Smooth
"Smooth covers all things soulful, R&B and in the 'John Genre'," says host Bavu Blakes, a respected Austin musician and journalist.

"By that I mean John Legend, John Mayer and John Coltrane." Add some reggae to the rhythmic mix, some gospel, pop and jazz and Mr. Blakes comes full circle with all of his favorite influences. Beyonce, Norah Jones, Mary J. Blige and even legends like Prince, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson find their way into the Smooth blend.

In studio performances and insightful interviews help make Smooth one of the best new shows on ME Television.

In Mr. Blakes' Words
On a beautiful, warm Monday afternoon, Austin-raised rising star Karma stopped by the M.E. Television studios on a brief hometown trip from Los Angeles. Thankfully, she'd given me the heads up on her visit a couple of weeks in advance. This allowed me (and M.E.!) to showcase her undeniable, in-your-face vocal style on "Smooth".

The most interesting thing about Karma is her "star quality". She hasn't released an album, but her vocal style, fashion sense, etc, really just pulls you in and paints a picture of how bright her music career will be. We sat down and chatted about everything from her humble beginnings in Austin to her music academy schooling in L.A. and the projects she's working on. And then came the performance!

Certain "Smooth" guests have a way of drawing half the M.E. staff near the soundstage. Karma is one of those guests. Between her five-minute soundcheck and three-minute performance, several people appeared on or near the set with the same "who's that?" look on their faces. It's great to have a staff willing to encourage artists along the way even before they're stars or Grammy winners.

I hope that one day we'll all look back and grin about how Karma came to our station before she even had a record out. Ideally, we'll be bragging about it at her platinum party featuring Prince and Grupo Fantasma!

-- Mr. Blakes