What Was Your Musical Journey Like?
 

I was born and raised in Nashville, TN, so I got a good start. Music was everywhere, especially at home. The radio was on a lot and I heard the top 40 that my sister played or the local easy listening station (WSIX) my mother would put on. My father would occasionally watch something on PBS, usually opera or classical, which I had trouble getting into. My mother played piano and organ for our church, and would practice at home; my sister sang in the gospel choir; my father directed a children's choir at his church; my brother bought records (much later he became part of the gospel choir at church also). It was inevitable that I should develop a strong interest in music.

In those early years I listened to the two main top 40 stations of the time, WKDA and WMAK, switching back and forth to see who was playing what. Then the British Invasion came along and I spent even more time with the radio and those two stations. Then my mother bought one of those console stereos, and on Christmas 1965 I got my first record, a James Brown 45 of "I Got You (I Feel Good)." I started buying 45s and would play them often, especially during the summer. In the summer of 1968 I discovered LPs, and I bought my first one, Diana Ross & The Supremes' Greatest Hits, followed quickly by the Ventures' Hawaii Five-O.

By junior high I'd moved on to the local soul station (WVOL), then in high school and college I discovered FM rock radio and music that wasn't top 40, and groups I never heard of playing tunes that were longer than 3 minutes. And groups emerged that struck a chord with me that opened the way eventually for genres beyond those I was listening to. Looking back, it was Santana that led me to try Latin music; ELP and Yes got me to try classical music (my first-ever CD purchase [in 1986] was classical); Chicago and BS&T got me to jazz. From there I stretched out to other explorations like world music, Brazilian, folk, even electronic music. Country and easy listening were always there. These days, the only genres I don't deal with are rap and opera, though I've been to 3 operas in my life and have a BD of La Traviata, which I've yet to finish.

That's my journey in a nutshell. what was yours like?

My journey is family lore. When I was about four years old (pre-K) my mom sat me down to hear "Peter & The Wolf" on the radio. FM. My dad was an EE and we had a Harmon-Kardon integrated amp, H-K tuner (both tube, of course) and a Garrard turntable with an Empire cartridge. University coaxial speakers in bass reflex cabinet. That was before he got the Telefunken reel-to-reel.

I was instantly captivated by the music and although it seems unlikely, it seems to me that I actually recall this event. When the music ended, I asked my mom to play it again. Of course, she had to explain that it was radio and not LP, so it wasn't possible to play it again. That planted the seed of my love affair with both music and radio.

My parents bought the LP for me: James Dukas narrating, International Children's Symphony Orchestra, Happy Time Records HT 1001. I played it again and again and again, and that led to Mozart and Beethoven and on and on and on and on to a lifetime of music. The details would fill a book.

Peter and the Wolf was the first record I remember hearing, got in to Mozart a bit with my piano lessons, I had a big Bowie period, then it was late 60's,with Roots reggae and early Dance hall as it was happening, African and World music followed, then a long opera and classical period, now it's kind of everything, except hip hop or rap. Lana del Ray is my preferred pop artist.

I know her name. What does she sound like?

Cinematic sadness, Lush 50's and 60's Americana epic sweeps. Great vocal range and emotes well, solid song writing and production qualities. Puts in a lot of personal bio. Caveats? Basic guitar work under the lush arrangements, and the young girl in her mid to late twenties and early 30's vibe. She has a degree in Philosophy so is never brash or too young sounding.The 'Honeymoon' album is a good one to start with.

Not brash; that's good. If she can sing, that compensates for the guitar work I'd think.

She can sure sing. It's a bit like Spector's wall of sound but in a new idiom. The album I mentioned might be a little dirgy in places but opens up very nicely on repeated listens.

The journey continues.

I have a friend from church who, like me, is a musical omnivore. I was amazed to discover that she's a heavy metal fan. A few months back we had a Zoom session, trading tracks back and forth. She shared a couple of metal tracks, and while I didn't get into them too far, I was able to latch on to the rhythm section of each and some serious butt was being kicked. I had just discovered Metallica, and ordered the blu-ray of their S&M 2 concert with the San Francisco Symphony on the strength of my burgeoning familiarity with "Enter Sandman." She's set to come over in 3 weeks for a music night; Metallica will be on the playlist, of course.

Another trend of note, which I'm sure others can relate to, is that as my stereo got better my musical curiosity expanded. That trend has cooled off in time, but I became open to exploring. My musical curiosity isn't what it once was, plus I've gotten older and life is more stressful.

It may be too that the focus shifted to the equipment along the way. It wasn't always "I wonder what this music is like?" but "I wonder how that would sound on my stereo?" Now that the stereo is where it's going to be pretty much, the trend might revert to curiosity about music. It's easy to get equipment-focused as one reads the magazines and reads about the experiences of others and their equipment pursuits, and I think that's begun going back the other way for me. A good thing.

So in the 60s my older brother played drums in several soul R&B rock groups and when he wasn't on them, I was. Then one day I came home and the drums were gone and founding out that he sold him as he got some girl pregnant. Right after that in the seventh grade I was over to a friends house and he had a trumpet laying on the bed so I said I had always wanted to play one so he said try it, and I got a really great sound, so I got home that evening and my brother-in-law had just came back from Vietnam and said that he had a trumpet in the top of his closet. Then from 1969 on I was pretty much concerned with trumpet music for about 80% of everything that I listened to and just recently I have switched over and I am listening to lots of progressive rock band, mainly Yes. YouTube now has turned me on to many of the things that I missed through the years including many of the major classical symphonies and ambient music.