“I was dreaming when I wrote this, so forgive me if it goes astray….” Yesterday. The day the music died. Growing up in the 1980s, Prince was the soundtrack of my teens. There was something decadent about buying an album very few people had heard of and most of those who had, didn’t approve. My first Prince album was Dirty Mind, followed soon after by 1999. Living in a small town in Indiana, I really wasn’t exposed to music other than…
Elle King America’s Sweetheart Every once in awhile, you hear a song and you know it’s your song. The song that represents who you are and how you feel. I found one of those songs. Elle King’s “America’s Sweetheart” is that song for me. To give you some background, I have never been one of those people who needs to be the center of attention or surrounded by others. I have never felt an overwhelming need to be popular. I…
Working at a school with balanced calendar means that my summer is short…really short…way too short. In an attempt to maximize what little time I had off, I decided to go where ever my whims took me. Just because the 2014 school year ended, my summer hadn’t quite yet begun. There was a yearbook to finish…and for the second year in a row my amazing staff finished the yearbook two weeks early. I am one lucky yearbook adviser! After a…
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Those words pretty much sum up my fall. October was filled with work, awards, football and music. The highlight of the month was the Matt Nathanson concert. I hadn’t really heard much about the opening act Joshua Radin, but I really enjoyed him. I had heard a few of his songs, I just didn’t realize they were his songs. The show was at Headliners, a local music venue. It’s small…
One of my favorite artists released new music today. I made a special trip to Best Buy to purchase the CD. I eagerly ripped off the plastic so I could play it. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to buy the entire CD of artists I really enjoy. If I don’t like a track or two, I don’t have to put them on my iPod. I, also, like the liner notes which you don’t get with a digital download….
I found an old shoebox under the bed in my guest room and it was full of cassette tapes. Not just any old tapes, but all of them were mix tapes. Ah mix tapes…the original playlist. Those tapes represent more than just a compilation of music. They are full of memories, they are historical documents. You made a tape for every mood and every occasion. There were the fun mix tapes you played at parties or the slow jam mix tape…
In college, I listened to a wide variety of music. I watched the new wave 80s fade into the 90s alternative rock/grunge era. While I listened to lot of new music and artists, only a few of them stuck. CDs became the preferred choice for music delivery and soon mix tapes were a thing of the past. The main criteria I used for my list during this time period was longevity. Not how long the band stayed relevant, but how…
Over the past few weeks, I have been asked the same question multiple times. “Who is your favorite group?” While at first glance, it doesn’t seem like such a daunting question, for me it is. Music is more than a distraction to keep me occupied in the car. I can hear an old song and tell you exactly what I was doing and thinking when this song was popular. To me, songs are milestones. I really listen to the music…
