In 1989, the Doobie Brothers released a song called The Doctor. The chorus says "Music is the doctor, makes you feel like you want to. So, listen to the doctor, just like you ought to. I said music is the doctor of my soul." This is so true for me. Since I was a kid, I have always listened to music with an unusual passion. My parents had a stereo that was encased in wood that had a radio, turntable and 8-track player. I would sit for hours listening to my parents albums, 45's & 8-tracks. As I got older (around 9 years old), I bought my first 45. It was Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue. Later on I bought my first album which was Huey Lewis & the News' Sports. Ever since then, I have been buying music that ranges from one end to another.
I am constantly looking for new music that I am not familiar with. iTunes has been a blessing for me as it is so easy to sample music from the comfort of my computer chair. I can start looking at one artist which will probably lead to some research on Wikipedia which then leads me to something else and so on. Discovering new music is a joy to me. To find a song, album or artist that I didn't previously know about is exciting.
Another highlight of finding new music is the life experience that caused me to find the music. For example, my wife. I grew up in an area that did not have a lot of variety in radio stations. It was mostly pop & country stations. Also, I did not have cable when I was a kid. My source of videos was setting the VCR on Friday nights to record Friday Night Videos on NBC. On Saturday morning, I would get up, fix some cereal and watch the videos. Anyway, my wife grew up in Lynchburg and had greater access to other music sources during her childhood. I am able to learn about some great songs from the 80's from her that I did not know about.
In March 2001, my wife asked if I wanted to go to Durty Nellys here in Charlottesville to listen to a blues band, the Chickenheads. I said sure, so we went to check it out. They played every Thursday night and we went almost every week. After this went on for a while, I bought my first blues CD, a compilation of various artists. I was hooked. I am more of a fan of slow blues than blues-rock. My favourite blues song is The Sky is Crying by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Specifically, the version from his album of the same name. Why you may ask? It is because that version has an organ in it which I will discuss in a later post. Again, a life experience that led me to an unknown type of music that I now cannot imagine not listening to.
New friends. Everyone has different types of music that they enjoy. My wife and I met a new friend earlier this year that is a big fan of metal & rock. I passively listened to metal & rock when I was younger. Motley Crue, Poison, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard were all big during my middle school & high school years. I thought they were okay, but never bought any of their albums. I eventually came to thoroughly get into their stuff as I got older. In recent years, my experiences with rock was classic rock and not so much the newer or modern rock. In the past few months, I have opened up to modern rock and found some very good new music. Godsmack, Seether, Disturbed and others are some of the artists that I have discovered make kick ass, rockin' music. Again, another life experience has led me to this.
The point of all this rambling is that I love music. It helps me to feel good, it helps me when I feel bad. It is a tangible that I can relate to memories, both good and bad. A certain song may take me back to my childhood, my college years, a trip with my wife, or any number of past memories. Music is the doctor of my soul.
Later people.
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