Results tagged “reba mcentire” from J-14 Magazine

Hey J-14ers,

One of my fave bands right now is Parachute -- my friends have been Facebooking about them for months, and I listen to "She Is Love" on repeat. Frequently. So I was psyched to check them out last night at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom! It was Parachute's first show opening for Kelly Clarkson during her All I Ever Wanted Tour, and they rocked the house. If I wasn't obsessed with them before, hearing "She Is Love" live has made me love the band even more. I even got to hang out with the boys after the meet & greet, which is when they made the awesome video above!

The Parachute guys were tired after the big show, but all the boys were so nice and guitarist Nate McFarland was still psyched after the show. "My favorite part of tonight was being able to say, 'Are y'all ready for Kelly Clarkson?" Nate told me. "'Since You Been Gone,' 'I Do Not Hookup,' 'My Life Would Suck Without You,' 'Breakway' -- these are all anthems of my life." Plus Nate and his bandmates, lead singer Will Anderson, drummer Johnny Stubblefield, bassist Alex Hargrave, and saxophonist/keyboard player Kit French all signed an awesome prize just for a lucky J-14 reader -- but you'll have to wait and see what it is in an upcoming issue!

Then Kelly Clarkson came on and she was so good! Can you tell that's my theme for the night? I love music, so seeing someone with a truly natural, amazing voice live is a really cool thing. My jaw even dropped a few times when she hit really high notes! "I really love music," Kelly announced mid-show. "I like all kinds," and she proved it by covering Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight," The Black Keys' ", Alanis Morissette's
"That I Would Be Good," Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," and The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army."

But that wasn't her only interaction with the audience -- she talked to her fans between almost every song, and every time she held the mic out for us to sing along with her, she had a huge grin on her face. She was so cute admitting things like how excited she was to do a duet of "Because of You" with Reba McEntire (who was in the audience!) and that she never likes to write happy songs but always winds up falling in love with them, like she did with her tune "I Want You."

She performed classics like the breathtaking "Because of You" and "Never Again" plus lots of songs off All I Ever Wanted, including "Impossible" and an acoustic take on "Already Gone." I completely rocked out to "Since U Been Gone" and loved that she closed her 20-song set with the most energetic version of "All I Ever Wanted" that I could've imagined.

This was the first time I got to see both Parachute and Kelly Clarkson live, and I certainly hope it's not the last -- both acts were amazing.

<3,
Emily, J-14 editor

Your world is my world.

An appearance by Demi Lovato? College care packages? A prank on Keith Urban? Just another everyday video by Taylor Swift! She made her latest montage vid at the end of the Keith Urban tour, and it's as entertaining as ever. Check out what your fave country singer's been up to before she heads over to the U.K.!

What do you think of Taylor's videos? What type of prank would you pulled on Keith Urban? What types of pranks do you and your BFFs pull on each other?

Jessica Harp was part of a country duo with Michelle Branch called The Wreckers, but the singer has broke out on her own. She stopped by the J-14 offices to spill the deets on her new solo album, coming out this fall, Michelle, and her most embarrassing stage moment yet!

J-14: How would you describe your sound?
Jessica Harp: My sound is definitely very country, but it's probably a little more modern country. I love the record.

J-14: There are a bunch of young country stars, like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Kellie Pickler, making waves right now. Are you influenced by them?
Jessica: Yeah, I think we all probably influence each other. But I'm most influenced by my heroes, like Reba McEntire and The Judds. I have freak out moments when I bump into them. That's probably where most of my influence is from.

J-14: Were you a big fan of Reba?
Jessica: I had my tonsils out, and my mom took me to Reba to make me feel better, and that was my first concert!

J-14: Can you tell me a little about your new record?
Jessica: My favorite track is probably the title track, "A Woman Needs." That song is very special to me, because I wrote it about my life and my path and for woman. Originally I was going to call the record A Few Second Chances. There's a line and it says, "A woman needs a few second chances." And I know in my life -- not just in my career, but in my personal life, too -- I've needed a few second chances to find the right path, to find peace and happiness, and I think a lot of people feel that way. So that's definitely a special song and that's why I decided to call the record, A Woman Needs.

J-14: Will you reunite with Michelle Branch for a second Wreckers album?
Jessica: We don't really know. We feel like it's sort of out there if we want to come back to it, but we were solo artists before, and when it came time to make our second record, we were writing in different directions. We didn't want to force another album for the sake of forcing it because we are both very organic artists and are very true to ourselves and our music. So we just decided let's do the solo thing, and we have The Wreckers to come back to if we want. Honestly, it was a completely fluke thing. We made that record selfishly because we've been friends forever and had written these songs and really wanted to make a record together and had no idea the success that would come with it. It was a whirlwind.

J-14: Have you ever had an embarrassing moment on tour?
Jessica: I'm very clumsy, but this was the only time I've ever fallen. We were playing in New York, at the Bowery Ballroom for the One Tree Hill Tour.The stage was really, really tall, and the crowd was this huge crowd, and they have this barricade between the stage, and it's super tall. The crowd was nuts -- it was wild, a great show, so Michelle and I are both completely pumped after. The show ends, and I decide that I'm gonna jump down and go hug some fans and sign autographs. Yet I'm wearing tall heels, so I jump down off the stage and my heels just go up, and I land on my butt. Luckily only the people in the front saw, and they were very nice and they helped me up, but I just went along and said hi to everyone. I'm really not easily embarrassed. I make fun of myself all of the time.

J-14: Who are your favorite artists right now?
Jessica: When I get so immersed in working on a record and country radio, I need to listen to something else. I was completely out of touch with what was going on in the pop world, so I have been listening to pop radio a lot lately. I love The All-American Rejects new record, The Fray's new record, and I love Katy Perry's record. That's probably my favorite. I play "Thinking Of You" on repeat