So, Now that I have a few people’s attention and can feel
momentum, I wanted to give a little bit more explanation to why I am writing
this blog, and what I hope to get out of it, etc.
For those of you that know me or know of me, maybe some of
today’s post will be old news, but I feel like I need to catch the world up on
who I am and what my vision is.
My love of music started
a long time ago. The first tape that I
ever got was George Michael’s Faith. I don’t know how I convinced my mother or
father that it was a good thing, but somehow, I was a six year old boy singing
all the words to I Want Your Sex. That
didn’t impress my grandparents, but my mother defended me, she knew that it was
only music and that it made her little boy happy. After that I would listen to anything and
everything I could get my hands on. Oldies, Motown, folk music, classical,
country, hip hop…… I mean seriously, I
think by the time I had a cd player, at one point or another I had borrowed
every CD that the Kenosha Public library had to offer. That is where I found
some great Wisconsin based bands, The Bodeans, Timbuk3, and Steve Miller. Hell, I even borrowed cd’s that were just
full of sound effects.
When I was in Junior High and High School, I was in a few
bands, and I knew how to play every instrument so that made me very accessible. I played drums for a while in a band and I
was playing a set that me and 4 other guys pieced together from friends and
attics, it was the most mismatched drum set that the VFW ever saw. I played bass for a while, but then my old
ass amp had a meltdown, but I tell you what; the tones that you could get while
the tubes inside were literally on fire was pretty sweet ass stuff. I played keyboard, I sang, I played trumpet,
I did it all. None of it was incredible sounding, but the feeling was out of
this world.
When I was 19 I became a DJ. I worked in Milwaukee and the
areas around there. I worked for a company and we had some great gigs. Weddings, parties, Miller Park, the Bradley
Center bars all around the area. It was so eye opening and I owe a lot of what
I learned about music to Chris Wilson, the owner of the company. He offered to sell it to me when I was 21, and
in one of my bonehead moments I turned him down. He moved to Florida, and I moved to Door County
where I ended up starting my own DJ company.
I ran my company for a few years and while in Door County I
met a lot of great musicians, I played at a few open mics in the area. I put on
a concert with old friends and new ones.
I got to meet Pat mAcdonald of Timbuk3, (I didn’t tell him until an
email afterwards of how in awe and starstruck the 14 year old boy inside of me
was)
So that brings me to where I am today, I am just a guy who loves music and loves talking about it.
The content of my blog is usually not hip to current events,
or the latest albums. Rest assured I listen to them, I think Eminem’s MMLP2 is
incredible not as great as the original, but I was an angsty teen then, so
maybe I am just getting too old. So
yeah, I have opinions on all that stuff and can tell you about it if you ask,
but I feel that there are enough people to do that. I mean how many times can
you be bombarded with images of Miley Cyrus’ ass?
Also, Elwood Blues open’s the Briefcase Full of Blues album
by saying:
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome
to the Universal Amphitheatre. Well, here it is, the late seventies going on
1985. You know, so much of the music we hear today is all pre-programmed
electronic disco, we never get a chance to hear master blues men practicing
their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as the blues will
exist only in the classical records department of your local library. So
tonight ladies and gentlemen, while we still can, let us welcome, from Rock
Island Illinois, the blues band of Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues, the Blues
Brothers.”
I can’t help but feel that some of that is a little true.
Now, yes, I know that there are still people playing the blues and that nothing
has truly died, and without getting political, I feel like most radio stations
are powered by their advertisers and big corporations. They become part of some
“big box” broadcasting group and get suckered into the money of it, rather than
the music. There are exceptions and
there are plenty of them, but when I listen to my children talk about music, or
when I would DJ and have song’s requested, I just felt like this whole Ipad, “gotta
have it now” generation is losing its touch with great music. Maybe my dad felt
the same about my generation and that is why he never tried, or maybe he was
just being a dick, I don’t know.
Don’t
get me wrong, a lot of the music that I love is pop based, but I branched out
there. I don’t know if kids really have
the same connection that I thought my friends and I had with music. Again maybe, I am old and cynical, but I am
the same guy who was rocking a Tom Petty song while DJ-ing over the summer and
had Gangnam Style not only requested but preferred. (I don’t give a fuck if Don’t
Come Around Here No More doesn’t have its own dance, the video is amazing and
the song is incredible!!) Music is about
a feeling, and no one can describe that feeling but you. Not Clear Channel Not GE
or Disney, it comes from the heart of the listener, and it’s moved by whatever
connects the listener to that particular artist or song or band.
So maybe I am some sort of weird musical crusader and maybe
my religion of music isn’t to your liking, but this is who I am and I just
think that it’s cool for me to share all of my knowledge. I don’t know where I learn these things or
why I remember them, but it is a fun journey to go down.
From here on out I won’t try to rant anymore or be preachy.
I try to link videos into all of my posts just so you can experience things
yourself. I plan on writing a few essays about certain artists or bands, and
just whatever. I dig making lists, and I try to be humorous. So please sit back
and enjoy the ride, maybe invite friends to come along, or just add people.
Again, the more the Merrier!!
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