Post by mandojeff on Sept 18, 2015 9:11:05 GMT -5
I grew up in a family that sang gospel trio/quartet music and also listened to country music. The first music I remember hearing included:
Blackwood Brothers, Oak Ridge Boys (Gospel years), Happy Goodman Family, LeFevres, Weatherfords, Cathedral Quartet, Imperials along with Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Tom T Hall & the Osborne Brothers. A random early memory from my extended family: I remember the buzz and excitement when Let It Be was released and the 8 track showed up in my uncle's car. I didn't know what the hype was about- just knew it was important in their world.
When I began discovering music on my own, it was Eric Clapton, Charlie Daniels, the Eagles and the Doobie Brothers. High school band led me into the jazz world of Chuck Mangione, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie & Miles Davis. My college years were split between classical training and blues/blues-rock. Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, Josquin Des Prez and Bruckner became important on the one side, Howlin Wolf, Ray Charles, Elmore James and the British incarnations of blues folks were big on the other. I've enjoyed discovering lots of new artists/writers since then.
I've kind of come full circle of late. The music I listen to the most over the last few years has been country/bluegrass/songwriter oriented. Delving back into Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs up through Del McCoury, Tony Rice, Sam Bush, Frank Solivan, etc. I've also fallen in love with the writing of Gretchen Peters, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Rodney Crowell & of course, Paul Simon to name a few.
I've found I'm a songchaser- always looking for those gems that lead us to transcendence. It's become something of an obsession and I occasionally write about these things and interview folks about their work when I can on my website (www.flashpointarts.org). Y'all stop by & say hi.
Blackwood Brothers, Oak Ridge Boys (Gospel years), Happy Goodman Family, LeFevres, Weatherfords, Cathedral Quartet, Imperials along with Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Tom T Hall & the Osborne Brothers. A random early memory from my extended family: I remember the buzz and excitement when Let It Be was released and the 8 track showed up in my uncle's car. I didn't know what the hype was about- just knew it was important in their world.
When I began discovering music on my own, it was Eric Clapton, Charlie Daniels, the Eagles and the Doobie Brothers. High school band led me into the jazz world of Chuck Mangione, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie & Miles Davis. My college years were split between classical training and blues/blues-rock. Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, Josquin Des Prez and Bruckner became important on the one side, Howlin Wolf, Ray Charles, Elmore James and the British incarnations of blues folks were big on the other. I've enjoyed discovering lots of new artists/writers since then.
I've kind of come full circle of late. The music I listen to the most over the last few years has been country/bluegrass/songwriter oriented. Delving back into Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs up through Del McCoury, Tony Rice, Sam Bush, Frank Solivan, etc. I've also fallen in love with the writing of Gretchen Peters, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Rodney Crowell & of course, Paul Simon to name a few.
I've found I'm a songchaser- always looking for those gems that lead us to transcendence. It's become something of an obsession and I occasionally write about these things and interview folks about their work when I can on my website (www.flashpointarts.org). Y'all stop by & say hi.
