It’s amazing what a mad spell in the kitchen on a sunday morning can do for inspiration; let alone what it does to protect my sanity. I say mad but it’s just very lively with lot’s of music being played while I do my best to come up with somthing edible for dinner. I was thinking this morning that I would give my blog a rest this weekend as I couldn’t really think of anything coherent to write about. Now, after flinging a chicken cassarole together and a nice spell of early 70s folk rock, I feel ready to do some writing again.
Why not talk about music? Well, I could chat about chicken cassaroles, but that would soon take away any inspiration. I’m happy to report that dinner turned out to be fairly nice, but that’s all I can say on the matter. Music, on the other hand, could have me writing and talking forever; although you’ll be pleased to know I’ll put the brakes on that after some reflection here.
I’ve always been interested in music and have been influenced by it since ever I can remember. My older brothers are partly to blame, but I can hardly complain about that influence; their tastes in music have really helped to shape mine. Additionally, I have some of the older lads at school to thank for steering me away from certain musical pathways and for encouraging me to appreciate a wider range of styles. Like many VI kid’s in the mid to late 70s, we were sent (yes sounds dramatic but the choices were restricted) away to school. In my case I was sent to Coventry, but unlike the old saying, people actually did talk to me. Anyway, one of my earliest memeories, is having a couple of the older lads talk to me about music and encouraging me to listen to bands like genesis, Steelie dan and the stranglers. I’m thankful for this, because a lot of my early peers at school really were not interested at all.
Throughout the years, I’ve always enjoyed exploring music and although I have dabbled in learning to play instruments, listening and appreciating has always taken priminance. I won’t go too much into the types I’ve tended to go towards, but I am a big fan of vocal music, harmonies and the creativity of the human voice. I tend to concentrate on the 60s, 70s and early 80s in terms of classic music, but it’s been great to explore other styles such as folk and world music; especially in terms of more modern music.
I would have loved to have been able to play an instrument more proficiently. I have sung before and despite some levels of disbelief when I’ve mentioned this previously, I am able to sing fairly competently. However, this hasn’t really worked out, so I am very happy to be playing music with my involvement in radio and boy does this give me so much joy. Music is such a motivator, a sense of happy inspiration, a mood lifter and a comforter. I just love music for what it can offer and I absolutely love to share this wherever and whenever I can.
I’m partly writing about this because it has been a really difficult week. Whenever I feel tired and there is a lot going on around me, I know that I need to calm things down, untangle all the thoughts, the pressures and difficulties that have occured. Being at home does this, but the most calming influence is music; it’s power can really take away a lot of the stresses of life.
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