"Jimi Hendrix once famously said 'music is my religion', and I think I would consider myself a dedicated member of that church..."

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Like many kids, I grew up with a fair amount of instability, for a multitude of reasons. However, looking back, music was one thing that has remained consistent throughout my life. It's quite difficult to find a point in my life where music doesn't figure into the equation.

 

As I have gotten older and became a "student of history", I've come to appreciate how music is one of the coolest things that we do as humans. It's one of the biggest things in cultures across history, time and the countless divisions that tend to be constructed between people. It's part of our blood that travels between our hearts and brains, and for many of us, a huge part of what we call our soul. 

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I was told at a young age that my parents were the type that put headphones on my biological mother's stomach, which I can definitely believe. My dad had found a sanctuary in music when he was young and I can say with great certainty, he has been the largest influence on my life, but especially with music.

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I remember vividly going to his band practices when I was young, watching my dad do Black Crows tunes and getting to play on his drummer's white kit, or riding in my dad's Plymouth Scamp and listening to tunes on his deck with a graphic equalizer, and how he had it set with the low-end and high-end frequencies up and the mid low. He took me to his "load-ins" when he could and shared this aspect of his life that he loved so much.

 

My dad was the one who encouraged me to play music (to little surprise), when others did not. All of my first instruments my dad purchased or acquired for me, which were ironically, were sold off by someone else. But he always encouraged. Hell, even learned Limp Bizkit's version of "Faith" to teach it to me on guitar, he ran lights at shows when I was in a metalcore band (which he did NOT otherwise listen to), would drive up to Seattle and hangout, just to watch my band play for 25-30 minutes. All of that good stuff, on top of introducing me to a ton of different stuff I listen to now that my kids are picking up on now, which is crazy.

 

I could go on for 38+ years about it all...

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Music has been huge in so many ways in my life, whether it's been how I met my wife, connected me to other awesome people, what I share with my family and friends, the soundtrack to a night out back in the summer (or spring and fall), playing/recording it, or just the way it's reconnected me back to myself and my soul at times. I love it and I'll never get enough of it. 

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With any luck, we can encourage the same value or awesome experiences in music for other people somehow...

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