NEW VIDEO: An Acoustic Cover of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper"

Boyce Avenue fans are so spoiled....a new video every week is really impressive, especially from a band who is touring as extensively as these guys are. Their latest video is a great cover of Third Eye Blind's Jumper, which was released on iTunes on October 15th.

I know I'm always talking about how awesome Alejandro is in my video reviews....his voice, his guitar playing, his overall awesomeness, and this video has all of that. I especially love the guitar from 2:34 to 2:54. He goes from strumming with a pick, to fingerpicking, and back to strumming with a pick, and makes it look effortless. At first, I was confused as to where the pick disappears to, but if you watch closely, you can actually see him tuck it away as part of the transition, and then pull it back out again. It's pretty cool....he does it with such finesse, it's easy to miss unless you're watching for it.



I also want to take a moment to express some love and appreciation to Daniel....that guy can rock a Cajon like nobody's business!! I have always thought drums in general were very cool, and I'm a big fan of the Cajon. I love how primitive it is. I love the sound it produces. The first video I ever saw from Boyce Avenue was their cover of One Republic's Apologize and I remember watching Daniel play the Cajon and thinking to myself, "What in the world is that box he's pounding on??" At the time, I thought it looked like a fairly easy instrument to play, but I'm sure it's more complicated than it looks.

These guys are just so talented, and I have so much respect for them. Because of Boyce Avenue, I have a greater love and appreciation for music in general, especially acoustic music. I've learned so much about the ways you can manipulate a guitar to produce different sounds from it. I'm always asking Alejandro about musical techniques.  He's really good about answering my questions, and he does it in a way that makes it easy to understand. It makes me appreciate music even more, and respect him even more as a musician. The fact that he takes the time to answer my questions at all is just further proof of what a cool guy he is. But I digress.

Jumper is available on iTunes on the New Acoustic Sessions, Volume 2 Album.

Emy's Concert Recap: Chicago

Boyce Avenue Street Teamer Emy Petraityte was at the Boyce Avenue show at Chicago's Riviera Theater on Friday night.  Because Emy went out and promoted the show as part of Boyce Avenue's Street Team, she was given a private Meet & Greet after the show with the guys.

This is not the first time Emy has been Featured on the Get Boyced!! Blog....she was our Featured Fan in May, and she was also the mastermind behind the Dare to Believe Fan Project.

Below is Emy's concert review and recap from Friday night's show in Chicago.

Before the Show

Since this was my second Boyce Avenue concert, I was even more excited than I was for the first one, because I knew what was coming. We decided to leave at exactly the right time, so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line outside, but also so we wouldn’t miss the opening acts. When we drove out, however, we got stuck in traffic for quite some time. I was starting to get worried, but we made it safe and on time to the venue.

When we drove past the venue, there was a line. Let me tell you.. it was HUGE! It curled around the corner and went down about half a block or so. As we were making our way towards the venue after we parked our car, the line was already diminishing because they had opened the doors. Across the street, I saw [Boyce Avenue's] tour bus, so we walked over to take a picture. My mom kept asking me how I knew it was theirs, and we took a look at the license plates.....Florida!

Emy and the Tour Bus

After that, we went inside and found ourselves way in the back of the crowd. The venue was filled with people.  It was insanely crowded! We got a good spot, though because we were right on the stairs, so we could clearly see everything....just from far away.

Opening Acts

First, Alex Goot came out.  He only played like 5 or 6 songs. He’s amazing, and I wish he had a longer set. A lot of people seemed to know who he was and sang along.

Next, Green River Ordinance came out, and nobody had any idea who they were. Their set was a little bit fancier than Alex Goot’s. They had tons of lights and used the whole stage. They were alright. Not my favorite kind of music, but they were good. One of their last songs, they covered “Baby” by Justin Bieber. You could hear boo’s and silence in the crowd. The lead singer, Josh, asked the crowd to forget that it’s a Bieber song and just sing along to the catchy tune. Many people did sing along, and it was fun! The last song that they played, they did an “Acoustic” set right in front of the crowd. This was NOT a good idea. First of all, they asked the crowd to be quiet for this to work, but nobody paid attention, so basically for about 3 minutes, they were  jamming in the front, with a small crowd around them. The rest of us couldn’t hear ANYTHING. It was disappointing.

Boyce Avenue

When Boyce Avenue came out, the crowd went CRAZY!!! Their entrance was really cool :) They entered one by one, with an awesome lights show going on! :) The crowd was very into them! They sang along to every song and the guys kept repeating how much they loved Chicago and how crazy we were.

They played all of their originals [from "All We Have Left"] as well as many covers. It was amazing! About halfway into the show, Alejandro informed the crowd that he’d be doing some songs on the keyboard. Somebody whistled really loud and Alejandro was like, “Yessss. The sexy keyboard....” and they all chuckled. During the change between two songs, some girls were screaming really loud and one of the guys (don’t recall which one) called the crowd rowdy so we all started screaming even louder.  Everyone was dancing and singing along to all the songs! More people were singing to covers, but I was surprised to hear how many people knew their originals too! When Alejandro asked if this was anybody’s first Boyce Avenue concert, many hands went up! I went to a Boyce Avenue show last year, but this crowd and this venue was much bigger and better than last year! It was the best concert I’ve ever been to! 

After the Show

Since I had done promotion in Chicago for the Street Team, I got a private meet and greet with the guys after the show! I was told to go to the merchandise table and ask Hook to direct me to the tour manager. Towards the end of the show, we walked over to the merchandise table to make sure we knew where we were going before the show ended. Hook wasn’t there....instead some mean guy from the venue was standing there selling t-shirts. When I asked him about it, he was very rude. He kept telling me he knew nothing more than I did, with so much attitude. All I asked was if he knew what I was talking about. Anyways, I got really nervous because I had no idea where Hook was. My mom insisted we go ask security people around the venue. So we did, and only one of them knew what I was talking about. He told me to stand by the door until the concert ended.


For some reason, I was worried that I wasn’t in the right place because I never found Hook. So we stood against the wall, and watched the last two songs of the show. Suddenly, as the crowd was exiting the theatre, I spotted Hook, and I ran to him. I showed him the email I got that told me the instructions and he asked me my name. When I told him, he’s like “Yup! You’re the one.” So he walked us outside to this alley, and the first thing he asked was, “How’d you know how to find me?” I said, “I was told to find Hook!” He was like, “Yeah, but how’d you know I was Hook?” I told him I had seen pictures online, and he surprisingly asked me what pictures I had seen and I simply replied, “Hook....you’re all over facebook.” He seemed so excited!


After about five minutes, he asked us to stand by the door, until he went and told the guys I was coming. When he came back out to get us, he led us down some stairs and through a hallway. The last room on the left, was their dressing room. He asked me if I was ready, and I simply replied “I have no idea.” I was freaking out!


When I walked in, the guys suddenly stood up from the couches and Fabian was the first who approached me. He was like, “Hey! I’m Fabian! What’s your name?” and leaned in for a hug. That’s when I lost all my nervousness. They were so down to earth and easy to talk to! When Alejandro hugged me, he said, “Summerluver!” and I FREAKED out! I was like, “Oh, my goodness! You guys know who I am!” They all started laughing and Alejandro added, “Everybody knows who summerluver is!”

I gave them the scrapbook I had made for them. They flipped through a couple pages, laughing, and told me they’ll make sure to dig through it later.

Looking at Emy's scrapbook

Fabian asked me about my t-shirt, and I also told him I have a These Quiet Sounds shirt and he was like, "Do you really??"  He seemed so proud!

It was amazing. They referred to me as Summerluver the whole time, until Fabian asked me what my real name was. They are all so cool, and so surprisingly easy to talk to. I felt so at ease around them. We talked for a good five minutes, one on one....Daniel asked us about our trip to Sarasota, Florida and what we thought of it.  He asked me what the first Boyce Avenue video was that I saw.  It was awesome.

BA Silliness!!

Fabian’s phone rang and he took the call outside and didn’t come back. When I was walking out, he saw me and waved.  It was the best night of my life!

If you haven’t seen Boyce Avenue live in concert yet, you’re missing out! The most talented, sweet, and humble guys EVER!!!

Best. Night. Of.  My.  Life!!!

Thanks, Emy, for sharing your night with all of us!! Looks like you had an amazing time!!

Boyce Avenue Covers One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful

Boyce Avenue's latest cover, a softer, "Boyced" version of One Direction's What Makes you Beautiful, was released on iTunes on October 15th, and the video was uploaded to YouTube on October 16th.

I had never heard of One Direction until I saw Boyce fans on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter requesting a Boyce Avenue cover of What Makes You Beautiful. So, I decided to look them up. :)

One Direction are a British-Irish boy band, consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They finished third on the seventh series of The X Factor. All five of the band's members applied as solo candidates to the competition, but failed to qualify for the "Boys" category. At the suggestion of guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, the five teens were put into a band, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. After the elimination of the other three groups within four weeks, they became Simon Cowell's last act in the competition, and finished third behind runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.

Aside from the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, I'm not generally a fan of boy bands, and One Direction is no exception. When I heard Boyce Avenue was going to be covering their song, I went and found their video for What Makes You Beautiful on YouTube.




Not gonna lie....they're just a little too....well, boy bandish for my tastes.  Some of the lyrics, in my opinion, are uber cheesy. ("So girl, c'mon...you got it wrong...to prove I'm right I put it in a song..."or "The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed....")

If this song came on the radio, chances are very good my reaction would be, "GAH!! Sorry, boys...." and a quick change of the station.

Enter Boyce Avenue.

Because I'm a Boyce Avenue junkie, and I know what Alejandro is capable of, I'll give any song that they cover a chance.

I still think the lyrics are pretty cheesy.  But there's one line in the chorus that, when I hear Alejandro sing it, somehow becomes romantic and charming:

"You don't know you're beautiful....that's what makes you beautiful."

Suddenly, the message of the song shines through: humility is beautiful. And, just like that, over the last few days, the Boyced version of "What Makes You Beautiful" has started to grow on me, cheesy lyrics and all.

So, once again, Boyce Avenue has taken a song I would not normally care for at all, and made me like it. A lot. It just strengthens for me the theory that a lot of the mainstream music out there has potential....it's just the wrong artist singing it, or the wrong arrangement, or it just needs a few simple changes to take it from good to great. Boyce Avenue demonstrates this again and again with their take of so many songs. It's one of the things I love about them.




But wait, there's more!!

Today, I was in my happy place (listening to Boyce Avenue on headphones) and I heard an oh-so-subtle "thump" in the chorus, right when Alejandro sings, "That's what makes you beautiful." It reminded me of the "thump" in Dare To Believe, but since there's no piano in What Makes You Beautiful, I was very curious to know what it was. So, I asked him about it.

Me: Soooo....I swear I can hear a subtle percussive "thump" in What Makes You Beautiful...every time you sing, "...That's what makes you beautiful..." in the chorus. What is it? It sounds very much like the "thump" I love so much in Dare To Believe, but it's more subtle. I'm not imagining it, am I??

Alejandro: slapping the electric strings. you can see it in one of the shots in the video ;)

Sure enough, at the :54 mark, you can see exactly what he's talking about:

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love these little details....instrumental subtleties that Alejandro puts into the songs. The timing of this little "thump" really resonated with me, because with that subtle little sound, "You don't know you're beautiful....that's what makes you beautiful," becomes, "You don't know....you don't know you're beautiful....that's what makes you beautiful." Maybe it's just my interpretation of the arrangement, but I can't help but wonder if Alejandro included it to drive the point of the song home. Intentional or not, it's perfectly timed, and to be honest, it's what makes me love the song. ♥

Boyce Avenue's version of What Makes You Beautiful is available on the New Acoustic Sessions, Volume 2 Album on iTunes. Click here to preview/buy the album.

Fan Q&A With Boyce Avenue

Monday night, Andrea Smith interviewed Boyce Avenue before their Ottawa show.  As a writer for a music blog, Andrea was given the opportunity to interview the guys....and, as part of her interview, she decided to put the word out on Twitter and Facebook, asking fans to submit some questions for the guys.  Andrea has been a fan of Boyce Avenue since 2007 when she first saw them perform, but this was the first time she has had the opportunity to talk with them.

Andrea and the guys

Andrea contacted me and asked me if I wanted to feature the Fan Q&A portion of her interview on the Get Boyced!! Blog....and of course, I responded with a very enthusiastic "OMG!!  YES!!"

I have to applaud Andrea for her creativity....she placed each of the selected questions into a "Falloon" and then Fabian popped each one (a task he became famous for in their "Falloon Massacre" vlog) and read the questions.

Andrea's interview and concert review will be posted online soon, and I will post a link to it as soon as it is available. But for now, here are the fans' questions, and the guys' answers.  :)


My name is Morgan, I'm 20 and I come from Metz, France, and I would like to ask Alejandro, Fabian and Daniel if they would ever be interested in a French collaboration?

D: Absolutely!  I mean we don't....we don't speak French, but I bet we could....try....
A: (chuckles)
D: ....and if there are any French YouTubers out there, we hope to hear of them and maybe we'll make something happen.

When will you be coming to other countries? Like maybe somewhere in the Middle East? Preferably Dubai :) - Hiba Tamimi, Dubai (@BoycedFan on twitter)

A: I'd love to go to Dubai.
F: We try to hit as many countries as possible, it's just sometimes you have to be
invited, or maybe there's politics going on.

If you didn’t have a career in music at present, what job would you most probably have instead? - Aroob Mallhi, Pakistan (@BoycedScout on twitter)

A: Psychiatrist, or Therapist. I'd be Dr Phil.
F: Graphic Designer probably
D: I'd be an attorney still

I [sing] my loudest when I'm in the shower, so my question for the three of you is, excluding performances, when are you at your loudest? - David, from 2nerdstalk on tumblr

F: I like to sing the loudest in the car.
A: After the show on the bus, when we're blasting some dance music.

I was wondering when Boyce Avenue was going to expand their tour a little more, for example coming to other large but considered sub cities of states, such as Syracuse NY, Rochester NY, Buffalo NY, or Binghamton NY. Myself and friends would love to go to one of their shows to see them live but NYC and Pittsburgh (PA) is too far for me and my friends to travel to on week nights. We love their music and hope expansion of BA comes soon, not just for shows but everything in general! - Robert from Woodhull, NY

D: Good question! We're in the process of trying to book a tour for around March. We've played Philly but we haven't played Pittsburgh. Haven't played Denver or Salt Lake in a while. So we're working on getting more shows in smaller cities.
A: We definitely want to play for markets we've never played before.

What is the one craziest or most unexpected thing that's ever happened while you've been on tour? - Crystal from West Virginia

D: Probably this, to be honest!
A: Yeah, getting a bunch of Falloons w/questions in them (looks pointedly at interviewer) ....definitely crazy.

Are you afraid of the 6th November (EMAs), because this day will change your life forever? I'm so excited to see you guys on TV!! - Johanna, Austria

D: Actually, we won't be on TV. The outdoor event probably won't be broadcast, but we're just excited to be playing. All 15,000 tickets sold out in a minute.

When you record your videos, the timing of the audio from the studio recording with the video is just so dead on, and I've always wondered how you accomplish that. Can you explain the process? Do you play the audio from the studio recording while you're filming the video, and just play along and sing along with it? - Melenie in Seattle (@melenie_s on twitter)

F: There's a lot of technical cables and vibrations, and, uh...stuff going on.
(Laughs)
D: we do it in the studio, find what we're comfortable with and just work from that. Over time with our video and Audio team we’ve been able to figure out what we like.
A: Lots of cameras and rehearsals to get it right.

Alejandro, in the story behind the song video for On My Way, you said you were inspired to write the song after watching a movie, what movie was it?? - Talia, Gold Coast, Australia.

D: Let's just say inspiration comes from strange places.
A: I’m sure nobody really wants to know the answer to that one :)

What are your dream collaborations? Dead & live artists? - Jo 'aka' Skittles from Scotland, Boyce Avenue Street Team America Admin & Boyce Avenue Street Team UK & Ireland Officer (@skittles_ba on twitter)

A: Keith Urban, for sure
D: (to A) What about dead?
A: Michael Jackson

Boyce Avenue, if there's one famous song today or from the past that you wish you have written what would it be and why? -Ana from the Philippines (@anaeiram on twitter)

F: ‘Iris’, or ‘Happy Birthday’. Just for the residuals! (laughs)
A: ‘Stop This Train’ by John Mayer or ‘Say’, either one
D: I think ‘Iris’


And, just for fun, here is a little bit of vloggy goodness.....Andrea's "blooper reel" from her Fan Q&A with the guys.



A couple of thoughts:

• Alejandro's laugh is infectious.
• My question about the music video process received a very vague answer.....I will have to address this more thoroughly the next time I see the guys and get a more detailed answer.  =P

A big thanks to Andrea for asking me to host this on the Get Boyced!! blog.....it was an honor to be invited to be a part of this!! And of course a big HUGE thanks to Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian for taking the time to answer some questions from the fans!!  We love you guys!!

I'm Forever Yours.....Faithfully

Journey's "Faithfully" is easily one of my favorite songs of all time, so when Boyce Avenue decided to cover it, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I knew it would be good....everything Boyce Avenue does is incredible. But I knew that no matter how good Boyce Avenue's version of it was, it wouldn't top the original for me.

Staying true to form, Alejandro has come up with an arrangement that pays homage to the original, but at the same time, he has made it his own. I would have loved to have seen him do this one on the piano, and I think I would love it so much more if he had.



My personal opinion: Boyce Avenue's cover is not as good as the original, but I really didn't expect it to be in this case. I love these guys. I love everything they do. This cover is no exception. They have done the song justice, and I think it's safe to say that Steve Perry would be proud. ♥

The song is available on iTunes on the New Acoustic Sessions, Volume 2 album.

Check out the video for the original version by Journey below:

Another Great Collab from Boyce Avenue and Tyler Ward

Last week, Boyce Avenue released the video for the first of two collaborations Boyce Avenue did with fellow YouTuber Tyler Ward. This week they released the second one....a beautiful cover of Coldplay's "Fix You."

I wasn't too familiar with the original by Coldplay (shame on me) but I went and listened to it a couple of months ago when a friend mentioned it was one of her favorite songs EVER. Great song, but it didn't really resonate with me until I heard Boyce Avenue's take on it....this tends to happen on a pretty regular basis.



This cover is just amazing. It's very quickly moving its way up on my list of favorite Boyce Avenue covers. Alejandro and Tyler sound so good together! But honestly for me, the best part of the video is from about 2:33 on. Alejandro plays that guitar riff so flawlessly (I love Daniel's face at 2:37...you can tell he's very proud of Alejandro)....the control and emotion in Alejandro's voice from 3:55 to 4:22 is amazing.....and Daniel is rockin' that Cajon!! :)

One thing I did notice while watching Coldplay's video for "Fix You" is that they seem to put on an amazing live show, and their fans LOVE them. As an artist, I would think to hear thousands and thousands of people singing your songs would be such an amazing experience. Just for fun, here's Coldplay's video for "Fix You":