Monday, April 11, 2022

Au Courant (with the music scene!)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: To say that I am unmusical would be an understatement. I can't sing, can't read music, don't play an instrument (my best friend and I took guitar lessons in 6th grade, We were so embarrassingly awful in the recital that the guitars were put away and the subject was never mentioned by our parents again) and although I can hear a tune in my head, I can't repeat it to someone else. I can manage Happy Birthday, barely.

That said, I like listening to music and I love keeping up at least a bit with what's current on the music scene. When I was eleven years old and my parents couldn't bear to watch the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, I decided that I was never going to be such a fuddy-duddy. I'm still willing to give most things a try. I love watching the Grammys even in ordinary years, but this year it was fabulous to see the big productions back, and such a lot of talent!

And Jon Batiste!


What a joy! If you missed his Grammy performance, you can see it here!

(Sorry about the YouTube video! Here's the performance from Jon's Facebook page.)

If that number doesn't make you want to get up out of your chair and dance, nothing will.

On the other hand, my hubby is really not interested in music other than what he grew up listening to, and that he plays, by ear (I'm so envious) and very well.

I think we have a tendency in the US to get very culturally "fixed" on a type and era of music, and that this is not nearly so prevalent in the UK, because everyone listens to the BBC. Of course there are for-profit, genre-specific radio stations, but nothing overrides the ubiquitousness of the BBC stations in everyday life, and the BBC plays everything.

How about you, dear REDS? Do you like to keep up, or are you content sticking with your generation's Golden Oldies?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Debs,  I think you are so wise that we are culturally fixed–I bet I know the words of basically EVERY song that was on the “radio” between 1964 and 1979. My brain is full of it, and sometimes I’d give up knowing “Come on Down to My Boat, Baby” to make room for learning Italian or something. Or remembering where I put my phone. When I worked at Rolling Stone in the 70s, I vowed I would always keep up with music.

HA.


So that didn't work. But I try and try to hear the current music, and I do usually watch the Grammys (and a lot of it sounds familiar, so there's that) , and I always ask my grandsons to play me the music they like. And that’s very helpful!

 

Sometimes, in an attempt to keep up, I say: “Alexa, play me the top songs,” and I get All Hits Radio. So, for the blog’s sake,  I just tried it and got “Bones” from Bones by Imagine Dragons. Then I got "West Coast" by One Republic. Then "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals Are those...new? I have no idea. Do you?

DEBS: Ha, Hank. I had to check. First two are new, the Glass Animals (yay British indies!) not quite. And for the record, I'd never heard any of them.

HALLIE EPHRON: I confess I checked in a time or two on the Grammys only to find another young woman whining her heart out without any discernible tune or rhythm. I feel like I lived through that in the 60s coffee houses. And then JON BATISTE! Knocked me out. And of course he bears more than a passing resemblance to the late great Little Richard. 

Debs I defer to you when it comes to current music.

DEBS: Hallie, Jon Batiste comes from a New Orleans musical dynasty, and is a Juilliard trained pianist and composer. Best of both worlds!

JENN McKINLAY: I am a terrible musician’s wife. I know songs and melodies but can never remember who wrote them or when they came out. I just hum my earworms as I move around the house until the Hub begs me to change it up. 

Hub is a working musician with several gigs every week and he was the music editor for the now defunct East Valley Tribune for many years. He knows all genres, plays all genres, is a favorite guitar slinger in the local music scene and is just way way cooler than I will ever be. So, I just listen to and enjoy whatever the Hub and Hooligans throw my way and either I like it or I don’t but I’ll never be able to identify the artist. It’ll just become an earworm  someday down the road…lol.

LUCY BURDETTE: I am a little bit musical, I can carry a tune and love to sing. However, I am fixed, I am stuck, I am no courant! Even in college I depended on my pals to tell me what to listen to and they expanded my horizons. But I certainly cannot listen to anything while I’m working, so I end up hardly listening at all. If there’s a wedding with dancing, I get grumpy if it’s not Motown and other oldies:).

RHYS BOWEN: I’m Welsh–we’re born musical. My grandfather was an orchestra conductor, my mother studied piano and ran music festivals, I used to sing in folk clubs, also in an opera chorus and my daughter and son have both had musical careers (one opera, one musical theater). So I have to have music that has a real tune and words. There is very little modern music that I can stomach. I do admire Lady Ga Ga. She has an amazing voice. But when I listen to music that is non-classical it’s oldies. Love the Beatles and many of their contemporaries (who were my contemporaries). And Abba–I put on Mama Mia when I have a long drive and sing along.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m like Jenn - I remember tons of songs, can sing along (I have an excellent alto voice and have been in several choirs) but I can’t name an artist to save my life. I knew a lot more contemporary music when I was spending time in the car with kids - I can recall singing along to a Flo Rida song, “Apple bottom jeans, boots with the furrrrr, all the club was looking at herrrr,” to the mortification of my family.

But that resource faded out in the late aughts, and by the time I was driving Youngest to high school, she was listening to her music on her phone, with earbuds, so I lost track of who was singing what. Nowadays, if I’m not listening to classical, it’s probably country music. Embarrassing, but true.

DEBS: Jenn, I love my daughter's fancy new car, which tells you what's playing on the radio. That way, I don't have to ask!

What about you, dear readers? Do you like to keep up with the music scene, or are you, as Lucy says, "no courant?"


104 comments:

  1. Well, I don’t really keep up . . . I enjoy listening to music . . . classical or country or early jazz or oldies . . .

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  2. I feel like I'm trying new artists again for the first time in a while this year. I've found some gem songs from uneven artists, but I'm enjoying it.

    My phone has music from the 70's to now on it. Actually, older if you count Disney and musical soundtracks. It's eclectic, but I enjoy it. Makes it interesting if someone else hears my music, however.

    I should mentioned I pretty much listen to Christian music, so you won't know most of the artists I listen to unless you also listen to Christian music. (I said most, not all.)

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    1. Your post reminded me of my husband. He has a HUGE eclectic music library on an old i-Pad, and he always runs it on shuffle mode. How he can spend the day jumping seamlessly from rock to classical to a Christmas song to a show tune to country leaves me scratching my head. But clearly, it works for him.

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    2. Mark, my brother and his wife listen to a lot of Christian music, and they go to as many concerts of their favorite performers as they can.

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    3. I love Disney soundtracks, Mark!

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    4. Susan, I don't listen to Christmas music during most of the year. I might sneak a few songs in during the year, but it's usually late October before I'm mixing it in with the rest of my music. The day after Thanksgiving, it's full time Christmas music until a couple of days after Christmas.

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  3. I am completely no courant. Have never watched the Grammys. I like my old acoustic music faves (Emmy Lou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cheryl Wheeler), Afro-Cuban music, Celtic, but I don't end up listening much unless I'm in in my car. Jon Batiste is good, though!

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    1. Edith, I'm a big fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter too! I've seen her a few times in concert and she was always great.

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    2. That's my big problem, Edith--finding time to listen. I can't, at least for the most part, listen to music when I write. And working from home means I don't drive much, especially the last two years.

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    3. I have seen Mary Chapin Carpenter in concert as well, and it remains one of the highlights of my concert experiences.

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  4. I don't really keep up with much of the pop/R&B/rap/hip hop music scenes at all anymore. It's just not what I like to listen to. Of course because it's played, talked about and has articles written about it ad nauseum, I do seem to absorb key details. This helps when it comes to trivia night since they rarely ask questions about hard rock and heavy metal.

    And that's where my musical focus is usually centered. I love my hard rock and heavy metal. As a child of the 80's when metal ruled the world, I love listening to the stuff I grew up with and if those groups are still together and releasing new music, I pick that up as well.

    I do pick up NEW bands as well but I do find that a bit harder to do these days. A lot of it is garbage or just outside of my preferred range within the genre. Last year I got to discover the amazing 'Crimson Wreath' album from the Greek metal band Illusory. While they have been together for a while, they've only done 3 albums and before last year, I'd never heard of them. Now I'm a HUGE fan. I wrote the review, did an interview with them and 'Crimson Wreath' was my favorite release of 2021. And though they didn't use my name, I am pretty sure they referenced my review in a documentary on the band that was released towards the end of 2021.

    Doing reviews for KNAC.COM and writing The Cassette Chronicles for Limelight Magazine.com, I spend a lot of time with music that I love. But it is far from the mainstream these days and that's fine with me. I may be a musical dinosaur but I'd rather listen to the stuff I like than stuff that I don't.

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    1. I love that you have your "lane", Jay, and are so invested in it.

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    2. Deb, I am definitely invested in my lane of music. This past weekend, I covered my friend's record shop for a couple of hours while he was setting up and soundchecking for a show that night. I got to play the DJ during that time and it was a Motorhead and Bad Company pumping out through the speakers at that point!

      The only thing that stinks for me is that a lot of the bands I like are now starting to heavily rely on pre-recorded backing tracks these days. Which is NOT what rock and metal is supposed to be about. We're supposed to leave that for the hack pop stars. It's led to the derisive statement, "See (fill in name of your favorite band) live, they sound like the album...because it is".

      I'm not back to concerts yet but guitar god Michael Schenker is coming to a place 20 minutes from my house in mid-October and I'm not missing that (plus I get in for free for that one) so I'll be there. I just hope it is LIVE, not live on tape.

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  5. Count me in the no courant camp, unless we're talking women's music from the late 70s and 80s, including US artist Holly Near, and Canadian artists Heather Bishop, Ferron, Connie Kaldor and others.

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    1. Me too... I was a huge Holly Near fan. We used to go to the Vancouver Folk festival. I remember Ferron and the names of Heather Bishop and Connie Kaldor. Sweet Honey in the Rock was amazing, and Australian singer/songwriter Judy Small was a favorite of ours.

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    2. I’ve seen Holly Near in concert a couple of times. Priceless

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    3. Gillian - Yes! I'd forgotten Judy Small and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Great reminders, thank you.

      Ann -- I've seen her once in a smaller venue here in Winnipeg. I bought a cassette (!) of her music, that's how long ago it was.

      Deborah: The women's music of that era is all bound up in my feminist political awakening...

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  6. I'm also in the no courant camp. I grew up in the 70s/80s listening to ABBA, Barry Manilow and Billy Joel. They were replaced by Canadian bands with distinct sounds such as Blue Rodeo,Barenaked Ladies (BNL) and The Tragically Hip. The first two bands are still releasing new albums and performing live.

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    1. I love BNL, Grace, and my hubby plays their songs all the time, so I actually know the words to some of them:-)

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    2. "I'm lyin' in bed, just like Brian Wilson did..."

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    3. Great! BNL was touring in the US earlier this year so I knew they have US fans.

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    4. My oldest daughter is a huge BNL fan. Her favorite song is "If I had $1,000,000".

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  7. When I'm in the car by myself, I'm listening to the music on my phone, which is a blend of 90s country, classical, 60s/70s rock, 80s, and showtunes. But when my kids are in the car with me, they control the music (have for years) so I get a smattering of music "fit for parental consumption." LOL So I get a taste of what is current, but I never remember the artists.

    And I don't watch award shows so I don't really know what's going on there.

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  8. I hoped the cochlear implant would bring music back. It does marginally, but not enough for me to listen. Music was such a part of my life for so long, that I still 'hear' it in my mind. Funny, it tends to go with seasons. Right now Appalachian Spring is on repeat. Don't you love :Simple Gifts?

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    1. Thanks for that lovely reminder, Coralee.

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    2. Coralee, I have bilateral cochlear implants and totally agree that they make listening to music somewhat better but not anywhere near what I used to hear.

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    3. Simple Gifts was the tune played during our walk under the garden tent where we were married. I have a wall placque with the words that is my touchstone. The song, though maybe not the tune, is from the Shaker communes which were celibate. As entertainment, they twirled until they reached an ecstatic state and fell to the ground. "Turning, turning, You'll come down right."

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  9. Such an interesting topic. Musical ability definitely has a genetic component. I grew up with music. Dad played the piano and we all sang, despite the fact that none of us really stayed on tune. My grandfather (who died before I was born) and aunt in Leeds both performed with the Leeds Amateur Operatic Society. I always wished I had been gifted a good voice. My son's father is a bluegrass banjo player and singer. It's always been a side gig, but he's good and has taught a lot of banjo students over the years. My son inherited some of his abilities and love of music. My son loves all sorts of music from opera to indie to mellow jazz, so it's fun to listen to his choices. My twin's daughter inherited the musical gene and sang lead in a couple of high school productions and plays guitar and piano.

    I was into popular music until 1978, when I did an overseas study program in the UK. My friend and I did a big project on folk music in Scotland and went to folk clubs and folk festivals and interviewed musicians and had such a good time. After that, folk music was my thing and later bluegrass.

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    1. Oh and church music. We have a fabulous choir at my church and I am so looking forward to the Easter music with guest brass musicians.

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    2. Folk music in Scotland is fascinating, and the influence of Celtic music on bluegrass in American makes for terrific research. I also find it interesting that a lot of folks in the UK are huge Country music fans.

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    3. Gillian, I enjoy bluegrass, too. I remember on one of the America's Got Talent seasons there was a family who played bluegrass, adapting some popular songs to its style. I really thought they were excellent, and they stayed on the show for quite a while. But, I was so irritated with Simon Cowell who would say he didn't care for that style and it wasn't very popular. What a twit.

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  10. We listen to old time rock 'n' roll, to classical, jazz, big band, musicals, etc. But not much hip hop and no rap.

    I played the violin until I went away to college and left it at home. I was first chair in the second violin section in a school orchestra that was pretty good.

    Unfortunately, I could not learn music by ear, an incredible gift for some that I would have loved to have. My singing is not sought out and vocally, I can rarely carry a tune or get my voice to repeat the notes I hear in my head. Occasionally, there are tunes I can sing, but my voice is unreliable. One of my best friends is a singer and a professor of art and music. She told me she has taught students to carry a tune. Honestly, some people are born with that talent, and I am always in awe.

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    1. In awe, and envious. And it's very frustrating not to be able to repeat what I hear in my head.

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    2. Judy, when we used to go on long car trips I'd belt out songs along with the radio, and Steve was content to listen. Now I have a voice tremor that makes my singing (and speaking, at times) voice sound strangled.

      Violin is hard! I bow to your talent!

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    3. HA, Karen, I saw what you did there! An Judy, have your read The Violin Conspiracy? you would LOVE it!

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    4. Judy, I love listening to the violin. I like when it's included in a modern song. I envy your time spent playing the violin. I played the bassoon in junior high and high school, and I still wish I played. I can play the piano, but not too advanced.

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  11. I am pretty musical myself, now mostly expressed just in singing in a church choir.

    I don't keep up with current popular music very well any more. But I have always prided myself on having wide-ranging tastes. I like pop, country, classical, world music, folk, occasionally, when I'm in the right mood, heavy metal... Reggae is one of my very favorites any day! I've always found this next bit hard to explain, but honestly, opera and hip-hop/rap are probably my two least favorite genres. I know almost everyone who is musical loves opera, so I am at a loss to explain my taste.

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    1. I love reggae, and zydeco! As for opera, I had season tickets for many years, and enjoyed it, but I can also see why other people don't. So much depends on the production, how well it's done and its emotional impact. Otherwise, you just pick out the good bits.

      Here's a very interesting piece on rap's relationship to poetry: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/t-magazine/rap-hip-hop-poetry.html

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  12. You would all laugh if you saw my 46 Pandora playlists. From classical guitar or piano, Bruno Mars, Broadway Tunes, Pink Martini, RatPack, Barenaked Ladies, Postmodern Jukebox, Alabama Shakes, Patsy Cline, the BeeGees, Linda Ronstadt, Bette Midler, Santana, and a bunch of Halloween party lists. And everything in between. I just love music, and a lot of different kinds, including some rap and hiphop.

    Debs, although I used to sing in the choir in grade school, and glee club in high school, my guilty secret is that I never learned to read music. It's like a foreign language that I seem to have a block for. Our neighbors next door, one who taught classical piano and conducting, and her husband who played the bass for the Cincinnati Symphony for 30 years, despair of me. Two of my daughters, though play piano, and one taught herself guitar, and marimba so could she play in the drum line in high school.

    I say my "instrument" is the radio/MP3 player. Virtuoso performances, guaranteed!

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    1. When we moved to this house, my middle daughter made us a Spotify playlist she called "New House Jams". She did a fantastic job of pulling together tunes from artists I'd never heard of, for the most part.

      She spends many weekends and evenings going to EDM concerts: Electronic Dance Music. Never heard of it? Me, either!

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    2. I've heard of it, but not sure exactly what it is! A new one to learn. I love your diverse listening, Karen. I like a little bit of everything, too. It's just fun.

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    3. EDM is where you pay 100 bucks to go to a concert and listen to a computer. LOL!

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    4. We really do have a lot of the same tastes. We could take a car trip together and be happy with each other's music picks. I just love PMJ. They performed near here in February, but at that time I just wasn't ready to go to concerts again. I'll catch them next time through.

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  13. Definitely "no courant" - and do NOT ask me to sing! I'm relearning the classics of my long-ago youth ('60s-'70s) that I never really knew in those days for a variety of reasons.

    I can listen to almost anything except opera, and rap in more than short doses - but not when I'm writing! Then, the "sounds of silence" reign.

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  14. Sorry about the YouTube video! It was live when I put the blog up last night. But you can watch Jon's performance on his Facebook page, here: https://www.facebook.com/JonBatisteMusic/videos/1876850059192536

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  15. Did anyone else watch the two seasons of Songland on NBC? Songwriters Ryan Tedder (from One Direction), Shane McAnally, and Ester Dean helped aspiring songwriters hone their craft. For anyone with even a little interest in music, it was fascinating.

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  16. Definitely no courant here. Like Hallie, one more whiny baby voice bemoaning their plight just grates on my nerves. Can't listen to any kind of 'spoken' music--no rap, no hiphop. My favorite is the music of the 60s/70s/80s. James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, Nick Drake--lots of folk/rockers, Santana, Moody Blues, The Talking Heads, Roseanne Cash. Throw in classical, reggae, some opera, zydeco, Texas two-stepping, I can usually find something to fit my mood.

    Can't sing, read music, or play anything. Older nephew is straight classical piano in his playing--musical notation was a language he was born with, I think. Effortless and just beautiful riffs on classical themes. Younger nephew sang Broadway show tunes and jazz in high school, taught himself guitar, plays anything by ear, wrote a punk-pop album of songs, then switched it up to country--now plays gigs (mostly covers) but he's writing lots of his own stuff--creating his own sound. And last summer, just for kicks and grins, got together with 2 pals, taught one to play the drums, and wrote a little album of songs that you would swear were early Beatles/Monkee originals. Now it's back to country. He says it was a process of osmosis--listening to all that Johnny Cash in the car while waiting for the school bus.

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    1. Wow, Flora, your nephews are so talented! Are you seeing any of that in your great-nephew?

      That genesis of musical ability is so interesting. Some artists come from very musical families--Jon Batiste and Paul McCartney are just two examples. But sometimes it springs out of nowhere.

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    2. Thanks, Deborah! Yes, great-nephew loves music--has his dad's talent, for sure. He sings all the time, has a ukulele that he strums, and sometimes takes piano lessons from dad. Lots of musical talent in the family in all generations (just not me or my sibs :-(). That Noah Thompson young man on American Idol right now is my cousin's grandson. Anyone interested in taking a listen to the Beatlesque songs can give them a listen on Youtube and probably Spotify, look for The Plumbers, three cheeky lads on the cover :-)

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    3. I loved Joan Armatrading. And Tracy Chapman. And of course, Joni.

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  17. In our house new music is anything after the 17th century. Julie was a voice major in undergrad, and has sung in some excellent choirs, made CDs, sung for the Pope. Sang backup for The Carpenters at a Live concert.

    I. Can’t. Sing. On. Key. Period.

    But I have a good ear. Played piano and flute, can read music at twenty feet, all that and a bag of chips. My preference for listening is classical, opera, and anything from the past mid century.

    Guilty secret? I did not like Hamilton at all. Didn’t last through the first ten minutes. But I know all the words to every old musical.

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    1. I know them when I can sing along, but I couldn't repeat them to you!

      How are you feeling, Ann?

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    2. Started second course of antibiotics and back on prednisone. See doctor on Friday. I’ll live. Xo

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  18. I'm primarily a jazz fan, but there are a lot of other things I love too. I'm not really au courant on the latest pop and rap, but I know the lyrics to a lot of old songs. Too bad I can't sing at all. My grandkids like to have "dance parties" on Friday nights, so I've picked up a few newer things from them.

    When I was in high school, there was a big division between the kids who liked soul music and the kids who liked psychedelic music. I was definitely in the soul-music group, largely because none of the girls I liked were fans of psych.

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    1. Yes! My husband and I were just talking about that last night...There was this moment where the question was: Have your heard Sam and Dave in the Stax/Volt review? If yes, over here. If not, get into the ELO group. But I love a lot of both. How could you pick between Smokey Robinson and Procol Harum? it all..depended. Anyone remember Pentangle?

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  19. Tone deaf and unmusical - I was devastated in the third grade when the music teacher tapped me on the shoulder and then requested that I mouth the words at our spring concert. I guess I was out of tune and loud! I do love to listen to music. Mostly 60s-80s because after that, well, radio died. My husband plays all sorts of instruments, guitar, keyboard, steel guitar, and sings. He's been in several pickup band and he does try to keep me up to date - in the classical country genre. Who knew there was such a thing! I always say he's a lot country and I'm a little bit rock and roll.

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    1. Kait, the same thing happened to me in first grade, for our Easter concert. Perhaps that's why I've always thought I can't sing.

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    2. Isn't that awful. I remember being heartbroken. On the other hand, better I find out early!

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  20. I haven't tried to stay current, but years ago we regularly watched Austin City Limits for a diversity of artists - Mary Chapin Carpenter, Norah Jones, Bela Fleck, Lyle Lovett, Keb Mo (I think). Looking at google I see that Jon Batiste was on there at some point. I should probably start watching again.

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    1. Another Mary Chapin Carpenter fan! YAAY!

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    2. Austin City Limits is a great resource! I should remember to watch it, too.

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    3. Always enjoyed Austin City Limits--great music!

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  21. Back in the late 90s I always listened to the Oldies - for me that means 60s - in the car. Then the day after Thanksgiving that station decided to only play Christmas music 24/7 and I definitely was not ready for that. The only other station that came in was a country station so that became my music of choice. Not to start any arguments but now country music is barely country anymore.

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  22. I’m definitely “no courant.” I rarely listen to music at home. The funny thing is that I was in choirs and choral groups in high school snd college. I like to sing but can’t seem to do anything except screech these days, so I have no intention of joining any choirs or choral groups. When I’m in the car I listen to classical music stations, if I have the radio on at all. I also like jazz.

    I can’t work when there’s music playing in the background, unless it’s instrumental. There’s no way I could pay bills while listening to the radio! When I was still working, a couple of coworkers got permission to keep a radio on in the office. It was extremely distracting to others in the office. After the two of them retired, we stopped turning on the radio.

    DebRo

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    1. I hear you. I much prefer instrumental music these days. And like you I find it distracting to listen to songs while working. I play music when I'm cooking, though. And I can listen to instrumental music - classical or jazz while reading.

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  23. Music is a huge part of my life. I don't think I could live without it. My tastes are wide-ranging. I'm a metal head, in addition to a Schubert & Chopin girl. Pat Benatar has a special place in my heart. I love my record player and my modest vinyl collection. And, I play my piano every day. 🥰

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    1. You do??? Love that! What do you play?

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    2. My own stuff - original solo compositions. They get categorized as New Age, but to my ear it sounds neo-classical. My latest album is called Finding the River. Here it is on iTunes if you want to check it out! ☺️https://music.apple.com/us/artist/alicia-bessette/299808284

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  24. No courant. I don't listen to current music stations at all. I like a wide variety of music: Cole Porter, Bob Wills, the Stones, the Doors, Queen, most 60s music, some opera, ABBA, mariachi, etc. I think current country music is pretty tuneless and sad. Don't care for rap at all, though some of the rapsters are pretty cool guys. I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I will sing along to torture my husband with high notes (think Frankie Vallee) and yodels.

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  25. I am all over the place in my musical interests. I love jazz, blues, swing, piano instrumental, Spanish guitar, old music, new music, pop music, accordion, symphony classical and modern, steel drum music, Zydeco (discovered this at the New Orleans Bouchercon), and I'm sure I've left something out. I like some country and bluegrass and an occasional rap song. I admit I'm not as up-to-date on names of all the current pop/rock performers, but that's mainly because my brain is like Swiss cheese these days. My favorite performers change with my mood. I absolutely adore Jon Batiste, but it's his piano solos I love the most. If you want some livelier music, Swedish jazz musician Gunhild Carling is a great choice. She plays the trombone and sings and dances, but she sometimes plays the trumpet. A long-time friend listens to her every Sunday afternoon and introduced me to her. Karen mentioned Post Modern Jukebox (PMJ), and if you get a chance to go to one of their shows, you will love it, I hope. There's even tap dancing in their shows. I can get wrapped up in nostalgia listening to Rosemary Clooney or others of her era, but I also love listening to Imagine Dragons, Khalid (and Bille Eilish together). I do tend to lean toward solo singers like Charlie Puth, Lewis Capaldi, Norah Jones, Pink, and on and on and on. I've really only scratched the surface. I love to sing, too, and have a decent alto voice, but I'm sure I would freeze up singing in front of others, except in a choir or other group.

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    1. To show you how eclectic my tastes are, I'm now listening to Pearl Jam and "Just Breathe." And, one of my most played musical videos is Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars."

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    2. I'm going to quit after this comment, but another favorite video is "A Great Big World" with Christina Aguilera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2U0Ivkn2Ds

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    4. Kathy, any time you want to take a road trip, I'm in!

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    5. I'm going to check out your videos, Kathy! You are da bomb! (And can I come with you and Karen on that road trip??)

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    6. Debs, that would be the best road trip ever!

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  26. My "golden oldies" are Chopin and Tchaikovsky, but I will listen to Adolph Adam's "Giselle" score any time, any place. Can't fault Lady Ga Ga's voice though. She's a class act.

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    1. You probably like GaGa's voice because she was classically trained, Liane. She has serious chops, and only turned to pop music because she was struggling to get work with her more classical work.

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  27. I'm not alone, I see, in knowing every chord change, lyric, and musical tic of the songs from junior high school through college. I can tell you what the rest of the song is from the first couple of bars. But there's as huge gap between then and now, punctuated only by a few massively popular songs or artists I couldn't avoid if I wanted to. I've stayed in one lane forever: Opera! Never gets stale and while I can't sing worth a damn, I do try the mezzo or tenor arias in my car.

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    1. I sing along to opera, too. My current fave is the duet from The Pearl Fishers. I sing both parts, natch.

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  28. I like pretty much all music but I don't try to keep up with it. I catch bits and pieces on the morning arts show on the radio and occasionally hear something I don't already know on The Voice. i think that rap and modern R&B is the source of contemporary protest music, so I do try and pay attention to some of that. My husband is of the opinion that if Bach didn't write it or influence it, then it isn't worth the time (ooh, that might be a pun.) We hear a lot of classical music in our house. Give me a choice of concerts and it would be classical guitar or a piano player or a voice like Whitney Houston.

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  29. Sorry I am late this morning!

    Deba, I am relatively new to music. Growing up, I liked the kind of music that I could dance to. If I could feel the beats. It depends on the flooring too. No idea which music it was. Ironically, I grew up in a musical family and their music ranged from classical to folksy bluegrass.

    Years ago, an acquaintance invited me to their music concert. The floor was stone and except for one person who can hear very well, none of us could "feel" the music.

    Before I was stricken with meningitis, I loved lullabies and children's music. Growing up deaf, the hearing aids did not help. Music gave me an headache. One of the perks of my Cochlear Implants now is that I NEVER get an headache from hearing music. I have a music setting so I can hear and enjoy music like Mozart.

    Diana

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    1. That is wonderful, Diana. Have I mentioned anything before about Rose Ayling-Ellis, the young deaf actress who won last year's Strictly Come Dancing in the UK? It was the first time they'd had a deaf contestant on the show, and she was amazing.

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    2. Yes, I remember you mentioning this in your IG stories. And I have been following British Deaf IG accounts for my background research in writing my novel. Many people celebrated the first deaf contestant on the dancing show. Thanks for reminding me.

      Diana

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  30. Definitely not uptodate with music...not since highschool (graduated 1964). But all the mentions of Holly Near have me hearing and Ronnie Gilbert singing out loud and strong...Thanks, Deborah.

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  31. I'm musical, or at least was very musical back in high school. I even wrote a musical. A high school musical! (But not THE high school musical, lol!) I'm fixed in my golden oldies, though I do recognize a lot of newer songs. I loved Pink Floyd. (Move me up a decade or so, and I would have definitely identified as "Emo.") And I ADORE Jon Batiste. So joyful in his personality and in many of his songs. I wouldn't mind going to the Stephen Colbert show, but it would be more to see Jon Batiste than Stephen or his guests!

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  32. I do have to say that on a recent road trip, we listened to what they call "yacht rock" - What a Fool Believes and Ride Like the Wind type stuff - and it was a hoot!

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  33. Interesting stuff about music.
    Looking forward to being a guest tomorrow.

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  34. What a difference love makes. From bedraggled to bejeweled. Thanks to Virginia and Guest Son, this sweet boy finally got the life he deserved. And, of course, Buddy gave as good as he got, giving Virginia and GS a joy that we rescue parents experience every day. There's also something extra special about adopting a senior and giving him/her the best remaining time you can. We are fortunate to have our second senior Brittany Spaniel, Lulu, who spent way too many years in a breeding kennel. I love that Virginia chose the dog that needed her the most. Buddy's was truly a rags to riches story. I am so sorry that you all have had to say goodbye to this amazing boy. I am filled with tears at his passing but also at thinking of how loved he felt.

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