Much Music

If there's one thing that I really need in my life, it's music.  It's the constant that keeps me going.

The radio was always on when I was growing up.  Of course, until I was about 12, we listened to whatever my parents had on, which was always country.  My parents were set up on a blind date and it was their mutual love of country music that inspired them to go on their second date.  They've been married for almost 45 years.  But I digress...

When I was old enough to realize that there was music beyond country, I followed my sister's lead (who is 3 years older than me) and moved towards top 40 and mainstream rock.  It wasn't until I reached high school that I realized there was a much better alternative music scene.  When I was old enough, I was introduced to an even larger spectrum of music that didn't get radio play but could be found in dance clubs.  I also discovered how much more impressive music was when it was live and went to as many concerts as I could

In addition to listening to music, I also made music for a long time.  I took piano lessons from the age of 8 until I was 13.  The only reason I stopped was that we had moved and were unable to find a good piano teacher.  I still love to play.  In school, we started instrumental music in grade 7 and, thanks to a wonderful music teacher, I was able to try out as many instruments as I wanted.  Throughout grades 7 and 8, I played flute, piccolo, clarinet, percussion, trumpet and baritone.  In high school, I continued to play the baritone in band and also played keyboard and trumpet in jazz band.  I also sang a lot: I was in church choirs off and on throughout most of my childhood, I auditioned and won a spot in a regional children's choir when I was 13 and in high school I participated in choir, jazz choir and took a vocal class.  I even joined a "folklore" choir when I moved to Germany at the age of 21.


Shortly after that, I seemed to lose all musicality from my life.  Living abroad made it difficult to find music that I liked to listen to and even harder to make my own music.  I got married (to a non-musical man) and had children and found that, other than listening to the radio in the car, there wasn't much of a musical presence in my life.  Sadly, it stayed that way for years.

Recently, I've begun to realize how important music is to me; that I really feel incomplete without it.  Luckily, advances in technology (sattelite & internet radio) have made accessing music I like much easier, regardless of where I'm living.  I also happen to be currently living in a place where I am surrounded by a plethora of live music venues (although it took me a few years to realize it).  The best part is that, since I tend to like lesser-known musicians, I have the opportunity to see as many bands as I would like for a very reasonable price.  Unfortunately, I haven't been making much of these opportunities but I'm slowly changing that.

In the past year I've been to three concerts, which is  more than I'd been to in probably 10 years prior.  All were in tiny little venues, all were fabulous shows and it made me tremendously happy to be there.  In fact, the second show I went to put me in such a state of euphoria, that I smiled for days afterwards.  As we all know, I have little reason to smile on most days and I wish it were different.  So, I have come up with a plan: to attend more concerts.  Ideally, I would like to get to to one concert a month.  To that end, I have bought tickets to two upcoming shows.  In April, I'm going back to see the band that made me so ecstatic when I saw them in September and I'm going to see a new singer-songwriter gal in May (oddly enough, both at the same venue).  We'll see what happens after that.

In addition, I have a birthday coming up and I've asked for a piano.  It doesn't have to be brand new or expensive.  I'll be happy with a second-hand one from Craigslist, as long as it's in decent shape and plays well.  I still have my guitar that I pick up every so often but I really do miss having a piano and I would love to be able to play again.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and I am trying my damndest to find ways to keep my head above water, to keep me going, to give me something to look forward to.  For now, this is it -- the tickets are hung beside the calendar where they remind me that there are, indeed, good things to come.