Thursday, September 18, 2008

A musical journey . . .

I was the child of hippies.  My dad loved music.  My mom tolerated it.  Truthfully it kind of annoys her.  She always says it's "too much input".  My dad gave me a healthy appreciation for music.  He worked at a factory and worked 7 days on and 2 days off.  I can remember being blasted awake early in the morning on his days off with blaring music.  He made me love classic rock.  He liked the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and that genre, but he also loved Mott the Hoople, Black Sabbath, AC-DC, and Blue Oyster Cult.  Really the only thing that was not allowed in our house was Pink Floyd.  I can vividly remember one day bringing home the Wish You Were Here on vinyl from a trip to Wooden Nickel.  My dad said, "No Pink Floyd in the house.  And if you play it I better not hear it."  I was shocked.  My friend Angie thought it was probably a bad memory from a bad trip long ago! Tee-Hee.

Anyhoo, I had a foundation for loving music.  As I grew into a teenager and my tastes turned to punk and alternative music, (you know back when my hair was pink the first time, LOL).  MY dad was actually supportive.  He didn't like it, but he could appreciate me liking something out of the norm.  I loved the Ramones, Social Distortion, Dead Kennedys, Sinead O'Connor, Dead Milkmen, Janes Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Sonic Youth etc.  As I grew my tastes migrated a little to The Replacements, Edie Brickell, Smithereens, the Smiths, The Pixies, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam, Bush and all that groovy angst-ridden teens music mixed with some of what my friend Andy used to call "tingly-England shit".  You know before 38 year old moms had pink hair and back when tattoos made you scary to "normal" people.  Back when we were outcasts and enjoyed it. 

When I got married to a hippie I went full circle right back to classic rock.  He tolerated my music, but I knew he didn't like it so it was relegated to when I was alone in the car or cleaning the house, or the shower.   I didn't mind, I enjoyed getting back to classic rock and with the death of my father shortly before I met Robert it helped me feel close to him.

So that brings us to the present.  I still break out Elvis Costello or Lloyd Cole  or jam to Matchbox 20 (swoon) while I am alone, but I have discovered Country.  Crazy I know.  But it all started innocently enough with talk of meeting some blogger friends at a Kenny Chesney concert.  I had heard that Kenny Chesney fans know how to tailgate and a friend at work was a big fan so we went.  I spent the entire summer listening to Kenny albums and memorizing songs so I wouldn't look like a fool.    I enjoyed it.   And we had a spectacular day at the concert.   She wisely said to me one day, "Sheri, you do know that there is some really great country music out there, you should give it a try."  She suggested some artists that I would like and the rest is, as they say, history.  

So today as I am driving in the car listening to my mix CD (I totally just typed "mixed tape" LOL) I was thinking about my musical journey.  I was thinking about how my former self would choke me if she knew I was listening to Jessica Simpson's new country song (which by the way is AMAZING) or Darrius Rucker's journey into country music (who my friend Tim refers to as  Blow-Me and the Hootie Fish).  

Well, maybe she wouldn't be to upset with me.  She was always a little bit of a rebel. . . 






9 comments:

Joe said...

I so love the fact that you confessed to having typed "mixed tape" - I can SO relate.

JR - A Green Eyed Gurl.... said...

Too funny! My kids crack up at my cds that I make for myself. My favorite one has..."big butts"; eminem, matchbox 20, seger, toby keith, trace adkins, norman greenbaum, faith hill, reba, macy gray, montgomery gentry, kenny chesney, kid rock, tom jones, acdc and a couple more I can't think of right now!

I have always been a huge Rod Stewart fan and will forever remain loyal and I think Tran-Siberian orchestra is awesome. As you can see I am all over the board.

My daughter's friends crack up every time I crank up Eminem - and I actually know the words to a couple of the songs! hehe Oh and don't forget Shaggy, like him too, and Uncle Cracker...

Anonymous said...

I love how music will mark certain times in your life. Like, when we lived in Jersey there is certain music that brings me right back to that time.

I am not so up on new kusic out there and tend to listen to what has always worked for me. Joe just got me hooked on A3.

Torina said...

As I read through your post, I kept on thinking, "Love them, love them, love them, and them, and them!" But then I got to the Kenny Chesney part. Oh girl. I went through a country phase, too, I am ashamed to admit. It was nice to listen to something totally different for a while, but I came back to my Metallica and AC/DC and Zeppelin and loved them more than ever before.

Angie said...

It's all about growing ain't it? I still love me the old tunes most of all and none of our friends EVER appreciated my fascination with glam except Chris R. and Laddie. Lately I've been listening to those soul groovers that used send me spinning for a different radio station. Who know I'd turn into my mom??? :) Probably why I'm tuning in because I do miss her so. I totally get how music can keep you connected to those we miss so much.

Laura said...

No, Sheri, not Jessica and Hootie!

Repeat after me: Merle Haggard and Patsy Cline.

But, the KC fans do know how to party.

Sheri said...

Oh I LOVE Patsy, Merle not so bad. . .

Jules said...

Not trying to bust your chops or anything but weren't you in your late 20's when bands like the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Mud Honey, The Melvins, and RHCP first started making music? Because I was born in 1981 and those bands were stuff I listened to as a teenager and they were fairly new then.

Sheri said...

Hey Jules! Well, The Pixies played a show here in Fort Wayne in 1988 and I was 17. Goo was released in 1990 by Sonic Youth so I was 20. I saw RHCP in 1989 in a small clothing store in Indy called Modern Times shortly after Mother's Milk came out when I was 19.

They were all making music long before the mid 1990's but they just became popular then. So late teens and early twenties. . .