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Most
of this site involves
music,
but this particular page (and sub-pages, should
they become necessary) are devoted to
live performances. Although I do
consider myself a musician and songwriter, I
haven't played/written for some time. I'm trained
in piano, flute, and voice, and even played viola
as child (but stringed instruments and I never
got along well). I've written music, performed and
"competed" into my 20s in various respects. As I've
said, I'm not willing to call myself a critic - at
least for the masses. (Oh, who am I kidding -
not even for the small gatherings!!) I'm surely not
educated or informed enough to state why something
should be "good" or "bad" - I can simply state my
opinion, reaction, reasoning... Mainly I think
music is "art," and all art, in my
never-to-be-humble opinion, is a personal
experience. I've found myself being much more
open minded when I disagree with someone's musical
choices as of late. We may agree on many things,
and strongly disagree on others. Why should it
matter??! But there are days when I just can't
help myself... :-)
This
page will simply be commentary on who I've seen
locally/semi-locally, local & national
bands, etc... and talk about, perhaps, some "up and
coming stars" caught on the open mic stages around
town. I'm doing my best to make it to most
of the shows I'm anxious to see. It's gonna
KILL me!!
I
realize
people
are going to want to know where my music tastes
lie. My radio station presets start with
WMSE
-
living for Melissa's Wed 12:30-3:00 show, and
Dorrie on Thursday afternoons, but listen most of
the time (the Sunday afternoon Italian show is
great!!). Of course next is the best
commercial radio station ever to hit the
airwaves -
WXRT
in
Chicago. #3 is WMFR (classical) which I listen to
on my way home from work because the "blues drive"
on WMSE gets monotonous at times and classical is a
great way to wind down at the end of the day (and
rarely a heart wrenching depressing lyric!!). The
rest are filler. Although I don't own 1/1000 of the
music I would love to have, my tastes range from
Jeff Buckley to Bjork, Paul Westerberg to Toad the
Wet Sprocket, Skinny Puppy to the Sex Pistols, Sade
and Seal, Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, Brian
Setzer Orchestra to Lyle Lovett, Billie Holiday to
Shirley Horn, Mozart to Rachmaninoff, and on
and on and on... Progressive, Ambient,
Industrial, Bluegrass, Punk, Techno, Jazz, Blues,
New Age, Swing, Classical... Heavy metal?? probably
not (does Soundgarden count?), and 95% of most
country, I would guess. I believe I have the
largest (and only) collection of Japan vinyl
(70's/80's UK band) in the Midwest, and my cassette
collection could easily make several amazing "retro
flashback" mix tapes!
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