I don't know about you, but I have been in a bit of a funk lately. I feel like this is something that has been a bit widespread over the past several weeks. I've noticed that things have been a little slower on Hive.
Even @edicted indicated in this recent post that inspiration has been a bit lacking for him. I'm not implying that they are in a funk, I'm just pointing out that some of those feelings of "whatever" are out there in the universe and it isn't just me.
As I said, I have noticed that posting across the board has been down for a while now. I know for me a lot of it has to do with the season. Winter in Michigan is beautiful and bleak all at the same time. While staying inside and keeping warms sounds idyllically cozy, it also reduces the opportunities for gathering Hive content.
Oddly enough, this "funk" over lack of inspiration has inspired me for the theme of this weeks #threetunetuesday sponsored by @ablaze.
Besides some of the classics that they used to play on the "Oldies" channel, I wasn't introduced to funk music later in life. The creation of funk music is credited to James Brown and the music draws from gospel, R & B, jazz, and blues roots to create an upbeat dance music that relies heavily on deep bass lines and steady rhythms.
In fact, unlike traditional music that focuses on melody and harmony, funk music is all about the "groove". Hence the opening photo above.
As I said, my first introduction to funk music came from the local oldies radio station. Back when I was growing up, oldies meant music from the 50's through the 70's. Now that I am older, that category covers all the way up to the 90s.
Average White Band was pretty much a staple on that local oldies channel. This song Picking up the Pieces is one that I remember very well. Even this morning when I was thinking about writing this post, I had the hook stuck in my head. The funny thing is, at that time I wasn't sure of the name of the song, I knew the groove though.
Funk music just kind of sticks with you. Another odd observation about funk music. It seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Blues music is usually pretty blue, but funk music is more often than not upbeat, despite the negative connotation of "being in a funk".
According to Google:
"The word funk is derived from the Latin 'fumigare' which literally means 'to smoke' and connotations link to 'odour' and 'musty'. It's adjective 'funky' was commonly used to describe jazz music as it was something that was 'earthy' or deeply felt."
My second introduction to funk music later in life came at the hands of none other than George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. I'm sure many of you have heard the song Atomic Dog in passing. One of my favorite George Clinton songs is called Electric City, but I decided today to share "Flashlight" as it is one of the more popular songs.
If you have ever seen the movie PCU, you should be quite familiar with George Clinton. Staring Jeremy Piven, PCU is in my opinion one of the best college movies out there. It's an absolute must if you grew up during the 80's or 90's. The movie was actually released the year I graduated from high school, but it wasn't until probably five years later that I actually was introduced to it.
Lovingly coined Politically Correct University, there is still a lot of relevant stuff in it even today. Plus it's just a rollicking good time. If you get the chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.
Especially for the parts that George Clinton is in. His cameo in the movie is really great and while it seems random at first, by the end of the movie, it all makes sense.
Finally, I am going to leave you with some more modern funk music. Vulfpeck is a bit of a newcomer on the scene. I would argue they are maybe one of the only good things to ever come out of Ann Arbor Michigan. As you can tell, Vulfpeck relies quite heavily on the bass guitar as the driving force behind their music.
I actually wonder if @verhp11 is familiar with them given his love and skill at the bass guitar. I had actually never heard of Vulfpeck until a vendor was at my work installing a new public address system. To test out the speakers in each room he started blasting a Vulfpeck song through the system.
It was quite infectious.
If you do a little searching around YouTube, you will find some full shows that Vulpeck has done in the past. I highly recommend you check them out when you have an hour and a half to spare. Maybe put them on in the background.
It's interesting how even when you are in a funk, funk music can sometimes bring you out of it.
I'm feeling a bit better already!
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