By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

It’s no secret music can be political, or that our favorite musical artists often have and express strong opinions about politics, both through their art and in interviews and statements made on social media and other outlets. But what about our elected officials’ connection to music? What are the people we put in power listening to? And are any of them musicians themselves? 

New York City Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani can rap...and some of his work is controversial

Before entering the field of politics, Zohran Mamdani enjoyed a brief career as a rapper. Under the stage names “Young Cardamon” and later “Mr. Cardamom,” Mamdani performed and released songs reflecting his life and the culture he grew up in. 

In “Nani,” a song posted six years ago to the YouTube channel of “Mr. Cardamom,” Mamdani raps from the point of view of an eighty-five year-old grandmother who has had more than enough of her family, particularly her grandson, talking down to her and treating her poorly. The main character in the song is angry enough to cuss people out and demand respect, something the song teaches that she deserves. 

Other songs are not so heartwarming. In 2017, Mamdani released a song titled “Salaam” in which the narrator praises the “Holy Land Five,” a group of people who were convicted of funneling millions to terror group Hamas. Of course, everything a character in a song, or any other piece of performance art, says or does is not reflective of the views of the writer. The sentiments could be that of a character Mamdani created, views he does not share. This song still remains controversial, concerning to many because Mamdani refuses to state that this is not his own view, often sidestepping questions about support for Hamas by quickly changing the subject. 

Several U.S. Presidents have been amateur musicians

As of 2025, America has never elected someone who has made all or at least an important part of their living in music. We have, however, had some presidents who were skilled musicians as a hobby. Multiple sources report that Thomas Jefferson could play both the violin and the cello. John Quincy Adams played the flute. John Tyler played violin. Truman could play the piano. And while most people who were around in the 1990’s remember Clinton playing the saxophone, most Americans forget that Nixon could also play the sax, along with the piano, clarinet, and accordion, and that Obama can sing. 

President Donald Trump is known for liking a wide variety of musical genres

Whether you are a dedicated “Trumper,” a Republican gradually growing ready for new leadership, or a participant in a “No Kings” rally, support for the arts and artists is not something you think of when you think of Donald Trump. He strongly advocates for cutting funding for the arts, and makes a regular habit of calling for the censoring of any artist who expresses disagreement with him or mocks him in any way, going so far as to suggest that Seth Green’s performance mocking him is “probably illegal.” 

It isn’t, but someone with the belief that it is, or even that it should be, illegal to create art that expresses certain beliefs would be expected to have very narrow tastes in art, including music. Surprisingly, the release of Trump’s playlist to the press over the years has revealed his tastes to be quite varied. He seems to listen to a little bit of everything, from Sinatra to tunes from Broadway musicals to classic rock, classic country, and metal. 



Former Representative (D-Texas) / current political activist Beto O’Rourke was in a punk band in the 1990s

Beto O’Rourke served in the House of Representatives from 2013-2019. Although he was defeated by Republican Ted Cruz in 2018, O’Rourke’s time in the House was notable, as it is rare for a Democrat to be so successful in such a heavily Republican state as Texas. According to interviews given to major media outlets such as CBS and The Hill, O’Rourke is undecided as to whether he will run for public office again, and is currently focused on helping other Democrats and progressive causes behind the scenes. 

Regardless of the specific roles he takes on, O’Rourke remains known in American politics as someone who is willing to loudly speak out against things he does not believe in, going so far as to interrupt press conferences and use commencement addresses to speak out against the Trump administration. 

Previously, O’Rourke expressed himself forcefully in a slightly different way, as a member of the post-hardcore punk band Foss. O’Rourke sang and played bass and guitar in the band from 1993-1995. Today their music is a bit difficult to find, but is listed on Discogs, with some clips, including a song titled “Rise” available on YouTube. 

Virginia has the lead singer of a thrash metal band in their state senate 

Danica Roem (D) has served in the state senate in her home state of Virginia since 2024. Previously, she served in the House of Delegates in the same state. Roem most often gains attention from the national media for being openly transgender, formerly known as “Dan.” Roem is one of only three transgender individuals elected to public office as of 2025, and the first in her state. 

Media attention to Roem’s gender identity shifts the focus from a trait that is even rarer to find in politics, one that as of November 2025, is completely unique to Danica Roem. She is the only lead singer of a thrash metal band ever to be elected to public office. 

 Roem’s band, Cab Ride Home, was active between 2006 and 2017. Their music can be found on the website band camp, with clips of performances from 16 years ago available on YouTube. 


Music is indeed a part of nearly everyone’s lives, sometimes in ways we might least expect. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Any music person will tell you that no form of AI will ever replace a human being writing music in response to something they experienced or learned. AI is also a poor substitute for a human writer to create a musician’s publicity and promotional materials, as AI generated writing is often bland and ordinary, and no bot is ever going to care whether or not what it wrote actually helped your band. The same holds true for replacing the person who designs your album cover with AI. You are not going to get the same quality, and you will get absolutely no care. But what about music teachers and promoters? Can AI teach us music skills, teach music history and current events, keep us up on the local music scene,  or promote music appreciation? 

Experiment #1: Guitar lessons 

I have been a professional artist for more than twenty years, but I am a novelist, content writer, and writing teacher, not a professional musician. At age fifty, I have sung as a hobby for more than forty years, but I have a good voice for a hobbyist, not a professional level voice in terms of quality. Decades ago, I briefly played guitar, but while I don’t think I was my teacher’s worst student, I was strongly encouraged to be a singer….not so much a guitar player. 

The above paragraph was entered into chat gpt with the question, “Can you teach me to play guitar?”

Chat gpt responded that it would be delighted to teach me guitar. It told me I already have a few major advantages, calling me a “seasoned artist with creative discipline,” and stating “You have the artistic patience and sensitivity to approach practice meaningfully, not mechanically.” 

It followed that up with a six month lesson plan broken down into three phases, from “the foundation,” in weeks one through four to “accompaniment mastery” in months three through six. 

When learning to play music, AI could certainly be used as a basic outlining tool or guide for lessons. The material it suggested I learn began with basic open chords, G major, C major, and D major. It then went on to suggest I learn strumming patterns, and add chords as the weeks progressed. 

The first and most obvious issue is that chat gpt lives up to its reputation of being overly flattering and unrealistic. Someone who can sing a little but struggles to play an instrument is likely going to need more than three to six months to be able to play well enough to accompany their singing. Sitting there reading the unnecessary flattery also wasted time that could have been spent focused on more detailed instruction. 

Despite its reputation for being able to generate things faster than anything else, chat gpt took three times as long to generate a chord diagram for the C chord than it took me to just find a website that somebody created with the same information. Chat gpt further failed to explain the fingering of the chord, while the site “Online guitar books dot com” owned and written by musician Genaaron Diamente from Melbourne, Australia, offered thar information right under the diagram.  

And just like with writing music, using AI to learn to play still leaves out those things only a human teacher, or at least humans supporting you and cheering you on as you teach yourself would provide, such as telling you what your playing sounds like and noticing whether you seem encouraged and determined or are just going through the motions and might not actually want to play. 

Experiment # 2: Phoenix Radio

As a local station that is both classic and contemporary, Phoenix Radio mixes old school R&B, Jazz, Blues, Rap, Hip-Hop, and Reggae with talk shows focusing on today’s issues. The station is continuously growing, reaching new audiences every week as we add new programs to our lineup and of course, new articles to our blog, all while allowing listeners to enjoy their favorite music from back in the day. 

AI cannot keep up with us. It has apparently never heard of us, and can only find us when told we exist. For this experiment, Microsoft Copilot was asked “Can you tell me about radio stations in Utica, New York?” It responded with a list of what appeared to be every radio station that ever existed in Utica, New York….except Phoenix Radio. 

When asked “What about Phoenix Radio?” Microsoft Copilot AI then appeared to find the very page you’re reading right now, and offered a brief, though slightly incorrect, summary of the station. It appeared to only be able to partially read the first part of the web page, as the only person listed was Scott Carr, the newest member of the Heat Squad, featured in the latest article on the main part of the page. The AI bot completely missed that the article was written by the radio station’s owner and SHE-e-o, Cassandra Harris-Lockwood, as it describes the site owned only by “Phoenix Radio, Inc, a community-focused media organization.” AI further failed to tell the difference between evergreen content on a web page and a comment section, using a fan’s mention of “DJ Butter” on the site “Online radio box”  to conclude that “DJ Butter” is a show. Anyone who has ever listened to the station knows that DJ Butter is a person.

Switching back over to chatgpt and asking “Who are the DJs of 95.5 The Heat: Phoenix Radio?” generated results that at least correctly identified DJ Butter as a person, but could only list two more people, DJ Tone and Bobby Bounce, and could not find the schedule or the names of any more members of the Heat Squad. When prompted with individual names, it could only read portions of the page or pick up articles about the founding of the station posted on the Utica Phoenix newspaper’s website in 2018. 

When looking for information about current events in music, or insight into the local music scene, AI is not only a poor source, it is something to avoid entirely. 

Experiment # 3: Some alternative facts about punk/alternative rock

Current and local events were certainly a failure, but there was still hope that AI could teach a bit of music appreciation and history. For this experiment, the prompt was “Teach me about the beginning of the punk and alternative scene in the 1980s.” 

While I am far from an expert on this subject, it is my favorite genre of music, so I would at least be able to tell if the bot just started spitting out the names of things that weren’t bands, or if it gave me a timeline off by an entire decade. It didn’t quite do that, but it didn’t provide anywhere near an accurate picture either. 

The biggest mistake “open ai,” which opened up a search engine on chatgpt, made in this experiment was to nearly leave out an entire city. According to the outline of the history of punk and alternative music generated by this chat gpt search, there was only one punk band to emerge out of Minneapolis, Husker Du. 

Husker Du was indeed an important punk band, they were just far from the only one in Minneapolis in the 1980s, a fact copilot can only seem to pick up when asked directly for a list of punk and alternative bands in Minneapolis in the 1980s. Following the links provided, and actually reading some of the articles that come up but aren’t picked up by AI teaches us that there were more than forty punk/alternative bands to come from Minneapolis, many of them from the same era. 

Unlike the material offered when asked for lessons, AI did not waste time with unnecessary flattery when asked about 1980’s punk and alternative history. And it didn’t get things completely wrong, like mistaking a person for a show, as it did when prompted to teach about current and local events in music. If you searched further into some of the bands the bot did mention, such as Black Flag and Joy Division, you would indeed find that these are important punk bands, and be encouraged to learn more. It just made a lot of mistakes by omission. If you knew nothing about the punk and alternative scene of the 1980s, relying on AI might leave you with a startlingly incomplete, and therefore inaccurate, picture. 

When learning about music, AI can serve as a helpful starting place or a source of misinformation. Searching using slightly different key words, typing the same ones in a different number of times, or even just performing these same searches on a different day may yield slightly or even entirely different results, perhaps better, maybe worse.  Overall, AI may give you a few ideas to take to your music teacher, favorite music expert, or local music personality, but it could never replace any of those people. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio 

Fall is a beautiful season. Between the colors, the crisp air, and the coming holidays, it is a favorite time of the year for many. But with all the coziness comes a drop in temperature that can bring on health issues or make them worse. It’s respiratory virus season, and some of those can be serious. People with indoor allergies lose the open windows and less crowded spaces that brought them some relief in warmer weather. Those who deal with arthritis or other causes of chronic pain, asthma, Grave’s disease, and depression often find cold weather worsens their symptoms. A lot of us are going to be spending some days, or at least some evenings after work, stuck at home coping with a health issue. While it is not a substitute for the appropriate professional care and treatment of whatever you may be going through, music can help you cope with and heal during those times you are out of commission due to a temporary or chronic health condition. 

Consider these five songs to get you started on your own coping and healing playlist. 

You Sound Like You’re Sick ( The Ramones 1981): Punk

The Ramones “You Sound Like You’re Sick” describes someone who looks and sounds so bad, they need to move into an institution as their new home. While this certainly isn’t something we hope to relate to on a literal level, the combination of the lyrics and the angry tone of the music make this a great one for those times when your health issue is making you feel like you’re just never going to move out of your bed or off of your couch again, and you’ve had just about enough of feeling that way. 

1919 Influenza Blues (Essie Jenkins 1930s): Blues 

Little is known about the origins of this song, including who wrote the lyrics or the exact year that the song was recorded. Based on the music and lyrics, most sources estimate that it must be from sometime in the 1930’s. The song reflects the attitude that illness, in this particular example, the deadly 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, was punishment from God for wrongdoing. It is often featured on protest music sites as a way to protest against this habit of blaming people for their illness, an attitude that certainly still exists today. The song may be nearly a century old, but the message is certainly one that will resonate with anyone coping with both a chronic health condition and everyone telling them that if they just did better, simply ate healthier, exercised more, forced themselves to look on the bright side, or tried this supplement, it would all go away. 

Unwell (Matchbox Twenty 2003): Alternative rock 

The tempo of this song about struggling with mental illness is a bit more upbeat than the lyrics would seem to call for, giving it a hopeful feel despite noting that the person the narrator is singing to does not care about them right now. Adding to the hope is the line “soon enough you’re gonna think of me, and how I used to be.” Anyone who has ever had to make changes in their long-term plans due to a mental health problem will likely relate to this feeling that people do not care, that they brush their illness off as “crazy” or nothing but a series of bad or self-indulgent choices. At the same time, it can serve as a reminder that not everyone will respond in this way, and that even those who do may remember them the way they were when they were healthy. 

Believer (Imagine Dragons 2017): Rock

While many songs about illness and healing are about the issue in general, or at least about an illness or epidemic overall, Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” was written about their lead singer Dan Reynolds’ lifelong struggles with multiple chronic illnesses, including a type of arthritis known as “Anklylosing Spondylitis,” a condition that causes severe back pain as well as other serious health issues like fatigue and reduced flexibility and mobility. 

Despite the cry of “Pain!” throughout the song, it is not about simply being in pain, but about the process of coping with pain and coming out stronger and happier on the other side. Listening to the song can be encouraging for anyone who feels like there is no other side to what they are going through, while its existence serves as a reminder that those with chronic illnesses are not doomed to spend all of their time focused on their illness, and  have the potential to be successful in their chosen field. 


Not Afraid (Eminem 2010): Rap

Eminem has long been open about his struggles with addiction, and has written multiple songs about addiction and the problems it can cause. This one expresses determination to retake control of one’s life and keep promises made to others. Although the lyrics are explicit in places, and there is an undercurrent of anger at both the addiction and those who stood in the way of the narrator’s recovery, the song does encourage fans to take charge of their treatment plan for an addiction or any other serious, long-term health issue. 

Be sure to tune in to 95.5 The Heat: Phoenix Radio to listen for additional ideas for this playlist and more great Blues, Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, Reggae, and Soul. If you suspect you may have one of the health issues referenced in this article or have any other health concerns, please seek help from a trained and licensed healthcare provider as soon as possible. 
 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio 

Musicians and other artists are growing increasingly independent. While it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to land a contract with a major record label without securing an agent and having your music professionally produced, today’s technology does allow an artist to design, maintain, and grow a more localized career on their own, or perhaps with occasional collaboration with others in various parts of the field of music. 

This flexibility and opportunity to take greater control of your own career has both benefits and drawbacks for the artist and for the music business overall, one of the most dangerous risks being greater exposure to scammers who target musicians. The most common scams targeting musicians in late 2025 seem to fall into one of three categories. 

Catfish: Agent, manager, and music PR person edition 

An entire television series, numerous blogs, and multiple channels on YouTube have been devoted to “catfish” or “romance scams” in which one or more people target those looking for some form of dating relationship online. Some romance scammers pretend to be entirely fictional people, stealing photos, portions of biographical information, and names from a collection of profiles to craft a character, trick the target into falling in love with them, and then manipulate that person into sending them money. Others use portions of their real identify, but falsify situations and fake the relationship for the same goals. People who do this are more than willing to revise their story if something else will work a bit better to get them to their true goal, getting their targets to send them money. The same people who are online waiting to pretend to be somebody’s boyfriend, girlfriend, or fiance have no problem pretending to be your adopted aunt or sister or your second mom or dad if that’s what they realize you’re looking for…..and that flexibility extends to faking a professional relationship. 

One of the most common scams targeting musicians today is the exact same scam as the now well-known romance or friendship scam, the person is just pretending to be an agent, manager, or public relations person looking to advance your career rather than someone seeking some type of personal relationship with you. The story unfolds in a similar manner. The person approaches you, or baits you to talk to them in some type of online environment. They “love bomb” you, telling you how talented you are, how effortless it is going to be for them to turn your talent into financial success. But just as there is always an excuse as to why the couple or the pair of friends can’t meet in the classic version of the scam, in the musician-targeting version, there is always a reason why the album can’t be made or the gig fell through. Of course, you just need to pay one more fee or pay them for one more month and everything will work out in the end. 


Processing fees to get your music placed 

Instead of claiming to be your future music industry professional, scammers using this tactic to separate you from your money play on that independence so many musicians and other artists are embracing today. No manager, PR person, agent, or producer is needed, these individuals claim. You can grow your own career by getting your music placed in movies and television shows created for and produced by Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, placing your work in front of an audience of millions of people every time they sit down to binge watch the latest show or watch a movie at home, all the while drawing royalties. 

Like the fake agent or manager, these scammers first approach you with a lot of flattery. They’re brimming with compliments for you, your music, and your entire career. Not only are they impressed with you, these scammers claim, they know that your music, or even just one particular song, would be absolutely perfect for this show or that movie. All you have to do to get that placement is to pay them a processing fee for doing a little work on your behalf to get it there. 

This may sound reasonable to an independent musician who is used to hiring out various individual tasks while he retains overall control of his music. You’re just paying a person to do some promotion for your art. It isn’t. Anyone asking for any type of fee or payment to get your music placed anywhere is only setting you up for a scam. 

People who legitimately place music in movies and t.v. shows are not just random people with connections and a willingness to pepper a movie or t.v show with your music for a small fee. They are music industry professionals called “music supervisors.” These people are in charge of all facets of securing and placing music in movies and shows, including licensing and budgeting. Their jobs involve dedicated and careful research, networking  and collaboration. Anyone claiming they can just place your music as soon as you send them some cash is not a real music supervisor. 

Pay to play scams

Pay to play scams can be the most difficult ones to detect, because there are situations in which the offer to pay to play someplace is legitimate. For example, a local business might host an open mic event in which all attendees are asked to pay a cover charge to enter. Some venues may choose to waive that fee for those who sign up to perform. Others may not. 

The key difference between a legitimate “pay to play” situation and one that is a scam is that in a legitimate situation, the musician or other artist receives some type of compensation. You pay that cover charge to attend a business’ open mic. They get your money. In return, you get exposure to the audience that is made up of everyone who showed up there just because that particular place hosted the event. 

If the pay to play event is a scam, the audience won’t be there. Some pay to play scammers misrepresent their connection to real events. They claim to be collecting cover charges in advance for this showcase at that bar or coffeehouse, but in reality have no connection to the place or event, and no ability to add you to the list. Others collect fees for completely fake events, pretending to cancel or even simply vanishing with no further contact as the event draws near. Still others operate in a bit of a gray area. They may legitimately own, manage or work for the venue or event, and there may actually be something scheduled, but they may have deliberately and greatly misrepresented the size of the audience, guaranteeing “a crowd” when they know their place will likely be empty at the time, or making outlandish promises, such as claiming a famous music producer might be in attendance when they know this is very unlikely to be true. 

Time and careful research are going to be your best defenses against these scams. Demand verifiable results from anyone claiming they can lead you to success in your music career. Talk to people who have worked with them before, preferably offline, in person, and in a public place. Check out venues and other businesses both online and in person. 

Verified outside experts are another important resource. If you know someone who is a  lawyer, music producer, music PR person, or manager, run the name and online presence of anyone who approaches you by that person before signing or even verbally agreeing to allow them into your music career. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio 

Tales involving twists of fate can serve as both an inspiration and a warning. We hear of someone being upset with their spouse for not waking them up early enough on the day of a big meeting or job interview, only to later learn that a tragedy occurred on what would have been their route. Or their roommate kept asking silly questions as they tried to get out the door, it made them forget their umbrella, and when they ducked into a coffee shop to get out of the rain, they met the love of their life or their new best friend. A few of these tales circulate among music fans. Some are absolutely true. Others turn out to be nothing more than debunked urban legends. Still others cannot be proven, but there is also no proof they didn’t happen. 

True: Country legend Waylon Jennings missed dying in a plane crash at age twenty-one by switching rides with the Big Bopper

Waylon Jennings passed away at a very young age by today’s standards, dying in 2002 at only sixty-four years old. However, he would have only made it to twenty-one had he not done what he believed at the time to be a simple act of kindness for another musician back on February 3, 1959. 

Now often referred to as “the day the music died,” this day refers to a tragedy in the early days of rock music. Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, Jr (known professionally as The Big Bopper) and Richie Valens were all killed when the small plane intended to be a more comfortable ride than the freezing tour bus they had available, crashed. 

As the musicians discussed and bickered and bartered to decide where to put everyone between the bus and the plane, Jennings realized that Richardson was already sick from spending time on the bus with a broken heater. He gave up his seat on the plane so that Richardson would not get any sicker, and took his place on the cold bus. The plane would later crash, killing everyone on board. Jennings’ choice of taking the bus over taking the plane saved his life that day. 

Unverifiable: Someone was prevented from ending their own life because a John Denver song began playing in their room.

According to the urban legend, John Denver’s by then ex-wife, Annie Martell, worked as a mental health counselor. During one session, a young woman asked her if she had been married to John Denver. When Martell said that yes, she had been, but then reminded the young woman that it was important to focus on herself during  her counseling session, the woman explained that this story was about her. She had been planning to end her own life when a John Denver song began playing on a record player or radio in her room. The music was so sweet, so loving, and so hopeful, the woman knew she had to stick around in a world that contained such gentleness.

There was once an entire tumblr page devoted to John Denver and how much he meant to his fans, but this particular story has never been verified. Current searches for Annie Martell generate vague answers about her profession, with some referring to her as being “in education,” or “in tv” and not even a counselor at all. Phrasing the question differently only results in an AI generated “Yes” indicating the story is true, backed up by a link to an article that does not even mention Martell as a counselor or anything of this nature happening. This is of course the result of AI being programmed to tell people what it reads them as wanting to hear rather than evidence that the events in the story actually did occur. 

While this story cannot be proven, it does not mean John Denver’s music did not have such a profound and beneficial impact on one or more fans. It is entirely possible that something similar to this story did in fact happen, and the person simply chose not to publicize it, or to come forward as the inspiration for the debunked urban legend. 

False: The Ohio Players’ song “Love roller coaster” just happens to contain a real scream from someone in serious distress. 

It would not be at all unusual for a song that uses a roller coaster as a metaphor to feature a scream as a sound effect. People do after all sometimes scream when things feel like roller coasters in their lives, and they often scream when riding on an actual roller coaster. Hiring a backup singer to scream at a certain time during the recording of a song called “Love roller coaster” would not be at all odd, not a twist of fate at all. 

However, during an interview, a DJ pointed out that the scream on the record sounded particularly anguished, and particularly high-pitched and feminine, and made a crack about someone being deliberately harmed to produce the sound. 

This led to speculation that the person screaming was a woman, and that the woman was in great genuine distress. The exact nature of the distress varied, with some versions being especially gruesome. Regardless of the details, the story began to circulate that the band just happened to have recorded the song somewhere near a horrible incident, and instead of stopping, finding the victim, and rendering aid, they simply kept recording, since it fit in well with the song.

Nothing even remotely like this actually happened. There was no woman in distress anywhere near the band when the song was recorded. There wasn’t even a female vocalist hired to make it sound like they’d recorded someone screaming. The scream on the song is actually a screech made by keyboard player Billy Beck. 

Twists of fate certainly can occur in music. Some, like  the story of Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, Jr, and Richie Valens, are real and tragic. Others just might be life-saving or life-changing, even if there is no public record to prove they happened. Still others will be wild urban legends, with the only twist being the off-hand comment that launched them coming at the right time to inspire an urban legend. 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio
​
 The Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” It’s impossible for adult English speakers to learn another language. In order to stay hydrated, you have to drink eight full glasses of water every day. Many people would insist these are all pieces of common knowledge, yet none of them are true.“God helps those who help themselves” is a quote from Benjamin Franklin, and is the opposite of Jesus’ teachings in the Bible. Language learning is possible at any age, from any starting language. And the eight glasses of water refers to eight cups, making a drinking glass about two glasses of water or more. Other drinks, such as milk, juice, even coffee, also count toward daily water intake.

In music, we find even more of these pieces of conventional wisdom or common knowledge that just aren’t true.

"Every Breath You Take” by The Police is a love song about knowing everything about your partner.

When you’re in love with someone, the little things about them become important to you. A girlfriend notices that her boyfriend uses exactly three products from a men’s skincare line every morning and always puts on a white shirt when he has a business meeting. The boyfriend notes that his girlfriend drinks hot tea instead of coffee in the morning, and that she likes it with just half a teaspoon of real sugar. A husband and wife each know which tv shows their spouse will put on in the evening. For many, these are signs of real love, and “Every Breath You Take” is chosen as their song in celebration of those sentiments.

This lasts until someone points out that the song is actually about stalking. The main character/narrator in “Every Breath You Take” isn’t in love with the person he’s talking to. They were once in a relationship, or at least were in each others’ lives, but their paths no longer intersect. He’s now obsessed with tracking her every move, noting that he will pay attention to things that are far from charming details and are in fact angering, such as “every bond you break” and “every game you play.”

Contemporary Christian music is always upbeat and happy.

Think of the stereotype of a Christian today, and the traits you list are likely going to be conservative politics, a startlingly conventional appearance, and a demeanor that is always perky and wholesome.

Walk into any church that embraces modern worship music, and you can expect to hear a lot of music that does little to discourage people from forming this image. Most of it is indeed pop music with Christian lyrical themes. This picture of contemporary Christian music is most strongly promoted by the Christian radio station K-Love, with its tagline of “positive, encouraging K-Love” and constant playlist of the latest in Christian pop.

But just as there are Christians with liberal politics, their own sense of style, and a wide variety of moods and interests, there is contemporary Christian music with somber, even dark themes. It is just much less popular and a little more difficult to find than the kind of music you hear on K-Love.

Searches for “Christian music with darker themes” or “dark Christian music” generate more than thirty Spotify playlists, many of which tend toward metal and hardcore styles. The band “Wovenhand,” fronted by David Eugene Edwards, would fit into many punk/alternative playlists. Their song “Dirty Blue,” reflects on the despair of people finding comfort in a world fallen away from God, and sadness at having to live in such a world.

Punk music disappeared in the 1980s

Ask someone to make you a 1980’s playlist, and the person is likely to come back with a collection of songs by Madonna, Rick Springfield, Debbie Gibson, Air Supply, and a series of one-hit wonders with a similar sound. Tack the very early 1990’s on to that, and they’ll tack on some of the first pop bands to be called “boy bands.”

Many people don’t realize that punk and alternative existed and continued to grow throughout the 1980s, especially in larger cities. Minneapolis in particular was home to a thriving and important punk/alternative scene during the decade. Clubs such as First Avenue, 7th Street Entry, and The Longhorn hosted bands that would play a pivotal role in shaping not only the punk music scene, but would pave the way for the 1990’s alternative and grunge music that seemed to steer the world away from 1980’s pop.

Next time you make a 1980’s playlist, fill it with bands such as Husker Du, The Suicide Commandos, Babes in Toyland, and the Replacements.

The lyrics of “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins are a true story about someone watching another person drown but neglecting to help them

The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” is a dark song about doing something horrible to another person that people mistakenly believe is a love song. “In the Air Tonight” is the subject of the same common misconception, just in reverse.

Lines like “Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand” and “Well I was there and I saw what you did” have been latched onto and taken literally by several listeners, who then concluded that the song must have been written from the perspective of a person who saw somebody refuse to help a drowning victim. As the urban legend grew, it began to be reported that the story told by the lyrics was not only about a drowning death, it was nonfiction.

While the song does indeed tell a true story, it is not about somebody allowing another person to perish in the water. “In the Air Tonight” is a love song, in particular, a “love gone wrong” song. It was written by Collins about his divorce from his first wife.

Song lyrics are poetry

Song lyrics and poems are both art forms that use, and often rhyme, words. Because both song lyrics and poetry often rely on rhyming while other art forms that use words, such as novels, plays, movies, and various forms of creative nonfiction typically do not use rhyming, some people conclude that the two art forms are the same.

While there are some songs whose lyrics can be easily read as a poem, and some poems that may be able to double as lyrics, this is very rare. Song lyrics and poetry are actually distinct art forms with important differences.

Because song lyrics are designed to be sung, or in the case of rap, spoken to music, they are written to a melody and include the structural pieces of a song, such as verses, choruses, and bridges. Poems are structured differently, as they are designed to be recited alone.

Challenge the next person who claims that song lyrics are poetry to a perfectly safe, ethical experiment. Have the person, or the nearest person who can sing, try to sing a poem. Then try to recite the last song you listened to as a poem. You’ll find that neither one quite works out.


Did you believe any of these common music myths and misconceptions? What do you know about music that just might not be true?

 By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

There are countless songs out there about finding someone attractive, falling in love, romantic relationships ending, and looking for romantic relationships of various types. Though not as plentiful, there are still several songs about feeling confident, working, reaching goals, travel, money, partying, facing tragedy, going to school, and spirituality. What if your situation falls into one of those categories, but is a bit more nuanced? What if it isn’t about any of those things at all? No matter how strange, alienating, unique, or just plain unacknowledged your situation may feel, there’s a song for that.

Dealing with a bedbug infestation: Mean Old Bedbug Blues (Furry Lewis, 1927)

While not physically dangerous beyond the pain of their bites, bedbugs wreck havoc on finances and on mental health. Picking up a bedbug from a hotel or other place that has become infested typically results in an infestation of your own home or business. You may spend weeks, months, or even years finding the tiny insects in your bedding, couch, towels, soft chairs, even in your curtains. Getting rid of them requires repeated pricey treatments, ten times as much cleaning and laundering as you typically do, even making large purchases to replace hopelessly infested items. Couple this with the knowledge that there may be something crawling around your house looking to bite you and feed on your blood, and you have more stress than many people can handle.
Finish dragging that mattress to the trash collection site, order a new one, clean your house one more time, then take a break and listen to “Mean Old Bedbug Blues.” The song was originally recorded by Furry Lewis, but there are several covers that are much more popular, including versions by Lonnie Johnson and Bessie Smith.

Cheating with your ex while in a relationship with someone else: Lips of an Angel (Hinder, 2006)

Romantic infidelity is a common theme in popular music. Searches for “songs about cheating” bring up multiple lists of more than forty songs each. Hinder’s “Lips of an Angel” appears to be the only one to make it clear from the lyrics that the narrator is in a romantic entanglement with someone he used to be in a relationship with while officially in a relationship with someone else. In the song, the main character and narrator answers a phone call from his ex late at night by addressing her as “Honey,” and proceeds to confess that while his current partner is in the next room, he wishes he were still with the girl on the phone, noting they “never really moved on.” It gets worse from there, with admissions that the current girlfriend doesn’t even know the two of them still talk, the girl on the phone also has someone new, and there are no plans to discontinue the illicit conversations.
Anyone who relates to the narrator in this one doesn’t deserve to be comforted. Use it as a reminder that many songs express fantasy not reality, the person you’re cheating on probably actually does “have a clue” and you need to be a much better person. Everyone else just needs to remember that this is not an appropriate song for new relationships, engagements, and weddings, even if the title does make it sound like it should be.

Feeling the urge to lie to your friends about why your romantic relationship ended: 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (Train, 2012)

We all deal with unhappy times differently. Some need to lean on friends, going over the situation in detail until we learn something or at least feel better. Others would rather not rehash it repeatedly. Still others don’t want to talk about it because it’s embarrassing. If your unhappy times revolve around a recent breakup, and your situation falls firmly in the “embarrassing” category, there is a song out there for you. Plenty of songs about lying exist, but nearly all of them are either about lying to someone you’re in a romantic relationship with, or suspecting or finding out you’re with someone who has been lying to you. In “50 Ways to Say Goodbye,” the narrator describes a situation in which no deception existed in the relationship, he just doesn’t feel like reporting all the “it’s not you, it’s me” lines his now ex gave him as she broke his heart. He decides to instead tell his friends that his girlfriend isn’t around anymore because she perished tragically, in a series of increasingly far fetched ways.

Unlike the deception in “Lips of an Angel,” the urge to lie presented in this song is understandable. While the situation is pretty specific, we have all had those embarrassing times we wish we could just cover up, even if most of us wouldn’t think to tell some people are ex was eaten by a lion and others that they fried themselves while tanning.

Finding creative ways to get what you want at a great price: One Piece at a Time
(Johnny Cash, 1976)

Money songs tend to be about celebrating it in excess, praising all the indulgences it can bring. There are also songs about saving money, and about living in poverty. Some of these songs are sad. Some are angry. Many are hopeful, full of plans about what the narrators are going to do once they find a way out of poverty.

“One Piece at a Time” takes that a leap further by providing a You-Tube video worthy step by step narrative of a character’s process for building his own unique luxury vehicle after seeing luxury cars he could never afford while working at a factory for low pay. The car described in the lyrics of this song would not only be hideous to look at, it is not something anyone could ever drive. The narrator’s process of collecting the pieces for his project, stealing them and sneaking them out of his workplace, makes the whole idea even worse. But as the song points out, nobody else would ever have car like this, and it wouldn’t cost a dime.

While the song is of course satire, listening to it will probably remind you of that person in your life who would go almost this far to get something they want without paying full price for it.


Always look for some music. No matter what you’re going through or why, there is music to accompany you. Even if you think your situation is something nobody else would understand, or you’re afraid this is something nobody would ever have written a song about, you just might be surprised to learn there is in fact a song out there to comfort, convict, or encourage you.

 By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 95 5 The Heat 

The cancellation of the late-night tv show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” brought censorship to the news and to social media and all its memes. On September 17, 2025, Kimmel spoke out against the behavior of President Donald Trump following the murder of right-wing content creator and non-profit owner Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s remarks suggested that Trump’s mourning for Kirk may be insincere, as he was able to shift his focus to the ballroom he’s designing remarkably quickly following Kirk’s passing.
Although not cited as a reason for the show’s cancellation, country singer Margo Price has since become famous as the last musician to play on the show prior to the cancellation, and was reported to have said she was glad she “got the last word” with an anti-fascist song.
Those who support the removal of Kimmel’s show from the air argue that the decision was made by a private corporation, and was not in fact censorship. Others note that the cancellation happened due to pressure from the Trump administration, amounting to government censorship. But what exactly is “censorship?” We all think we know the answer, but there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the term, the first amendment, and the concept of “free speech.”
Myth: The first amendment means you get to say anything you want anywhere you want without any unwanted results.

Reality: The first amendment protects you from punishment by the government for what you say, not from the consequences of your actions.
Shortly before the Kimmel cancellation, various content creators on YouTube covered stories of people who were shocked to find themselves fired because of things they posted on TikTok. Most of them did not understand that you could be fired from a job for what you say and do on the air, including the internet, and thought that their firing amounted to censorship. These were not cases of censorship, regardless of how professionally embarrassing they may have been for the person who was fired for their content. Censorship, or denial of your right to free speech ,occurs when the government jails you, fines you, or denies you permits, licenses, or other services because of what you said. None of the people fired for their TikToks were going to jail, paying any fines, or being denied any government services because of their content. As far as the law was concerned, they were still completely free to say whatever they wanted. Their employers had just decided they were not welcome to say it while working for them. This was not censorship, simply the consequences of the individuals’ actions.
In the Kimmel case, Price was definitely not censored in any way. Her song was not cited as a reason for the show’s cancellation. Had ABC independently decided that Kimmel was not welcome to criticize Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s murder on their platform, he would also have experienced no censorship, just the consequences of his actions. Kimmel would have been completely free to go find another network or another platform and say whatever he wanted to say. However, the show’s cancellation is likely due to pressure from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.. As the chairman of a portion of the government, Carr would be able to exert influence and pressure to prevent Kimmel from saying what he said no matter where Kimmel went by denying licensing to anyone who would host him. When the government decides that you must be prevented from saying whatever it is that you said, that is censorship.
Myth: People who respond to your social media comments by telling you that you are misinformed, asking you to stop harassing or trolling, or threatening to delete and block you are denying your first amendment right to free speech.
Reality: Musicians monitoring their fan pages and other page managers and owners are not agents of the government, they are private citizens deciding what they will and will now allow in private space.
Several musicians have made statements about both Charlie Kirk’s murder and Jimmy Kimmel’s cancellation, and as is the case when statements are made on social media, the posts get widely mixed reactions, some of which may be distasteful to the original poster. Many choose to deal with these unwanted comments by removing them from their page, or even blocking the person who posted them. A musician or other social media account owner deleting your comments and blocking you from their page is not censoring you. That person does not have the power to put you in jail, make you pay a fine, haul you off to a re-education camp, or deny you licensing or other benefits that you could not get someplace else. A fan who is deleted and blocked from a musician’s page still has the option of going on to another artist’s page and saying the same thing, posting the same thing on their own page, or walking around chanting whatever it was they said out loud if they choose to do so.
This still holds true if a lot of people join in on the calls for you to stop posting whatever it is you’re posting on the page in question. This is not censorship. The page owner is doing the same thing a homeowner or renter is doing when they inform someone that promoting social, political, or spiritual beliefs they do not agree with is unwelcome in their home. All those other people are simply stating that if you came over to their real or virtual “house,” you would not be welcome to talk like that there either. You can still say what you said on your own page, or on another page that welcomes sentiments like yours.
Myth: Criticizing someone who experienced violence is a call to violence, and therefore not protected speech under the first amendment.
Reality: The use of violence as a reaction to anything anyone says violates criminal law and is never justified. Criticizing things that person said before the act of violence was done against them does not in any way suggest there should be an exception to the law.
As arguments about Kimmel rage on over the internet and in other public space, additional people, including some musicians, are further taking sides in an argument over whether or not it is acceptable to criticize Kirk’s words in the wake of his murder. Those who argue that it is not link criticism of Kirk with support or even celebration of what happened to him to end his life. Others point out that their criticism is directed at content Kirk himself created and posted, and has nothing to do with the way that his life ended.
Murder is illegal in the United States. It is also in violation of the teachings of Christianity and nearly every other spiritual or religious belief system. What happened to Charlie Kirk should not have happened to him, and should never happen to anyone. This does not change the fact that his YouTube channel alone is full of content that a lot of Americans, and a lot of Christians, point out is not in line with the law or with the teachings of Jesus. Pointing this out does not mean a person is in any way mocking his murder or denying the impact he had on those who loved him. They are simply doing what Kirk is often celebrated for, arguing against a point someone else made.
On September 22, 2025, multiple news outlets announced that Jimmy Kimmel would return to the air on September 23, 2025. While this instance of censorship was quickly corrected, members of both sides of the political spectrum have noted that it sets a dangerous precedent for comedians, other spoken word artists, and everyone else in the arts and beyond.
Disagreement is not censorship. Criticizing someone is not censorship. Private citizens and private entities refusing to allow content on their privately owned space is not censorship. However, any form of pressure, punishment, or threats from anyone acting as an agent of the government in response to what someone says is censorship, a violation of the first amendment of the United States Constitution, and the denial of the right to free speech.

by Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat, Phoenix Radio
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Musicians building their career have often needed day jobs and side hustles to pay the bills and finance their art projects. Ideally, that job would be something that put them in the same spaces as those in the music industry, such as working at a club that booked bands, or doing office work inside a studio. If that type of work was not available, the standard career advice for any artist was to wait tables as a day job. But like most work, that may be shifting today. Waiting or bussing tables is still an option for a musician in need of a day job in 2025, but it may not be the best option. There are a few others that may be work around writing and/or performing music much better for some people.

Waiting tables as a day job or side hustle

Day jobs are jobs that are completely outside of your career field. You do not do any work that is directly related to your art. You don’t practice it, teach it, coach others in it, present it, or produce it. The only reason to do these jobs, unless you have a second calling and this work is just as important as your music, is to make money to pay your bills. Waiting tables has always been such a go-to day job for musicians and other artists because it has a high potential to do just that. A few years ago, a manager at a local branch of Applebees noted that some of the servers were doing so well, they were able to afford down payments on houses he could not even afford to live in, despite advancing farther up the corporate ladder. The career advice and information website “Break room dot com,” currently reports that some waiters at chain restaurants report making more than $27.00 per hour.
Waiting tables may also allow a musician to keep in shape, meaning gym memberships and workout programs and classes can be eliminated from the budget, even when they book several gigs in a row and would need to build their stamina and endurance for the stage. Waitstaff also get discounted or even free food, which can reduce grocery costs.
In addition to the financial benefit, waiting tables is often suggested for musicians today because it allows work to stay “at work.” You can clock out, go home, and go to practice or rehearsal without worrying about customers calling, texting, or emailing you.
Despite the benefits, there are several drawbacks to waiting tables as a day job for musicians. While the exercise might be a benefit, it can also be a hindrance, as the work is often too physically tiring to allow for any other type of work once the shift is over. The reported high pay is a possibility, not a guarantee. And while you do get to leave work at work, customer demands and behavior can make it emotionally draining anyway.

Driving for order delivery and rideshare companies as an independent contractor

Hiring yourself out as an independent driver to companies such as DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, Grubhub, Shipt, or Postmates has rapidly grown into the modern equivalent of “just go wait tables,” work that many assume musicians, actors, and anyone else who needs to make money while focusing on other things can easily go and do. Pretty much anyone who can pass a background check, obtain a driver’s license, and access a vehicle that can be used to provide rides or deliveries can be accepted into the pool of drivers, but that doesn’t mean those same people will actually get to work.
Income varies greatly. There are rideshare and delivery drivers who no longer need traditional day jobs, because their income from what they thought would be a side hustle pays for everything they want and more. There are also rideshare and delivery drivers who sit in parking lots for hours at a time, earning nothing for the time they spend waiting, only to finish a four or even an eight hour shift with just a few dollars.
Unlike working in a restaurant, this is not a job you can leave at work. The app on the phone always seems to beckon, bringing feelings of guilt to anyone not constantly logged in and waiting to make money. Customer issues can also be intense, with people reporting drivers for trivial details about their rides or blaming them for errors made by the restaurant staff.
Schedule flexibility seems to be the one reason a musician might choose rideshare and delivery company work as a day job. These jobs are some of the few that can truly be worked around rehearsals, writing time, recording sessions, even tours.

Retail customer service

Finding employment in a retail environment is another traditional “go to” day job for musicians and other artists. It can be a solid option, as, like restaurant work, you can leave the work at home at the end of your shift. Bad managers may overstep standard behavioral expectations for adults by texting workers to demand they take extra shifts at a moment’s notice or ask questions about the workplace when the employee is not clocked in, but this is not meant to be a standard part of the job. You won’t get texts from customers asking questions you’re required to answer, or be forced to carry around your time clock, making you feel obligated to log back in and work some more.
A retail worker’s pay is fairly steady. It’s much easier to budget and plan for everyday expenses and the added expenses brought on by your latest project if you know how much money you’re earning each pay period.
The primary drawback is that the pay is low, coupled with work that is often physically and mentally draining. Given the option of working all day every day for guaranteed minimum wage or working part-time with the possibility of earning much more, musicians and others who need to go home and put in a whole other day’s work when their day job is done may decide the uncertainly of restaurant or rideshare work is worth it.

Salaried driving jobs

While most immediately think of rideshare driving when someone suggests a driving job, driving jobs still exist for places such as schools, nursing homes, senior centers, organizations that serve anyone with a disability, and companies that provide courier and delivery services to their clients and customers.
Some musicians and other artists prefer these jobs to driving as an independent contractor, because they provide a steady wage or salary. Pay is guaranteed, rather than just a possibility for those willing to sit in a parking lot earning nothing for several hours. There is no app, so the work is able to be left behind at the end of every shift. Those who work driving a school bus of course blend driving work with childcare, but drivers who work for smaller companies may only have to provide short rides to adults, or transport materials from one local business to another. This can result in relatively low-stress work, allowing plenty of time and energy for your music once your shift is done.

These are just the most commonly mentioned and promoted day jobs for musicians. There are of course many more, and which job is best for a specific person is going to depend on the individual’s music practice, skills, health, interests, and other obligations in life.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 95 5 The Heat: Phoenix Radio 

Classes typically start at the end of August, but most students, teachers, parents, and others whose work revolves around a school feel firmly “back to school” around the beginning of September. As settling in to attend classes and do homework becomes routine, music can often be heard through the doors of children’s rooms, college dorm rooms, and the offices of teachers and older adult students. Conventional wisdom once dictated that this was a bad idea. Music was thought to be distracting, something to listen to after studying was finished for the day, not while doing anything related to learning. Today, it is known that music can boost learning, but every song will not be a great choice for every back to school playlist. The best “back to school” playlist for you or your child will depend largely on what happens when you sit down to study

Difficulty focusing

Between the lure of the phone sitting nearby or tucked in the bag at your feet, the ease of clicking over to TikTok or YouTube from your online class, and the “hustle” mentality that makes us feel guilty for not doing three things at once, difficulty focusing is a common problem in classes and during independent study time these days.

Music can help. Many experts maintain that classical music, or any other type of music without words is best to help you focus. They argue that lyrics often serve as a distraction to the material you, your students, or your children are trying to learn. Others believe the best music to help with focus is any music that is familiar to the person struggling to keep their attention on what they need to learn.
Memory issues

Whether a student is in first grade or heading into the first week of the final portion of their terminal degree program, there are few academic experiences more demoralizing than studying something then being unable to recall the material when needed for a test, presentation, or other project. If memory seems to be the stumbling block for you or your student, music can help.

Earlier this year, a study conducted at Rice University suggests the best music to help with difficulty remembering details is the music the student enjoys, but does not react strongly to in any way. According to the conclusions drawn from this study, those who are having problems recalling more general concepts will want to listen to music that evokes a strong reaction in them. This study was featured in a previous edition of “The Heat Beat,” in an article on the link between music and all types of memory, not only the ability to recall facts and concepts that one has learned. While the study has been published in peer-reviewed journals, there is no record of the study being duplicated as of the writing of this article, despite the fact that a big AI generated “Yes” pops up on your screen when you ask a search engine if it has.

Because the study has not yet been duplicated, we can’t say for sure that choosing songs you like but don’t have a strong response to will help you recall details, while picking out music you react to strongly will help you remember general concepts better, but it may be worth trying in an everyday setting to see if it works for your situation.

Lack of motivation

For some students, parents of students, and teachers hoping to help their students learn, all the focus and memory information and studies in the world aren’t going to prove useful, because study time does not even seem to begin.

While a playlist to improve focus and memory during learning time will be highly individualized, specific songs have been judged to be the most motivating out there. Of course, there will still be some individual taste involved, as nobody is going to want to settle in for a study session backed up by a bunch of music they can’t stand, but it may help to make some selections from the songs that keep popping up on “motivational music” lists. These include “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, “Stronger,” by Kelly Clarkson, and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. “Dream On” by Aerosmith, Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” and “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong have also made motivational playlists. While the band Panic! At the Disco disbanded several years ago, they left behind more than one motivational track, including “High Hopes” and “Hey Look Ma, I Made It.”

Confidence

When confidence swings to an extreme, learning becomes difficult. Some learners are overconfident. They go into the class or even the entire semester believing the work is “too easy” for them, or that whatever they’re more interested in is so much more important, the material they’re being asked to learn can be brushed off. In cases of overconfidence, it would be better to go back to your motivation and focus playlists than to listen to depressing, demoralizing, or discouraging music. That would only make the student want to do absolutely nothing.

For learners grappling with lack of confidence, the belief that they are unable to learn or understand the material presented in school, there are plenty of confidence boosting songs out there, and which ones they are appears to be a mix of individualized response and specific songs. Most of us feel more confident after we’ve worked through something that has been troubling us, so songs that offer catharsis or a new perspective on our particular problem can serve as huge confidence boosts. At the same time, pop songs are typically gathered for “confidence” playlists. “Roar” by Katy Perry, “Brave” by Sara Bareilles and “Bejeweled” by Taylor Swift are popular choices for confidence- themed playlists.

Music may not be able to solve every issue that comes up in school this term, but it can help alleviate several study problems. Start your playlist, try your selections, then make adjustments according to your individual tastes and shifting needs. We may not all respond to the same music, but there is music out there for all of us.




The Heat Squad wishes all students, teachers, and parents a great school year.