Music was always a dynamic component of my household growing up. My father was a musician through the 60's and 70's, and my mother a ballerina. So for us music was always a topic of discussion and source for creative release. In the early years I remember sitting on the sofa listening to my dad's records and discussing the brilliance of groups like the Doobie Brothers, YES, and Chicago.
These rock groups are my childhood, my family, and basically define a great part of me. Not only was the layering of sounds something that my sister and I relished, but the album covers themselves were something we marveled at. I remember how my sister and I would go through the records and pick out our favorite covers. I always picked "Court of The Crimson King,"by King Crimson, but YES "Tales of the Topographic Ocean" was a close second.
Album covers made statements of who the band was and where they wanted to take you. In later years during my adolescences tapes became the coveted medium. We made mixed tapes which were, at least for me, a way to convey a message or express who I was. Music did change for me a little bit the older that I got. Pop culture did have some effect on my musical taste, but I think that is all part of growing up and changing.
When your a teenager you don't want to identify too much with your parents. For me I found teen rebellion in listening to Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. My father's musical influence was still there but I wouldn't know that until I became an adult and moved away. This brought music to a whole new level for me. Once out of the nest I began to turn to music to feel comforted and safe. When I missed home I would listen to those old albums and it was like my dad was with me.
When I go home to visit now and the whole family is together I love nothing more than to play some of the old hits. This past Christmas my dad's bestfriend and former band-mate came over and to hear them talk, laugh, and reminisce was the best gift I could have gotten. Music was their lives, and it has shaped who they now are. This I can truly identify with.
-Sarah Heusner
1 comments:
Loved the music theme. A powerful emotional connector, for sure. Your holidays sounded way cool... One of my brothers had a band (Arctic Circle Purple) and they practiced in the basement, which made the floors vibrate - usually to the tune of Smoke on the Water! :)
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