For years I had virtually no interest in popular music. I was content to listen to whatever my husband was playing -- usually Jimmy Buffet and James Taylor -- which was fine. My brother is a blues musician and I love his music also. My son plays guitar and writes songs that are, to me, visceral.
Then I was given an iPod by my daughter and I rediscovered the thrill of music that spoke to me or took me back to a time when life was waiting. I started by sampling what my kids were listening to and came across groups that just blew me away. Man Man comes to mind. I came home one day and my son was listening to something upstairs that stopped me in my tracks. I went upstairs to find him downloading Man Man and was blown away by the no rules blend of sounds. They use all sorts of instruments, from accordion to cutlery thrown into metal bowls. And the vocalist has this rough, almost gutteral voice backed up by high-pitched child-like singers. I hear something new everytime I listen.
I pick up on songs now that I would have ignored not so very long ago. My favorite at the moment is "Johnny Appleseed" by Joe Strummer and the Mescalaros. It is the opening song for "John from Cincinnati," an HBO series. HBO always has great music for their series'. "Johnny Appleseed" has a 60's retro sound with the political lyrics of disenchanted youth.
I also am amazed at the great music coming out of Arkansas. Who knew? There's Benjamin del Shreve, Latture, Evanescence, Lucero, Delarosa, Official Version, The Boswells and more that I can't think of now. Oh, and of course, there's my brother's band, N2Blues.
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