Neo-Soul Links of Interest

Here are a few links of interest of events that are going on locally, in Tennessee and Atlanta. They are mostly blogs, events, restaurants where you can listen to live neo-soul, an article about the rebirth of neo-soul and even a meetup neo-soul group. It's really hard to find things going on in the city and when looking up events I actually found a lot of things that interest me and could possibly interest you. Click on the links to find out more about events, info and people who love neo-soul.

Sweet Georgia's Juke Joint: Live Neo-Souls music and Great Food (Atlanta)

 

Neo-Soul artist and album highlights

Neo Soul Cafe Blog

NeoSoulville (Local Tennessee events)

Neo-Soul Rebirth article

Neo-Soul Meet up group

Open- Mic Night Lounge Locations

If you are looking for a chill, groovy, soul type environment, the Rumba Room and Prohibition is definitely the place you want to visit. Every Monday at 7 p.m. the Rumba room hosts an open-mic night and Prohibition hosts an open-mic and poetry every Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Map

Click on the "Map" link to see locations for Prohibition and Rumba Room. 

Another location that hosts Neo-Soul nights is Opinions Restaurant and Lounge,
Fridays from
7 p.m. - 3 a.m.

Opinions Lounge Location

Click on the link to get directions to the Opinions Restaurant and Lounge from the University of Memphis

He Heals Me

India Arie - He Heals Me

Testimony Vol. 2 Love and Politics Album (2009)

So, I was driving, in the car with a friend and this song came on. His words exactly, "Why does this song make me want to cry?" I laughed, but as I thought about the words, it is so beautiful and of course India has a way of touching your heart and soul with her music, but this song put me in a different mind set about love. When you think about love, you don't think of it as a "healing mechanism," or do you? Well I never have until I heard this song. The fact that someone could make you feel so perfect through all of your imperfections. Someone who knows everything about you, yet still loves you through your flaws. Someone who is your best friend. I never really knew how that felt until now, and India Arie made me realize this. The funny thing about this is that it was on my Mary, Mary Pandora station, which is Gospel Radio, and for this song to come on made me think of God. You can relate it to a relationship with a guy but more importantly you can relate it to God as well. The chorus, He heals me, he knows the real me and he accepts me, he never hurts me. 

Here are the lyrics to the entire song. Tell me your thoughts of this song. How does it make you feel? Who do you think of when listening to it?

I told him my biggest secret

And he told me four

He smiled at me and said

That makes me love you more

And then he made me laugh

And I knew it was a sign

That he was a man

That I wanted in my life

And with every passing day

I feel more and more of that way

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me

He heals me, he heals me

I can play him songs all through the night

And he will listen to every line

And even when I'm wrong, he is still kind

He chooses his words wisely

When he tells me I'm not right

And yes, he is a beautiful man

But he is also a beautiful friend

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me, no

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me

He heals me, he heals me

The moment that we met, he made me smile

He has so much compassion in his eyes

I have no idea, how long he'll be here

A season or a lifetime, forever or a year

But for the first time in my life

I'm not worried about the future

Because we have such

A wonderful time when we're together

However things turn out, it's all right

'Cause he's already changed my life

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me

He heals me, he knows the real me

And he accepts me, he never hurts me

He heals me, he heals me

He never hurts me, he heals me

New Music from Erykah Badu

NEW REMIX RELEASE | FREE MUSIC

Erykah Badu - Back in the Day | Bump It ( DJ A1 REMIX ) 

https://soundcloud.com/a1beats/sets/erykah-badu-a1-remixes 

DJ A1 of the Cannabinoids

Control FreaQ Records, Inc.

Video Blogging

So, for class our task was to create videos. Since my topic is neo-soul why not video someone singing a neo-soul song? Lol I chose to record myself singing if I have my way by Neo-Soul artist Chrisette Michelle and my friend Fred is playing the Piano. Forgive the quality I am not a video editing guru lol, But check it out.

The XPerience: Neo-Soul Lounge

If you enjoy live bands,neo-soul, poetry, soft music, jazz etc. then you should definitely attend the XPerience. The XPerience is an open-mic event for neo-soul artists, poets, musicians etc.  It is located in Murfreesboro, TN. The XPerience was an idea that one of my sorority sisters, Cierra Tutton, and I had when we were on the road. She and I both love neo-soul and live music, and we noticed that there was nowhere we could go to just sit, chill and listen to peotry, poetic rap, and music of that genre. So she and I came up with the idea to have an event called the XPerience and we were determined to go through with it.

Unfortunately I moved back to Memphis and she was still in Murfreesboro, so we never really got a chance to plan it together. 
However, she teamed up with another one of our sisters, Tramaine Nixon, and brought the XPerience to life. 

The XPerience has come so far since it started in the Summer of 2013. It went from an audience of 30-40 people to now over 60 people. Mostly students from Middle Tennessee State University attend, but other locals have started to attend as well, and there have been more acts than imagined and it has been a success. 


I encourage anyone who is in the Nashvile/ Murfreeesboro area to attend this event. It's Bi-Weekly on Tuesdays at different locations in the area. If you need more information about when and where the event will be. follow the XPerience on Intagram: XPerienceLounge or on Twitter: @XPerienceLounge. If you are a neo-soul music lover, this is something you DON'T want to miss. Also if you want to perform at the XPerience feel free to comment.

Here is a Video of promotion for one of the XPerience Lounge events: The XP