Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Project 2011; The Musical Mystery Tour

Ok, the time has come. Just what the hell do I have in store for 2011? Well, there are some people who have music in thier viens. You know who I'm talking about. They can learn a songs lyrics the first time they hear it, thier feet are always tapping to a mysterious personal beat and it's quite possible a theme song is playing in the back ground of thier brains at all times. I..am not one of those people. I like music and listen to a little every day but it's not the medium I use to interface with my creative nature. For me, a heart and soul reader and bibliophile, the true path to the muse has always been through the printed page. I've read all of my life and consider myself well versed on books of all themes and genres, even those outside my area of preference. Music however is a different matter. I like what I like and know what I know but have some giant blind spots in my internal song book. Key artists and in some cases whole genres are mysteries to me and I have no clue about them whatsoever. For all I know Rush could be a high octane energy drink and David Bowie could have died at the Alamo. Now, many people go through life and pick up what crosses thier path, enjoy what they find and go to thier graves with no regrets, having found a few gems and not wanting for what they didn't even know they were missing. That's the easy way out but alas Johnny Cash won't let me settle for that. It's true. To what you might ask could I owe to The Man in Black that would call me to task in such a manner? The sad truth is that growing up I was a small minded ninny who snubbed anything that didn't fit my limited idea of what was cool and because of this I missed some real gems. As an adult I discovered and fell in love with Johnny Cash and everything he's ever done. Now you may wonder whats so bad about becoming a born again shit kicker even if it was later in life? The answer is nothing but the timing. My discovery came months after the legend died and along with not taking care of my teeth, not seeing Johnny Cash in concert will always be one of my great regrets.
  So how does all of this tie into my 2011 project? Well to try and round myself out and maybe fill a few holes in my musical knowledge I'll be picking an artist/genre each month of the new year and devoting all of my listening time to that choice. If I'm listening to music it will be my monthly choice. I plan to immerse myself and see what happens. For January I'll devote myself to Nirvana and then in February we'll vist the strange land of polka. We finish the first quarter with Snoop Dogg and the rest of the year is up for grabs.
I'll see you after the new year begins and for sure I'll be smelling like teen spirit!!
G

6 comments:

  1. Greg, have you considering also researching the music you listen to? You'll find that there's a lot more to some of the songs. It's especially helpful for bands such as Nirvana where it's hard to understand a lot of the lyrics.

    http://www.songmeanings.net/ and wikipedia are two great places to start.

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  2. Let me walk you through New Oreleans Jazz if you have a free slot.

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  3. Mike, I have plans to do just exactly that! As well as researching the people involved to get thier motivations too! I have my eye on Kurt Cobain's biography for January and I'll use Songmeanings m ost certainly!

    Ted, I was hoping to find a good sub-set of jazz to add and the New Orleans varity sounds perfect!! It defintely has a slot in the 2nd half of the year!

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  4. You're inspiring, Greg. I love that you're always learning and endeavoring to try new things. It makes you ever-changing, and I hope to always be there to change with you. PLEASE PUT RADIOHEAD IN!

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  5. If you plan on doing any classical (especially, but not necessarily piano) it would be fun to get together with the babies for a listening party. I have a few good records. In fact, Keith has records in most genres. Any good audiophile will tell you that you can't be immersed in music without a little vinyl in the mix!

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  6. I gotta toss Immortal Technique in the mix:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_Technique

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