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My byline mentions music, but I haven't really touched on it. To be fair, I tried in my very first post and was completely defeated by technology. I want to take a minute to NOT talk about hooks, stitches, posts, ridges, patterns, and yarn.
My favorite view, except for maybe the view when actually downtown.
All it took was one trip. One trip to Nashville changed my perspective on so many things. I'd always thought of Nashville, TN as being too far away, too big of a deal. It was something I would read about or hear about, almost a mythical mystical place. My mother, brother, and I went for his birthday one year. I now go at least once a year, twice if I can swing it. No matter where I go or how badly I want to be there, I get homesick in a couple of days. I've never felt that way in Tennessee. My coworkers joke they get nervous every time I leave for Nashville. They're convinced each time it's the last time they'll see me.
I have a trip on my calendar as we speak, actually. I've already been this year for All for the Hall. The trip is three months away and I still feel better on a day-to-day basis knowing that I have a Nashville Trip on the horizon. Absolutely my second favorite city to visit. Tulsa is my first, if you care to know. My hometown is my favorite place. Yeah, I'm that girl. Love to travel. Love to come home. I don't know though... I might be able to be okay with calling Tennessee home... :)
I swear. Even the drive is pretty.
Oh, the open roads...
I've always been a music kid. I would take this little recorder/cassette player around with me everywhere. I only had maybe three tapes, all of them children's music. I don't know how my parents survived it. When I was young, it was something that just sounded cool. As I got older, it became so much more.
I grew up with a lot of different styles. Gospel, classic rock, then-modern country, classic country, some Elvis, some Bread. My first real concert was with my dad when I was sixteen. I remember because I had a job and I didn't get a job until after I was sixteen. We went to Tulsa to see Def Leppard and some dude. The dude was awful. Just awful. But then Def Leppard came on. Though it wasn't my style, per se, it was definitely A Moment.
That was the first time I saw the power of live music. I'd been to gospel shows and even a few county fair style set-ups, but this was different. All of these people from all walks of life were focused on one stage, listening to the same chords and notes, and every single one of us had the same purpose: to enjoy this show. When we were there, we saw notices for a show the next month for ZZ Top. Again, not really my scene, but Dad was excited about it so we went.
If I had to pinpoint a specific time that really changed my life about music, it would be the weekend of the ZZ Top show. We got there sort of late but just in time to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band play "Blue on Black." That convinced me to never dismiss an opening act. ZZ Top was fine, but it was the next morning that really launched my addiction. My family and I went to breakfast with a family friend. They had those city magazines in the front foyer, so I grabbed one for the ride home. Inside was an ad for 3 Doors Down. In Tulsa. A few days before my birthday.
This is from this year. It was my Christmas gift and it was perfect.
Still one of my favorite bands. This ticket is from 2010, but I took my brother to his first Shinedown show earlier this year.
Oh... That day... Teenagers have few memories they'd label "perfect" but that day was. At least, that's how I choose to remember it. I was able to see my band, the band I'd been listening to on endless repeat for years, up close. They were real people! It was my first outdoor show, the first show I actually wanted to really see, and the first time I went anywhere with my friends. No family. I also found two new bands to love and that I love dearly even today: Seether and Shinedown.
The only other specific day that had true impact on the rest of my life was the day I wanted to see Tim McGraw. I wanted to see him so badly! He was one of the voices of the soundtrack of my growing up, you know? I already had a few shows under my belt at that point, but this time I was well and truly (forgive me) pissed off at my friends. I didn't want to go anywhere with them. Like any logical person would do, I demanded my mother go with me. I was eighteen, I think. I showed up in her office, told her she needed to take a day off, and we needed to see Tim McGraw. She hemmed and hawed and edged and excused and sighed and eventually caved.
We've been going ever since. It's usually my mom and me at this point though we've taken friends and even on occasion been known to bring my dad and brother. Of course, I have tons more stories to tell. I could even go into detail on these stories, but that'd be overkill for today. I swore off that just this week. Anyway, there you have it. That's what makes me tick. Enjoy a few closing shots of musical randomness from my phone.
((When my kids go through my phone, this is what I hear: "Concer, concer, concer, me! Me! Concer, concer. Jill, you go to too many concers." They never pronounce the t. Don't know why.))
Kid Rock at All for the Hall 2013
Dad and I thought it was hilarious that Mom went to a Kid Rock show. She's, shall we say, not a fan.
:)
Will Hoge at some tiny place in Fort Worth, TX. August 2012.
((He wrote the song I captured my blog title from.))
Do you see how tiny this room is? The stage is maybe two feet behind him. Directly to the left of that bar in back is the exit door. Tiny, tiny room.
Confession: I go to so many concerts that I've started to keep seating charts in my phone for various venues. So when we go to the box office and they say "I have seats in this section" I can zoom in and make a decision.
My first and only Sandbar Experience for a Kenny Chesney show. I believe this was 2010. Cowboys Stadium.
Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown. This is a no-zoom shot from my previous camera phone.
I think this is from the same show as the seating chart up there. Behind the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK.
Great musician. Brilliant guitarist. Band has an amazing vocalist and no two shows are the same.
The Ryman Auditorium. Not the best picture, but it still makes me happy.
Because sometimes when you're on the journey of life, you have to find a rest stop.
Gavin Rossdale, in the crowd in Tulsa, OK.
Okay, the picture sucks but YOU try to take a decent picture when you're that close to the lead singer of Bush.
The barebones of the Nickelback stage from the same show as the pic above.
Okay, I couldn't completely keep this free of yarn. This is Miss A and Jr. Do I get partial credit since Jr has on a music related shirt? BTW, neither of them have any idea where these hats are today. I don't think Jr's made it out of the movie (where we were headed this day).
I hope you don't feel I'm bragging or boasting. I'm not. I don't "know people" or anything like that. Truly, I just get lucky more often than you would think. I call it concert karma. It may not be real, but it works for me.
Thank you for going down memory lane with me!
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