the project was simply the idea of working on an unexpected cover song, and a project that would have many different collaborators as a part of it, and that had my interest. The song ‘Material Girl’ was surprising on several levels, because it’s a song I would never expect either AWOLNATION or HANSON to cover. I loved the challenge of covering the song and staying true to the composition, while giving an authentic interpretation that I was proud of. I think the combination of the track Aaron built and the vocal arrangement I was able to contribute is a dynamic combination,” Hanson said.

Mmmbop is undoubtedly Hanson’s biggest song, and the track was such a hit that Taylor Hanson believes it’s “almost prophetic”.

“It’s almost a different lifetime, 25 years ago, but I’m proud of that song,” he told HIT Network.

“It’s a song we wrote, and if you dig into it it’s almost prophetic,

“It talks about hanging on to things that matter and theorising that things are fleeting, you just have to dig into stuff that’s going to count.”

For more on this topic, follow the Pop Observer.

Watch Material Girl ft. Taylor Hanson by AWOLNATION:

Nashville Voyager 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dru Marshall.

Dru, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was 8 years old when I first heard a drum solo. It was in a song called “Thinking of You” by Hanson. (Anyone remember “MMMbop?”) Suddenly I was hit with this feeling that I HAD to play drums. That day, I asked my dad to teach me a drum beat and from there, I had pure tunnel vision. All I wanted to do was drum!

I joined my first band in high school. We were a punk/ska band called Lithium and we played clubs, bars, and backyards all over South Florida. We even got to open for Lit! And speaking of South Florida here’s a fun fact: Joe Bart, the drummer for Priscilla Block used to come to Lithium shows back in the day. We grew up in the same scene and it’s really cool to see South Florida musicians are here in Nashville doing great things.

I spent many years playing in different bands, touring the country, and developing my skill set. In 2014, I was living in Los Angeles and started a band called Hotstop. We eventually inked a deal with Blue Élan Records and that was an amazing experience. We got to make a record with Dave Darling (Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Jack Johnson), toured for two years straight, and eventually ended up here in Nashville.

After giving the band our best shot, we split up and I decided to pivot and refocus my efforts. I realized that I would rather be a working drummer for multiple artists as opposed to a drummer playing with a single band.

In 2018, I began studying very closely with Mark Poiesz, a world-class drummer & coach and since then, I’ve played with dozens of artists here in Nashville and on the road. And here’s another fun fact: Mark used to work at my local drum shop in South Florida and our bands once played a show together before we knew each other!

I currently play with 5 primary artists: AJ Smith, Joshua Micah, Emily Blackbird, Christina Taylor, and Sykamore. I just completed a two-week East Coast tour with AJ and will be playing shows in California and Canada with Sykamore this summer.

I very much subscribe to the “no days off” mentality so if anyone needs a drummer in town or on the road, hit me up! drumarshall1@gmail.com or on Instagram @drumarshall1

Read more at the source! 

We Got This Covered 

In a brilliantly hilarious moment from The Kelly Clarkson Show, Anne Hathaway proved that her ear for music may be better than the show’s Grammy Award-winning host.

A clip of the episode’s best moment has been circulating online, as fans of Hathaway and Clarkson delight in what one called a “perfect moment of television.”

Perhaps the best moment to ever crop up on Clarkson’s three-year-old show occurred while the pair played a match of “Sing That Name That Tune,” a game that challenges both contestants to belt out a song after hearing only a few chords. The first several points went to Hathaway, who — according to the game’s guest host, Matt Iseman — claimed she was “scared to sing.” She and Clarkson both stumbled somewhat with the introduction to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” but Hathaway blew her host away with an excellent performance of Hanson’s “MMMBop.” In fact, she got extra points for “aggressively” singing the song “in [Clarkson’s] face.”

It was the third song on the lineup that really stunned viewers, however. Following her first two Ls, Clarkson pleaded with her band to “play a freaking song I’ll know,” and they obliged flawlessly. Unfortunately, Clarkson wasn’t nearly as quick to the trigger as Hathaway, who recognized Clarkson’s heavily awarded “Since U Been Gone” after just a few moments.

Clarkson’s reaction, as she tumbled to the floor in exasperated defeat, is giving life to the internet. People can’t get enough of her utter bafflement at missing her own song to Hathaway, who would likely list “actor” high above “singer” on her résumé. Nor can they get past her reaction post-song, in which she proclaims that she should “just quit,” and exclaims that “this is embarrassing.”

The wonderful chemistry between Hathaway and Clarkson caught the internet’s eye and has led to a wave of reactions on social media. On Twitter, people can’t get over what one person called “the most powerful video to exist.”