Fellow book blogger “She Is Too Fond of Books” is giving away her ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of popular crime fiction author, Michael Connelly’s “The Brass Verdict” at the end of June. Please check out her post and leave a comment if you are interested.
Day: June 2, 2008
Favorite Music Meme
My sister, Audio Input, took part in the author meme from this weekend that I had tagged her for and then turned around and adapted the meme questions to music. So here are my answers!
1. Who is your all-time favorite group/singer/musician?
I have two! They have been equally loved and listened to throughout my life. Madonna and Dave Matthews Band. As I mentioned HERE, I have loved Madonna and her music since 1984 when I was in the fourth grade. My other musical love, DMB, is an eclectic collection of amazing musicians from the Charlottesville, VA area who came together starting in 1991. My first exposure to their music was while I was in college at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. A girlfriend of mine, Jamie, was absolutely crazy about this band. Her father had been commissioned by the band to create and design their first screen saver program. She had a ton of live concert tapes of the bands’ shows at the Charlotesville club Trax, so because her car was the road trip car we tended to listen to those tapes a lot.
On Wednesday, February 15th, 1995 I went with Jamie to Richmond, VA to see Dave Matthews Band live in concert with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra at the Carpenter Center. We sat front row, first balcony, center stage and my life changed that evening. I was swept away by the complexity of the music. Even the simplest tune had depth to it. Lyrically, the songs were interesting and had great hooks and musically they were beautiful. Since that night I have collected all of their studio albums, nine of their live concert recordings and I have seen them in concert in Denver and Virginia, at least a dozen times.
2. Who was your first favorite group/singer/musician?
I was born January 1st, 1975 in the hay-day of Olivia Newton-John’s country music career. My dad LOVED (and still does) Olivia. It didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous and had a pretty voice but he was first drawn to her when he discovered who her grandfather was. He was Max Born, a German Nobel prize-winning physicist. My dad is a physicist and a musician so the attraction was obvious, to my mother’s dismay I think. So, when I was born Olivia’s records are all I heard really. There are pictures of me at probably two and three in pig tails, standing on the hearth in the family room and singing into my jump-rope to Olivia Newton-John records. My dad says that she was my first voice teacher. I know those songs like the back of my hand. My favorite song back then was “If You Love Me Let Me Know (If You Don’t Then Let Me Go)”. I actually sang this song for a record contract audition in Nashville, TN in 2003. Nothing came of that but to sing that song in Nashville was a dream come true.
When I was twenty-nine, I dragged my hubby to Tunica, MS (we were living in Arlington, TN at the time) where we saw Olivia Newton-John live in concert at one of the hotel casinos. It was so surreal to be hearing this voice that I had known all my life, live and seeing Olivia on stage about fifty feet away. She sounded great and looked fantastic. My dad’s favorite song by her is “I Honestly Love You”. I sang it for him at karaoke when my parents came to visit us here in Okinawa a few years ago, but actually hearing the song live and performed by the original was just amazing.
3. Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite albums?
After looking through my Purchased list on iTunes, the album I have listened to the most since buying it a few weeks ago is Aretha Franklin’s 1970 release, “This Girl’s In Love With You”. Lately I have found that my singing style has become much more soulful in sound. Even when I sing country tunes at karaoke, there is a new sound coming out of me that wasn’t there before. I think it has to do with what I’ve been listening to. Aretha, Sharon Jones, Duffy and even Barbara Streisand.
4. If someone asked you who your favorite groups/singers/musicians were, which ones would be the first to pop out of your mouth?
OK, here we go: Madonna, DMB, Pat McGee Band, Olivia Newton-John, The Carpenters, Barbara Streisand, Harry Connick, Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, 311, Martina McBride, The Dixie Chicks, Trisha Yearwood, GarthBrooks, Faith Hill, Travis Tritt, Heart, Belinda Carlisle, The Beatles, Celine Dion, Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, Eva Cassidy, Jack Johnson, Lenny Kravitz, Lyle Lovett, Patsy Cline, Pat Benatar, Pink Floyd, Sugarland, The Barenaked Ladies, The Indigo Girls, Susan Tedeschi, Renee Fleming, Sarah McLachlan and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
OK, now it’s my turn to tag someone!
VERBATIM BEASTMOMMA BOOKS ON THE BRAIN VEGAS, BABY – AND A TODDLER TOO BOOKS AND COOKS BOOKING MAMATag, You’re It!!
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