It has been well said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Our Kristen's favorite musical group, Pentatonix, has exploded onto the popular music scene by flattering a good number of popular artists. In fact, they have parlayed their particular form of flattery into Grammy awards (2015, "Daft Punk" Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella, 2016, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella, and 2017 "Jolene" (featuring Dolly Parton) Best Country Duo/Group Performance), television and movie appearances (2016, A Pentatonix Christmas Special, 2015 Pitch Perfect 2, and a 2016 guest appearance by Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, and Kristin Maldonado on the television series Bones) and most importantly, prominent features in a weekly blog, known affectionately by readers as...Tuesday's Musical Notes (feature song) Tuesday's Musical Notes - "New Year's Day", Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Up On The Housetop", Tuesday's Musical Notes -"The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year", Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Winter Wonderland", Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Video Killed The Radio Star")
The 2011 winner of NBC's The Sing-Off, Pentatonix currently has 5 studio albums and 5 EPs. Of the 5 studio records, the last 3 have all gone at least gold. As of 2017, they have sold over 4.9 million albums in the US. Pretty solid for an A Capella group that has only been around for 6 years. Pentatonix members include Kristin Maldonado (soprano, lead vocals), Scott Hoying (baritone, lead vocals), Mitch Grassi (tenor, lead vocals), Kevin Olusala (beatboxer, vocals, vocal percussion, cello), and Avi Kaplan (bass, vocal percussion lead vocals). They have been maintaining a rigorous touring schedule since 2012. In May of 2017, bass Avi Kaplan departed the group citing that schedule and a desire to do other projects as well as devote time to his family.
It is Tuesday's Musical Notes personal conjecture that Pentatonix should do a theme for a James Bond movie. Just sayin'.
Covering songs of other artists has been Pentatonix's bread and butter. On their road to winning The Sing-Off, they covered or sang mash-up versions of 14 different songs. Their albums continue in this trick of their trade where no less than half of each album is the ultimate form of musical flattery...the cover.
Whether we admit to it or not, we tend to "cover" or imitate those whom we admire. If we are lucky enough to have mentors, we tend to imitate the good things that we learn from them. The flipside is that if we find ourselves with the wrong crowd we can pick up some really bad things in the process as well. As you can see, much can be made of the folks with whom we surround ourselves. Even those in which we have only a casual notion can make huge impacts in our lives. We are who we are because of the imitated things from any myriad of influences.
That begs the question. Who do you interact with? With whom are you drawing influences? Who are you imitating? What would be the response of those who know you when queried, "Who do I act like?".
Ultimately, these questions will be answered in 1 of 2 ways. Regardless of your environment, DNA, or any other stimuli, you will come to a point where you reflect a particular worldview. Ponder this...who are you imitating?
The city of Corinth is located on the road between Athens and Sparta in Greece. In New Testament times, it was the home to a church that was founded by the apostle Paul as he lived and worked with Aquilla and Priscilla. After he left the region he wrote 2 different letters to this church to encourage and edify them as they attempted to spread the Gospel of Jesus in the early days of the Church.
Paul instructs the Corinthian church to imitate him. Was he that conceited? Absolutely not! When you finish Paul's encouragement from the 11th chapter you quickly see that Paul had taken to living his life as an imitation of Christ's. He was telling the Corinthian church to imitate him because he was imitating Jesus. He was attempting a "cover" of Jesus' life.
Paul also speaks of imitation in his 2nd letter to the church at Thessalonica. This church was located just over 200 miles to the northeast of the church at Corinth. Paul is telling this church to not be lazy. To imitate him in their vocational work ethic. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 ESV/The Message/NKJV Apparently, Paul not only worked at the spread of the Gospel, but he allowed the job he did in the workplace to be a witness for that Gospel.
Paul also strengthened the Christians in Jerusalem by advocating their love for one another through imitating the leaders (one of which was probably James, the brother of Jesus) who were also imitating Jesus. Hebrews 13:1-8 ESV/The Message/NKJV
Finally, John gets in on the action. John was in the inner circle of Jesus' disciples and saw firsthand the One in which he should be imitating. In this book, John writes about 3 individuals in which folks in the area. New Christians were looking to these folks for example of the Christian life and leadership. He first emboldens Gaius, to whom the letter was written, to continue his ministry of hospitality to missionaries as they travel through his region. He is an imitator of that which is good. John then warns Gaius of the dictatorial leader Diotrophes. This man was an imitator of evil. Finally, John applauds the actions of Demetrius, who is said to have received a good report from all. Another imitator of good. But before he delivers the accolades on Demetrius, John writes this truth: 3 John 1:11 ESV/The Message/NKJV
So you see dear friend, it really is about who you imitate, who you "cover". The enemy has been described in the Bible: 35 Bible Verses about Satan as Deceiver from bibleknowing.com To the contrary, God is described in this manner: What are the different names of God, and what do they mean? | GotQuestions.org
At the end of your life, you will be acknowledged by the one of these that you most closely emulate. Which one's songs are you covering?
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
