Blog Posts by Wendy Geller

Kings of Convenience (Photo: Marc Grimwade)If you're following the annual South By Southwest Festival and impressed by the amazing music coming out of Austin this year, we're sure you'll enjoy looking back at some of the standout performances Yahoo! Music shot during our many past rock 'n' roll pilgrimages to Texas.

Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience called up adjectives such as "lovely," "beautiful," and "delicate" with their first forays into the indie-pop world. However, after 2001's remix album Versus, the pair took an extended break, leading their fans to lament when they'd be back on the scene. Luckily, by 2004, KoC returned with the stunning Riot On An Empty Street, which included the track "Cayman Islands"--seen performed here at 2005's SXSW.

Brandi Carlile (Photo: Trish Tokar)If you're following the annual South By Southwest Festival and impressed by the amazing music coming out of Austin this year, we're sure you'll enjoy looking back at some of the standout performances Yahoo! Music shot during our many past rock 'n' roll pilgrimages to Texas.

Folk singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile was poised on the brink of breaking out wide when she arrived at 2007's SXSW. Just weeks after her appearance at the festival, she'd release her critically acclaimed sophomore album, The Story, which was produced by T Bone Burnett. Here she is performing the title track from the set, which you may remember as being a huge viral sensation via its placement in a visually stunning General Motors TV spot for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

So, looks as if Selena Gomez may be taking her good friend Taylor Swift's lyrical advice to heart: "It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters, and make fun of our exes."

That appears to be just what Gomez is doing in the latest clip she's posted to YouTube--in which the singer does a synchronized dance with her friends, dressed like…well, take a look.

Yep, she's sporting a definite Justin Bieber vibe there, wouldn't you say? Sleeveless hoodie, check…baggy pants, check. We have to say this one is even better than Swift's take on Harry Styles' style last month. Nice revenge dressing, gals.

And yes, even better, Gomez's choice of song is indeed "Everybody Knows (Your Boyfriend is a Douchebag)."

We're not confirming anything here, but it seems clear a dis is being sent. Ya think? Be sure to let us know if you agree.

Neither Gomez nor Bieber has ever been shy about conveying/trading messages via social media, so we'll see if the Biebs has anything to say about this latest

Arnel Pineda (Photo: Dondi Tawatao)"How do you take someone from a Third World country and throw them into the circus?" That's the question posed by Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey, the charming new documentary detailing Arnel Pineda's too-amazing-to-be-real musical fairy tale -- the tale of a virtually unknown singer stepping into the role of frontman for one of rock's most legendary bands, Journey.

Sound a bit insane? Well, as the song goes, don't stop believin'. Pineda's story is 100 percent true. The vocalist, who grew up in a struggling Filipino household and spent several years on the streets of Manila, managed to gain local acclaim after joining a neighborhood band, but never gained much attention outside the Philippines.

That all changed in 2007, when Pineda -- who had a series of videos on YouTube covering favorite American rock songs, including Journey's classic "Faithfully" -- received an eye-opening email.

"Interested in singing for the real band Journey?" it read, and it was signed "Neal Schon" -- Journey's founding member and guitarist.

There's nothing that puts a damper on one's Harlem shake faster than getting busted by the cops -- as a group of Russian buddies quickly found out when performing the dance craze on top of a war memorial in their town.

The five friends filmed their performance for YouTube and carefully followed the correct procedure: One dancer grooved alone for about 30 seconds, then the rest joined in -- some of them jumping on the memorial, which is an army tank from World War II.

The troupe told local police that they chose to dance on the tank as a tribute of sorts to a pal serving in the army. Very nice, but no dice -- they were all arrested as a result.

Luke Bryan (Photo: Mark Davis)Luke Bryan is all ready to get you in the mood for Spring Break--in fact, he just released his latest album following the theme, Spring Break…Here To Party, on Tuesday. Right in time for the earliest vacation schedules out there!

This particular set includes more than the expected good time tunes and explores some of the other scenarios commonly witnessed during the time-honored beach-and-brews break. Bryan also has just debuted the video for "Buzzkill," which details that one person who--we all know how it goes--puts a broken-heart damper on the party.

Feeling a little lovelorn while all your buddies are busy gettin' down? Don't worry…Luke's got you…

Lorrie Morgan speaks at McCready's memorial (Photo: Rick Diamond)

The world can finally put to rest Mindy McCready, whose short and troubled--but often exhilarating --life was celebrated Wednesday by friends, fellow musicians, and family in Nashville.

A memorial was held at Music City's Cathedral of the Incarnation at 4 p.m., just a little over a week after the singer's official funeral in her hometown of Ft. Myers, Fla. Her musical colleages Bryan White, Lorrie Morgan and Bekka Bramlett sang at the gathering, which was attended by many close to her prior to her tragic suicide that took place in February.

According to E!, the service featured a flower-filled room and portraits of McCready, as well as a heartfelt opening tribute from her longtime friend Kat Atwood, who told the crowd, "Mindy was both invincible and vulnerable. With all that was laid before her in such little time, I know I could not have walked in her shoes...Music was her life, her therapy, her victory, her escape and her tragedy."

Sheeran and Swift (Photo: D Dipasupil)Okay, okay. We know Ed Sheeran has already denied that he's dating Taylor Swift (although, from the looks of certain gossip sites around the web, the chatter is still out there). However, whether the two musicians are really an item or not, one thing is for sure--they're totally enamored of each other's music.

Sheeran, who will join Swift on her 2013 Red Tour, stopped by an Australian radio show this week and performed a partial rendition of Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble." Take a listen and see what you think--we think he does a pretty amazing job.

Wouldn't it be fun to see Sheeran perform this with Swift live on stage? We're keeping our fingers crossed something of the sort will happen, although it's more likely he'll duet with her on the song he actually had a collaborative hand in--"Everything Has Changed," which he co-wrote and provided vocals for on Red.

The Red Tour kicks off March 13 in Omaha, Nebraska. For a full list of dates, check here.

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Hundreds gather at