There’s a new guy in town! This new guy is Brock Baker, a
young man from Phoenix, Arizona who began performing music at the age of four
by first participating in singing contests and performing in front of thousands
of people. On his Facebook page, he says this:
“I knew at
a young age music was my passion and I had to pursue it! I
packed my
bags, jumped in my car and made my way to Los Angeles,
California!”
Since arriving in California, Baker’s dreams of becoming a
successful musician have come true. In 2007, the Gospel Music Association
presented Baker with his first award, the “Best Vocals” award, at the GMA Dove
Award ceremony. In addition, he has appeared on GLEE, American Idol, The Voice,
the Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon. According to the Brock Baker music
website, Baker performed with Katy Perry, The Eagles, Tim McGraw, Jordin
Sparks, and many others. Despite his growing popularity, I didn’t know about
Baker until I saw his new EP on the front page of iTunes a week ago, and I took
the time to listen to it.
The new EP
is “Young ‘N’ Stupid”, which was released on November 12th 2013.
Baker has an impressive, somewhat pop music voice, and is mostly backed by a
radio-friendly rock sound. The first three tracks seem to relate to teenagers
beginning to experience relationships. However, the last two tracks are what
impressed me the most. The track “Young ‘N’ Stupid” describes a person
remembering one of his or her teenage relationships that failed because of
immaturity. Baker’s vocals prove to be outstanding, as well as dramatic, and
give emphasis to the emotion of the song. The sounds of guitar and piano also
add to the emotional effect. The last track, “Lost You To The World” has a
classic rock, Journey-vibe and deals with heartbreak after a break-up. The end
of the track contains a separate, small, acoustic section where Baker provides
very beautiful vocals, singing lyrics dealing with moving on and finding
“something new”.
Brock
Baker’s EP is a good first effort, with the title track being the most
effective due to its nostalgic lyrics and emotional sound. Baker proves to be
an impressive vocalist and musician. Even though I am optimistic about Baker,
one concern comes to mind. When Baker begins to work with a major record label,
I fear that the label will try to make Baker compose more pop, mainstream music
with less of a rock sound that may focus mostly on the beat. The label having
artists change to a more mainstream, pop sound has happened to some good
artists, such as Taylor Swift and Maroon 5. I hope this won’t happen to Baker.
But for now, Baker, have yourself a field day. Job well done.
Written by: John Dirscherl
Works Cited
Written by: John Dirscherl
Works Cited
"About."
Welcome to The 44th Annual GMA Dove Awards RSS. WordPress, n.d. Web. 23
Nov. 2013.
Baker, Brock H.
"Brock M. Baker | Facebook." About. Facebook, n.d. Web. 23
Nov. 2013. <https://www.facebook.com/brockbakermusic>.
"Home."
Brock Baker Music. Brandcure, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. <http://www.brockbakermusic.com/>
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