My fond memories of music go way back in my short 16 years of living. My mom had me when she was relatively young and she was heavy into rock concerts before I came along. (I think my first concert was a Kiss concert when I was still in the womb...) My father was on a security team at some of those concerts- he got to throw out all of the obnoxious drunks and who-not. When I was a little kid my mom used to always have the stereo on loud around the house. She usually liked this awful crap- Whitesnake, Nazareth, some of the less tolerable AC/DC, Def Lepard, Motley Crue, etc. I DID grow to like some of her music- Guns N Roses and Aerosmith come to mind while I am sitting here, but most of it I get a laugh out of now. I also remember riding places in the car with her and she would have the radio on, telling me who was singing what. She used to sing a whisper with the songs, so I could hear the "s" in every word. It makes me a little sad to think of it now- I haven't watched her sing in a long time...

I have had a while to develop my own taste in music. I can honestly say that my fix with mainstream kind of ended with my crush on Michael Jackson when I was 10. (Come on, everyone loved that man after the interview with Oprah.) When I was 12 or so, the remaining Beatles released their anthologies and I became a trivia-ologist on the band and John Lennon. Then I started to get into all of the 1960s, then the 70s, a little bit of the 80s recently, and a little bit of the more current stuff that actually sounds good. It is a little funny how that all happened in a nice chronological order... I guess you could say that I like musicians who have pioneered something, whether they are considered "classic" by the geniuses at the record stores or they are picked up out of a clearance bin. I like "artistic" musicians who try new things because they want to, not worrying about what will sell. I also have a soft spot for unique voices and violin or piano rock, and a lot of hand drumming or tasteful bass. (I like a good beat you can groove to.) I think I am pretty open to new listening opportunities- that is a really great thing about being in Europe right now...

I don't buy much into "scenes" or the crap propaganda that a lot of bands seem to promote today. I think a lot of the problem is that people at this time are more lost than they ever were, and if they think that they have found something sacred they have to bathe themselves in it to be able to be "identified." Most of the time, in those situations, the "fans" lose sight of the actual music. I've never been into belonging like that, and I think it is great when I can like a certain song or band because it is quality and genuine, not because it is popular or pseudo-expressive of what I've got on the inside. People really have to get back to the sound of things...

Current Listening...
A Listening Selection I Will Never Have Use For...
Lyrics That Mean A Lot... (This Changes As Frequently As My Mood Does)
go crazy.