Archive note: Most of the posts on this site between 2010 and 2012 deal with my efforts to get out and see/hear more live performances, and to inspire/encourage myself to get out and play more of my own music in front of an audience. A recap of where I was at in early 2010 can be found in the deepest archives in a post titled "Music Life Rebirth."
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| Ruby. (Hohner HW440) |
What is music to me? Music is both background and foreground. Music is a thing that I do, that I make, and also something that I consume. My primary instrument is and has always been my voice, for the most part untrained but not undeveloped. I suppose my secondary instrument is acoustic guitar, which I have played in some capacity for over twenty years (but you would never mistake me for an ‘accomplished guitarist’). Over the years I have also played violin, banjo, and noodled around on drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and a couple of alto and tenor recorders I keep under my bed.
As for the “background,” the foundation of my taste in music most likely has grown out of my father’s record collection- Fleetwood Mac, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens. I danced around to as much Madonna and Paula Abdul as any other suburban pre-teen kid in the 80s, but when I found my own musical niche as a teenager, it was Radiohead, Green Day, Weezer, Tori Amos. Someday I’ll have to write a lengthy discourse about my favorite music in college, but in short, it was a time of many new avenues for music appreciation as I met so many people with their own music passions, some of which I enjoyed and some I could not warm up to at all. These days I still enjoy my personal “classics,” and I slowly add new favorite artists to the list.
As described in the early posts in the archives, I like to go to live shows when I can. I am a tried and true introvert, and I loathe a giant sweaty crowd pressing against me, so I tend to seek out smaller, intimate venues or at the very least, a venue where I can have some personal space. I’m not sure if I’ll ever attend another festival after the giant disappointment that was the inaugural Outside Lands Music Festival, and seeing the word “Arena” in a music venue is a deal breaker. I generally keep my eye on the concert calendar for something good. In fact, lemme go take a look right now…
24 March 2015
