By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

Independent musicians, and other independent artists, often need to raise funds for their career. Without the backing of a major label, everything from recording session fees to maintaining your instruments to paying the cover charge for your guests at open mic events falls to the artist or band. While most reinvest income from their music into these things, it may not be enough to cover all expenses, and in today’s economy, day jobs, never mind side jobs and profitable side hustles, are increasingly hard to find and secure. Fundraising projects can fill in the gaps. 

One workable, and even enjoyable fundraising project is known as a “penny challenge.” The penny challenge was invented and developed by a YouTuber named Ryan Trahan between 2017 and 2024. Trahan’s penny challenges evolved and changed over the years, but always followed one of three basic patterns. Each of these versions of the penny challenge he created can easily be adapted to serve as a fundraiser for an album, tour, merchandise launch, or other expenses related to your music career. 

Turn a penny directly into the amount you need for your project

Ryan Trahan’s original penny challenge began eight years ago on his YouTube channel. He started with a penny, and proceeded to buy and sell items until he reached his goal of $1,000. In addition to buying and selling items during his penny challenges, Trahan also invested portions of the money he earned or swapped things to enable himself to provide services that generated even more money. One of his most common methods was to start by finding someone who would give him some small item for a penny, flip that item until he had enough cash to purchase a case of water or soda, and then sell drinks for two dollars each. Purchasing some cardboard, a pen, and a basket and offering to draw caricatures or tell jokes for a donation was another lighthearted way Trahan raised funds. In later versions of the challenge, he signed up as a driver for a food delivery app and used some of the money generated from the penny to purchase a bike to make deliveries. The only rule that must be followed to make this type of fundraiser a true penny challenge is that all funds must either come directly from the penny, or be something that you can do without spending any money at all. 

For many musicians, this version of the penny challenge might amount to a modern twist on the well-known practice of playing for tips. Instead of simply setting out your case and playing in public, you could start with a penny, flip it until you could walk into a pawn shop and purchase a cheap guitar or pay your friend to rent their guitar for an hour, then see how much money you can raise playing that instrument and singing. 

Start with the penny, end with your desired items or services

In 2021, Ryan Trahan adapted his penny challenge into his own version of the “paperclip for a house” experiment conducted by Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald in 2005. In Trahan’s version, he traded a penny for a house to give to a subscriber who needed a new home. This challenge started with a pen he traded for the penny, which he traded for a tiny blue plastic dinosaur, and then half a container of mints that was traded for some headphones. While Trahan took a little more time to complete this challenge than his originally stated goal of a single week, he did succeed in getting a house for his fan. 

This version of Ryan Trahan’s penny challenge has been successfully duplicated locally, just on a much smaller scale, both in terms of the items obtained and the importance of the end goal. When I wanted to trim and color my hair and get new versions of the other few cosmetic items I use, I started with a penny and used a combination of trading, using apps I had already signed up for, and couponing to get the items without spending any cash earned from any of my actual work. The one alteration I made to the original challenge was allowing myself to use any free points I already had accumulated on any rewards apps I had. 


Use the penny to reach another goal while those who wish to support your career make donations

In the most elaborate version of the penny series, Ryan Trahan set himself a goal that had nothing to do with raising funds, but turned the challenge into a fundraiser. In one, he survived on a penny for a week to raise funds for the Central Texas Food Bank. In another version, Trahan challenged himself to travel across the country for thirty days beginning only with a penny. Fans who watched the series were invited to donate to Feeding America. 

Local musicians could post a similar, local challenge on their own YouTube channel, with a connected fundraising page to allow supporters to invest in whatever project or career goal you set. This would also make a great fundraiser for local charities that support musicians and their neighbors in need. 





Sources: 

Trahan, R. Penny Series. Ryan Trahan YouTube Channel
This article is not sponsored or endorsed by this channel or anyone who appears on it. It is only used as source material.
 Link: Ryan Trahan - YouTube 

Santacroce, J & L.  Artist Cafe 315 website.
This website belongs to the author of this article
 Link: The penny challenge revived: Week 1 recap / The 315: Articles inspired by our art | Artist Cafe 315 

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

It happens every Thanksgiving. Someone brings up politics when they know the person across from them holds opposite views and will argue. Somebody else tells a wildly inappropriate story. Then there’s that family friend or family member who asks a bunch of uncomfortable questions. Put a stop to it all and change the subject in a hurry by blurting out one of these five fun facts about giving thanks….and music. 

There are Thanksgiving holiday songs

Most of us expect to hear Christmas songs as soon as we get up from the table on Thanksgiving day, if not before. Thanksgiving songs are rarely played, and almost never heard on the radio or at holiday programs, but they do exist. 

“The Thanksgiving Song” by Ben Rector is written from the point of view of someone driving back into their hometown for a family Thanksgiving dinner. The lyrics mention filling your plate, seeing children grow up, and being reminded of those who have passed on. In the chorus, Rector sings, “Thank God for this Thanksgiving day.” 

“Thanksgiving Song” by Mary Chapin Carpenter echoes similar themes of traveling to be with family and gathering around a table. While it does not directly mention Thanksgiving as Rector’s song does, it does refer to everyone gathered around a table, making it clear that it is a song about the holiday itself, not simply a song about gratitude every day. 

The singers in your family or friend group won’t be able to do it well right after the Thanksgiving dinner 

Eating a bit too much seems to happen at every Thanksgiving dinner. The foods are ones we don’t get to eat all the time, the house is full of enticing scents, and everyone is relaxed and happy….or stressed about having to spend all evening with their annoying relatives. Nearly everyone feels lazy after all the food is gone, but the singers in the group will find their abilities temporarily lessened as well. 

Some of this impairment comes from the same discomfort everyone feels after a full meal. Singing requires focus, and it’s hard to focus on what you’re doing with a bloated or aching stomach. For singers, posture is also important, with bending, hunching, or slouching making it more difficult to sing. An overly full stomach further restricts breathing by restricting diaphragm movement (Mar).

Listening to music that relates to something we are grateful for can boost overall mental health 

Music has long been known to have a powerful impact on our emotions. Some people find listening to happy or upbeat music keeps their mood elevated or lifts their mood. Others find music that matches their mood, even if that mood is irritable, angry, anxious, sad, or despairing, has a cathartic effect, allowing them to work out those upsetting thoughts and feelings without acting out. 

It should then come as no surprise that spending some time listening to music that helps us generate feelings of gratitude can provide a huge boost to our overall mental well-being. Deeper than simply reciting things we’re thankful for, an outlook that centers around gratitude involves walking in the knowledge that we are blessed in many ways, and feeling deep appreciation for those blessings. This approach to life results in lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety, leading to improved overall mental health.  
Choosing songs that remind us of our blessings can both enhance our feelings of happiness, joy, and love that we feel when we think of them and help us work through any issues in those areas, leaving us simply thankful that we have something to cherish. 

Musicians Miley Cyrus and Natasha Bedingfield both have birthdays that can fall on Thanksgiving 

Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday in November. This has been a part of American culture since 1942, President Roosevelt having signed a joint resolution setting the holiday the previous December. Because the dates change, Thanksgiving can fall anywhere from November 22 to November 28 in any given year. 

Pop singer Miley Cyrus, most famous for her 2013 hit “Wrecking Ball” was born on November 23, 1992. Natasha Bedingfield, best known for 2004’s “Unwritten” was born on November 26, 1981. 

There is a scientific explanation for why Thanksgiving chores seem more pleasant if they are done to music.

No matter how much you love Thanksgiving, there is likely something about the holiday that is a chore for you. Not everyone enjoys traveling, decorating, cooking, baking, cleanup, or post Thanksgiving shopping. We all know that listening to music during these less than pleasant portions of the holiday season can help make them better, even fun, but you may not know that you have neuroscience backing up your insistence on keeping the radio on in the car or starting your playlist before you start the dishes. 

Listening to music releases a brain chemical called dopamine. Like most brain chemicals, dopamine has various functions, but it is best known as the one that causes the feeling of being rewarded. Our brains were literally designed to experience music as something to be prized. 


All of us at Phoenix Radio are thankful for every one of our broadcast listeners and web page readers. Happy Thanksgiving from The Heat Squad.

















Works Cited

Mar, E. Does having a full stomach effect singing? Should you eat before or after you sing? Music stuff for music lovers. Does Having A Full Stomach Affect Singing? Should you eat before or after you sing? November 28, 2025

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

On November 19, 1990. Milli Vanilli had their Grammy revoked, as it had been revealed that the people in the duo were not singing, but only lip-syncing to vocals provided by others people. Thirty-five years later, the fake musician hoax has only gotten worse, as today’s fake singers are fake in every sense of the word. That is, they are AI generated people singing AI generated songs.

 At least one AI generated musician is the project of a real human artist. Xania Monet, famous for songs such as “How was I supposed to know” and “She ain’t supposed to matter” is the AI avatar of poet Telisha “Nikki” Jones. In order to create Xania Monet and her songs, Jones started with her own real poetry. She uses the poetry as Xania Monet’s lyrics, relying on AI software to prompt a bot to form the background music, the voice, and the musican herself. 

Other artists who have been revealed to be AI generated in recent months are completely AI. While somebody had to have prompted a bot to create them, nothing else about them is human-generated. When “Walk my Walk” by someone using the stage name “Breaking Rust” topped the Billboard Country Digital Songs Chart, it was later revealed to be an AI generated artist prompted by Aubiere Rivaldo Taylor, someone who is often listed as a “songwriter” by AI-generated search results, but does not appear to have done more than use AI to generate songs. Another “new country singer” revealed to be AI generated, Cain Walker, does not even have anyone stepping forward to claim him as of the writing of this article. 

Most musicians and others who love and value music want to support their fellow artists rather than seeing their work ignored in favor of singing virtual robots. Since the technology is both new and growing increasingly sophisticated at an alarming rate, it can be difficult to tell if that “new artist” you’re listening to is a real person or not, but there are some signs to watch out for. 

Lyrics and images return high “AI generated” scores

Looking for signs that something is AI generated may seem pointless when you can just run things through AI content detectors. AI content detectors can be used for song lyrics, but something coming back with a high “AI generated” score is a sign that it’s AI generated, not proof. Running lyrics you suspect of being created by AI through a detector and getting a high score  means that you likely found something written by a bot, but it is not definitive proof, and it does not prove that the musician was also created by AI. While you can certainly run anything that seems “off” for any reason through one of these detector tools, look for other signs before you conclude that you have found the latest “fake musician” hoax. 

The artist appears from nowhere to the extreme

We often think musicians achieve national, or even local, fame suddenly “came out of nowhere.” But anyone who has ever even attempted to play music or sing, or knows somebody who has, is aware that you do not just jump up one day at random and become a musician. Everybody who plays or sings in front of others, online or offline, is going to have some type of career or practice history, often one spanning years or even decades. Even somebody who has been singing alone in their basement their entire life, and just got up the nerve to sing in front of people for the first time yesterday will have their name on a sign up sheet at the open mic, a friend or family member who used to hear them sing years ago, or an account on whatever platform they posted that first clip. AI-generated musicians go from nothing to a finished, produced, final cut of a track or even a video. 

Every photo or video of the musician shows signs of being AI generated

Despite growing more and more realistic, AI generated images and videos still have a bit of a “cartoonish” quality to them. Textures may be too smooth, giving skin and hair a “painted” look. AI is particularly bad at creating human hands. If you look closely at the photos of Cain Walker on his lyric videos, you can see that his fingers are oddly long and square shaped. Breaking Rust features a singer with much better produced hands, but his jaw movements when he’s shown singing are noticeably robotic. 

While it would be possible for a real artist to use AI to create their photos and videos, it becomes a red flag when every photo or video of an artist or band appears to be AI generated. 

Lyrics and music sound technically correct, but are bland or full of over-used phrasing, words, or themes

Clearly, whether something is “good music” or not is subjective. Plenty of people must have liked Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk,” or it wouldn’t have been downloaded enough to top a digital downloads chart. But even if you love the song, there’s no denying that it hits on more than a few rather tired country music stereotypes. The imagery centers around mud on clothes, rocks, boots and a worn hat. It rhymes “eyes” and “rise.” The theme appears to be that others can dislike the narrator, but they’re tough so they’re going to keep going, making it about the millionth country song to be about somebody being tough and keeping going. Other songs on the “artist’s” YouTube channel similarly heavily feature being scarred, getting up, and dust and dirt. 


The lead vocals are sung correctly, but by somebody with an emotionless or flat voice

Real singers have quirks and flaws in their voices, no matter how good of a singer they might be. They also experience human emotions that will be reflected in some way in the song. AI generated voices, like the one used for “Breaking Rust” can be programmed to be gravelly and deep, but they can never reflect a genuine reaction to what they’re singing. This is especially noticeable when listening to Xania Monet. The voice gets a bit more forceful on certain words and phrases, but never truly changes in any way, never breaks, never shows any sign of intensifying or shifting emotion, even when the lyrics, a real poet’s poetry, shift and change. 

There is no evidence of the musician doing anything but playing or singing on recorded tracks and filming videos. 

Keeping your personal page separate from your business page on social media is common, and is in fact a good business practice and safety measure, not a sign of being AI generated. There is also nothing wrong with, and nothing suspicious about someone choosing to only use social media, or even the internet overall, for their career and avoid it for anything personal. 

Still, the person must have done something in their life sometime other than record themselves singing or playing. If you type the name of a real local  musician into a search engine, the first several things that come up will likely be the pages where you can purchase their music, but you will also get links to interviews they’ve sat for, photos and/or of them performing live at various venues, and pictures of them from the social media pages of family and friends, at the very least. If audio and video recordings of their music appear to be all that exists of the person, they might be because they do not actually exist. 
​
Stumbling across bands and solo artists you’ve never heard of before is great. Just make sure to do a  bit of research into anyone who displays any of these warning signs. And don’t forget to support local musicians you see performing and promoted in your hometown and places you visit offline too. 

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
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 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.