Music is everything...

What role does music play in your life?

Music** is one of the greatest creations. Music is a very important part of life. It is a way of expressing feelings and emotions, a way to escape from the pain of life. Music is powerful. It can be therapeutic, it can calm you down, it can cheer you up, it can bring laughter, and it can bring tears. It can also trigger memories, good and bad. Music is the language of the heart.

Music has always been a part of me. I grew up with a mom that was really into music. She loved going to bars for the live music of local bands and dancing. She had a collection of guitar pics from local musicians that I envied as a child.

I could not wait to grow up and go “out”, I wanted to be in the presence of the band and be where the music was. I was a self proclaimed groupie of several local bands, and loved nothing more than telling the bouncer at the door, “I’m with the band.”

I went to my first concert at 18 years old with my best friend. (We were broke, and we wrote cold checks from BG to Nashville to get the money!) It was Ozzy Osbourne and Alice in Chains. I was hooked! Since then, I have been to several music festivals (Lollapalooza and Starry Nights) and 15+ Concerts, seeing a total of 40+ bands live, and this does not include the local / regional bands.

As time went on and life changed, I didn’t get out to hear the live music as much, but I was put in charge of writing articles about the local music scene for the local magazine (SOKY Happenings). I have put a few of these on the Original Works tab of this website for your reading pleasure.

Then, I became a parent. And if you have not figured it out yet, being a parent has been the most amazing and rewarding experience of my life. As important as part music played in my life, I wanted to wrap my kids in the blanket of music and expand their minds with every genre. Both kids slept with music in their cribs from the time they were born. I took my daughter to a Musikgarten class before she was 2 and to her first live concert when she was 12 (Justin Beiber!!!! Thanks to Pa for those tickets).

I bought them both instruments at a young age. The first acoustic guitar and mini-drum set was in our home when they were 4 and 2 years old. They played them, but were not child prodigies I had hoped for, coming from the royal bloodline of the local celebrity singer / songwriter that was Dennis Adkins. He wrote a little song you may know called ‘Ace in the Hole’ performed by George Strait (No pressure, kiddos)!

As you probably know, you cannot force interests upon your kids. Not if you want them to love said interest, at least. You have to give them the time, space, and opportunity, and sooner or later, they will trip over it and fall face first into a lifetime of music. I said when they were little, one of my kids would sing, and one would play drums. I was so right!

As they grew up and became more interested in their own music, our home was filled with instruments that were played at varying levels of mediocrity - viola, violin, piano and keyboards, guitars - acoustic and electric, ukulele, bongos, maracas, snare drum, and bells. There was even a band rehearsal or two in our basement for a fleeting moment of junior high.

Then came high school! Both kids flourished in choir, Amellia killing it in musicals, and Stone knocking it out the park as a percussionist in marching band.

We have always had music playing, everything from Vivaldi to Metallica, in the car to and from school. My daughter was following the family way. She loved concerts, and she loved live shows of local bands, too.

We did this fun thing frequently where we would sit down and try to play each other a song that we didn’t think the other person would know. We called it Music Swap. No genre off limits. This really broadened both of our horizons. When Amellia moved away to college, we transferred the game to Spotify. We have two playlists, Music Swap and Music Swap for Mom. I add songs, new songs or old ones, that I think just might be obscure enough that she has not heard them, and she does the same to the other list for me. If you are interested, you can find these playlists and a few others on the Music tab of this website.

I have a song for most of my relationships [boyfriends, husbands, friends, family, kids], that I either dedicated to that person or it reminds me of them when I hear it! I dedicated ‘I knew I loved you Before I met you’ by Savage Garden to my daughter. I dedicated ‘Arms Wide Open’ by Creed to my son. ‘Ice Ice Baby’ by Vanilla Ice - my cousin, Shelley. ‘G Thing’ by Dr Dre/Snoop - my cousin, DeeDee. ‘Fly’ by Sugar Ray - my friend Dave. ‘99 Red Balloons’ by Nena - my friend, Jennifer. And on and on…..

I have a ‘go-to’ song for just about every emotion. Some songs bring me such elation and pleasure, and others heartbreak and sadness. That is why I also have a playlist named ‘Mood’ and one named ‘Rock my socks off’.. Check these out on my Music tab.

**Music is greater than the sum of its parts, so much more than vocal or instrumental sounds, so much more than notes on a page that represent those sounds.