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Posts Tagged ‘grammy’

Balancing Third Grade and a Grammy

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Dee Dwyer for NPR.
Grammy winners Aura Valentina Simmons, 8, and her father, Harold Simmons II, sing during a morning practice session in their home recording space before she goes to school in Charles County, Maryland. They go by the stage names Aura V and Fyütch.

It must take a special kind of parenting to help a child deal with being in the limelight. There are so many cases of celebrated children who more or less crashed and burned. Of course, there’s Shirley Temple, who went on to a fine career as a diplomat.

I am definitely rooting for the young star in today’s story.

Ava Berger reports at National Public Radio (NPR), “Aura Valentina Simmons, aka Aura V, may be the youngest-ever individually named Grammy winner, but in her third-grade classroom, she uses the same blocks to figure out fractions as everyone else.

” ‘I don’t really know about Grammys,’ Pragat Patel, Aura’s desk mate, said with a shrug this week.

” ‘That’s the energy I like — chill,’ Aura said, giggling. …

“Aura and her dad, Harold Simmons II, who uses the stage name Fyütch, won music’s biggest prize in February. Their album, Harmony, won the Grammy for best children’s music album. Before Aura’s win, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter had been the youngest individual Grammy winner.

” ‘I would say it’s the biggest experience I’ve ever had in my whole entire life so far,’ 8-year-old Aura said.

“The 13 songs, which took over two years to write and record, follow themes of love, positivity and inclusion. In ‘I Am Love, I Am Light,’ Aura sings, ‘I love myself, I love me.’

” ‘I like to sing about that because it’s empowering,’ Aura said. ‘It gives hope to people.’ …

“Before heading to school on a recent Tuesday, Aura and her father, wearing matching pops of yellow, practiced in a basement studio at their home in Charles County, Maryland. Aura stays with Simmons during the week because he has a more flexible schedule than her mom, who is a teacher.

“Aura pulled out a violin while Simmons warmed up on the piano. … The pair fell into perfect sync and belted out their album’s title track, ‘Harmony.’ …

“On the red carpet in Los Angeles in February, Aura and Simmons also wore matching colors — this time, lavender. Aura said her fluffy skirt and matching sparkly handbag got lots of attention. …

“Simmons said he was ‘freaking out’ before the announcement, but Aura had a different concern.

” ‘ “Can you get me some popcorn?” ‘ Simmons recalled his daughter asking. ‘I am frozen and I say, “Girl, I’m so sorry — I cannot move right now.” ‘

“When they finally got to the stage to accept the Grammy, Simmons spoke about the power of children’s music.

” ‘Children’s music is more than a genre,’ Simmons said. ‘It is an intention of artists who have dedicated our crafts to educating, entertaining and empowering the next generation, which is our highest calling to care for our children globally.’

“Now, Simmons reflects on what has happened since that history-making moment: ‘Seeing the impact that it’s created — our father-daughter relationship, being a Black dad and daughter — has really put into perspective how important representation is in what we do.’

“Simmons never planned to get into children’s music. His journey started when he was 7, and he performed as a young orator in his hometown of Gary, Indiana.

“After college, as he pursued a full-time music career, Simmons taught music production and poetry to young students.

“Then, when Aura was around 6, she asked to use the microphone and play on the keyboard with her dad. …

“Their first song as a duo, ‘I Am Love, I Am Light’ in 2024, ‘went crazy,’ he said.

“Simmons had a new goal: making music that captured the life he wanted to model for his daughter — with friendship and love. …

“Now, he wants her to have her own solo career. But Aura is adamant. ‘I want to still perform with Daddy,’ she told her dad, leaning in to hug him. …

“She feels like she has two lives: one of autographs and fans and one of math games and buddies at school. … ‘I wanna learn too. I’m an ordinary girl, just like everybody else,’ Aura said.”

More at NPR, here.

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A Folk Album Called “Black Cowboys”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2019| 2 Comments »

Photo: Timothy Duffy
The album Black Cowboys, by Dom Flemons, retells the settling of America’s West through a new lens. It was nominated in the Best Folk Album category for a 2019 Grammy.

I’m not a big traveler. I’ve liked seeing whatever I’ve seen in distant parts of the world, but I can’t get over the idea that I’m missing a lot of interesting stuff in my own backyard — in my neighborhood, in my country.

Here is a story about a singer who was determined to use music to rescue an important swath of our country’s history from obscurity.

Ryan Heinsius writes at National Public Radio [NPR], “Dom Flemons’ latest album, Black Cowboys, is a collection of seldom-heard stories about the roles African-Americans played in settling the West after America’s Civil War. The album’s inspiration came during a road trip back home where the fifth generation Arizonan became enamored with an obscure collection of stories.

” ‘I came across a book called The Negro Cowboys that talked about how one in four cowboys who helped settle the West were African-American cowboys,’ Flemons, a co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, says. ‘And being an African-American person that’s half-African-American, half-Mexican-American from the Southwest, I just found that to be a fascinating story.’

“Now, the album has earned Flemons a 2019 Grammy nomination in the category of best folk album. …

” ‘You have people coming from slavery and emancipation and then, through their hard work and perseverance, in spite of the obstacles they had, they were able to create a new social order that still influences us to this day,’ Flemons explains.

“The former slaves-turned-settlers Flemons sings about were able to transcend segregation in the Western states. For example, Bass Reeves, the first African-American deputy U.S. Marshal in the West was likely the towering inspiration for the Lone Ranger.

“Working on the album over the course of two years became deeply personal for Flemons. His grandfather was a sawmill worker, preacher and World War II army veteran from East Texas and the musician says he sees his own family’s history in these cowboy stories. He also sees the societal legacy in these stories. ‘Steel Pony Blues’ chronicles Nat Love, who was born into slavery worked on an Arizona ranch and then became a railroad porter. That legacy, Flemons says, would eventually influence the early leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.” More at NPR, here.

And there’s a nice interview by Ja’han Jones at the Huffington Post, here, in which Flemons says, “one of the things I did for this album was visit the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. They approached me around the time I started to develop the project, so when I went there, being one of a few black people there, everybody at the event was so excited that I was doing a something about black cowboys. They knew all of these stories, but no one had ever touched this in the way I was doing. So I was given a lot of great information.”

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Mystery Grammy Nominee

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Someone who used to know her well alerted me to the story of the Mystery Grammy Nominee. At 51 and without a record label, she has managed to get a remarkable burst of attention for her music.

Writes Christopher Morris at Variety, “Linda Chorney used the Recording Academy’s Grammy 365 website to connect with voters.

“Armed only with a computer and some chutzpah, a longshot snuck through the back door and into the Grammy Awards competition this year.
The resourceful Linda Chorney secured a Grammy nomination in the category of Americana album for her self-produced, self-released ‘Emotional Jukebox’ by taking her mission directly to voters, employing the peer-to-peer function of the Recording Academy’s own site for members, Grammy 365.

“Many in the tight-knit Americana community have reacted quizzically, and sometimes vehemently, to Chorney’s nomination, which trumped several well-known artists in the genre. The virtually unknown Sea Bright, N.J.-based musician will face off on Feb. 12 against a field of nominees that has collectively garnered a total of 23 Grammys. And while some question her methods, her online campaign falls completely within the academy’s parameters for acceptable self-promotion.” Read more.

There are several videos on YouTube. What do you think? Leave a comment.

Follow us on twitter @LunaStellaBlog1.

Update: Chorney didn’t win a Grammy, but she has been invited to sing the national anthem at Fenway Park before an April 2012 Red Sox game, another item on her “bucket list.”

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