I’m a New Fan

Ok..I should start this by saying that I’m a country music fan and that tends to be about all, but I’ve recently been sent 3 new CD’s to try out and tell you about, and I’ve been surprised that I actually liked each one. One that you’ll hear about in a couple days quickly became a favorite to Cameron, and the one that I’m going to share with you today has become one of my favorites (and I really expected it to be my least favorite to be honest) – Corneille: The Birth of Cornelius.

Obviously being a country music fan, I’d never even heard of Corneille. I popped it into my computer to listen to whiel blogging one day and have kept it in there every day since. It’s such a nice light almost jazzy music that I find it very relaxing as I sit here and blog.

While Corneille is new to us in the United States, he’s not new to the music scene. He has sold out arenas in other parts of the world. He was born in Germany but moved to Rwanda. He lived there until the assasination of Rwandan President Habyarimana. At this time Rwanda was chaotic and his entire family was killed. He was the only member of his family to survive as he was able to escape back to Germany.

When asked how surviving such an incomprehensible tragedy has shaped his outlook, and his music, Corneille is strikingly calm. “For a good ten years after the genocide,” he says, “I lived in a great deal of denial. But I managed not to get too bitter because I had parents who always made me feel special. It’s a sort of pain that you can have closure with. I know I’m not going to be able to talk to my family ever again, but they left me with memories filled with such love that I don’t have that much anger.”

When asked about beginning musical interests, he names Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and Prince. When listening to his music, you can definitly hear the emotion of his life and the influence of these great artists. It also helps that he wrote every song on the album.

My favorite songs are Liberation and Foolish Heart. Below you’ll hear a video of one of the other songs, Too Much of Everything:

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