Funk Fest is coming to Birmingham, AL soon and bringing scholarships for youth to tote! For those not familiar with the musical tour, it is composed of classic and legendary artists of the last 20 years such as Frankie Beverly and Maze, Jill Scott, Outkast, and LL Cool J. There are typically a variety of different performers each year on the tour. You can find out which artists are performing this year through the link at the bottom of this article.

Perhaps, the most amazing aspect of the tour is that Pepsi is partnering with the tour's sponsors to provide $50,000.00 in scholarship funds to high school seniors and current college students. Each student chosen will receive $2,500.00 that would go toward books, tuition, or room/board. The partnership will also be setting up a chance for 40 individuals to gain internship opportunities with executives in Marketing, Public Relations, and Production/Operations that will be vital for their career growth.

This information is being disseminated via the Birmingham Mayor’s Office Division of Youth Services. You can view more enrichments opportunities through their site. http://www.bhamyouthfirst.org/

You can acquire an application for the Funk Fest Scholarship/Internship by clicking:   http://funkfesttour.com/faq/.

From rock to horror, Gene Simmons is taking a walk on the scary, wild side by diving into the production of horror movies. The rock legend will be working with WWE Studios to produce what they hope will be theatrical hits that leave you on the edge of your seat. The first movie that Gene and the new company, Erebus Pictures, will create is called “Temple”. A brief synopsis delineates a group of people within a military compound that cannot escape a murderous force that killed a previous team and is now hunting them. This sounds enticing, right? Official filming of the movie will begin at the end of this year.

David Crosby may not be rocking out for some time after pummeling a jogger with his car, while driving 55 MPH. The incident occurred in Santa Ynez, California over the weekend. There were various spectators that watched Crosby’s 2015 Tesla plow through Jose Jimenez while going about his daily exercise routine.

Jimenez was transported to a nearby hospital and reportedly sustained numerous broken bones and cuts from the impact. However, he is not considered to be in a critical state at this time. The first conclusion you may jump to is that Crosby was impaired in some way. According to investigators, this was not the case. There were no drugs or alcohol found in his system.

This may have simply been a case of impaired vision. CHP officials surveying the scene stated that sun glare may have played a key role in the incident.

For those who aren't familiar, Crosby is remembered as a rock legend affiliated with the 1970’s band, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young.

In what we have sentimentally deemed the “Spotify Streaming Debacle”, there is even more resistance growing against the music app. The music streaming device's newest opponent is the record label, Universal. Rather than allowing users to utilize the free streaming aspect of the application, they are pushing Spotify to capsize the free ideal and make consumers pay.

Consumers have rallied around the Spotify app since being allowed to preview new music without purchasing the songs or album. However, there are certain stipulations with the free aspect of the app. You are not allowed to choose songs from the CD track list in the order you wish to play them. When attempted, the all too familiar banner is presented to you requesting that you buy the premium version of Spotify to access this musical privilege.

The record label is simply echoing the same apprehensions of other musical artists. The concerns all come down to the love of money, with the label hypothesizing that artists would receive more money from the streaming app if everyone was regulated to the premium choice. They seem to be following in Taylor Swift’s steps. She decided to remove her whole collection of songs from Spotify. Swift believed that artists were having their art “undervalued” by allowing it to be streamed for free even though they receive a great portion of the proceeds from Spotify.

Spotify is standing by its premium and free model. They claim that the system is effective for all involved, especially the consumers that they service. Spotify representatives stated, “We’re one of the greenest shoots of growth in the industry. We don’t want to destabilize that. We think that this model works.”

Are you ready to rock and roll with a few of the greats? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be hosting their induction ceremony and legendary artists will be joining in on all the musical fun! Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Patti Smith, Peter Wolf, Fall Out Boy, John Mayer, and Steve Cropper will appoint Ringo Starr, Bill Withers, Lou Reed, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Green Day, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and “5” Royales into the esteemed organization. Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Tom Morello, John Legend, and Jimmy Vaughan are set to render great musical performances at the April 18th show. The event will be held at the Public Hall of Cleveland.

General admission tickets to the venue are sold out at this time. Only VIP packages remain available. However, you can experience the euphonious, artistic magic visually on HBO, May 30th from your own home!

Many tuned in last Wednesday to get a taste of the psyche that encompasses Nick Gordon, Bobbi Kristina Brown's companion. Numerous facets of the Dr. Phil interview were questioned. Was it a gimmick? Where does Gordon's mother come into play? Was it just for money? Could Gordon be setting up an insanity defense in fear that he will be charged with the attempted murder of Bobbi Kristina? After analyzing the interview, one thing does seem clear, there are a lot of individuals acquiring money off Whitney Houston's name these days. However, the implications may be even direr if Gordon did in fact have something to do with Bobbi Kristina's current state.

Gordon's friend, who was there when she was discovered, has reportedly requested immunity to talk to the cops about the events of that day, while Nick was reluctant to speak with police at all. He also repeatedly slams Bobby Brown, Bobby Kristina's, father within the interview. His irate state eventually led to Gordon being recommended for and placed in rehab by Dr. Phil.

March Madness isn’t all about sports. Well, it kind of is. However, sprinkling a few musical acts into the mix is always enjoyable! Visitors of the 2015 NCAA Tournament will get to experience some prominent names in music such as Rihanna, the Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, and Kacey Musgraves. Each of these acts are scheduled to perform at the 2015 NCAA Men’s Final Four competition on April 3rd.  The music festival will be blasting out a variety of music during its three-day time span at White River State Park beginning on this date. The event is free to the public, but you may want to get there early to gain a good view.

According to Wish TV’s site, the schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Friday: AT&T Block Party

 • Performances from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.

 • Performances and highlights to be announced

 
Saturday: Coke Zero™ Countdown Concert

 • Rihanna

 • Bleachers

 • Live broadcast of the first semi-final game

 • Performances from 12 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

 • Additional performances and highlights to be announced

 
Sunday: Capital One JamFest

 • Zac Brown Band

 • Lady Antebellum

 • Kacey Musgraves

 • Performances from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

 
There may be more acts/performances announced as the date gets closer.

It’s a steamy, summer afternoon and you’re about to go cruising on a long-awaited road trip with your favorite people. The illuminating rays of sunshine filter onto your face through the sunroof. Then you remember that you can’t have an awesome road trip without music. A little Taylor Swift, “1989” will do. “Is that loud enough?” you ask yourself. Your hand searches for the volume knob and elevates the music to its highest level. This sounds like the ideal day right? You’d never suspect that you were endangering your health by just having a little fun.

According to CNN, billions of youth have been besieging their hearing for years unknowingly. Almost 50% of people are being exposed to unsafe sound levels on a daily basis that could lead to hearing loss in the future. There are very high noise levels at most events that youth frequent such as bars, concerts, and sporting events. This does not even interpolate the number of times that your headphones’ volume exceeds the limit of your own consumption and can be heard by others sitting close to you. Even the scenario we described in the opening paragraph can harm your sense of hearing.

Studies have found have that being victim to noise contingencies of 100 dB for over 15 minutes can be detrimental. This is astonishing because these are the noise levels at most extracurricular settings. Many are not aware, but some celebrities have hearing loss handicaps due to the excessive levels of noise they experience. Two examples are Chris Martin of Coldplay and Plan B, a rapper.

There are ways that you can prevent this serious health risks by turning down volumes or simply using earbuds to protect your hearing at obstreperous venues. Your hearing is one of your most important senses. It’s just not worth jeopardizing.