Twitch.tv

 Streaming Entertainment

The last few months I've been watching a lot of twitch.tv streams.  I've always known that this streaming service existed but never paid too much attention - I'd hop on when they stream EVO (Annual fighting game tournaments) but then promptly forget about it.

On a whim, I decided to browse other streams and came across a few of them that I really enjoy.  Most of them are music streams, but I'll start with another gaming one first:

Games Done Quick

This stream is only active twice a year for one week at a time but there is some amazing content here.  The premise is that for 40 hours straight different video game speed runners run though their designated game.  There are classics like Zelda 2 in 49:31 or Super Mario Series - Warpless Relay. 

Anyway, the reason why I like watching these streams are three fold:

1. These guys destroy games that took me forever to beat as a kid.  There's some perverse satisfaction knowing these games can be beat so quickly.
2. People can donate throughout the stream to Doctors Without Borders and Prevent Cancer Foundation.  I don't know who's watching these streams but there are some insane donations.  According to the website they have raised over 12 million dollars in the seven years they've done this.  (yes, more than a million dollars raised per year!)
3. Some of the commentary on these games are actually interesting.  Some people go into the logic behind the games and provide some insight to how the games work on the back end that only nerds would love.

Raquel Lily

Sorry the last three are going to be music streamers!  Raquel is a singer/songwriter from Birmingham, AL.  She usually streams with a bass player and together they play some fantastic music - her covers are interesting and her original music is pretty great too.  She opened for All American Rejects and BoB earlier this month.  She will also occasionally stream her gigs as well - it's like sitting front and center at a concert.

Tammy_BlackMedia

Another singer/songwriter but local - she's in the Bay Area.  I like her music but her story kinda resonated with me (Probably because I had seen La La Land recently).  She had quit her CPA job to pursue music full time earlier this year.  She's mentioned a few times that she didn't want to take the safe career route and wanted to follow her passion (music).  She is still writing music but what she has so far is pretty good.  She plays guitar, piano and flute.

Sunny_BlackMedia

This guy is also a local musician but he gigs with his band (guitar, bass, drums, 3 backup singers).  He sings, plays piano and ukulele.  I like to catch his stream on Tuesday nights when he streams with his full band.  He does a lot of improv work and is pretty interactive with his viewers (he's been known to ask the viewers for song lyrics on the fly).  I don't have any lasting samples of his work since he doesn't have any presence outside of archived streams but he has a diverse musical selection.

Musician Streams - Donations

I'll occasionally donate to the musicians - it's crazy to think of how many hours they dedicate to their craft a day!  When you're not on top of the heap, there's a ton of grinding for gigs and traveling.  Some of these people put in 8+ hours of music streams at a time.  What they do for their passion is something I can never do so I live vicariously through their streams!

Anyway, if you find yourself with a few hours to kill, it's interesting to hop on twitch to see what's going on.  I ran into a few game development streams that I might follow as well...  Twitch is not just for games anymore!