Discovering and Rediscovering Music

Tweet

I am not a musician, but I have loved music all of my life. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for "classic rock," the psychedelic rock and blues-rock of the 1960s. I had the privilege of attending live performances of many of the greats of that era. Some of the bands I saw live back in the day included The Doors, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, Moody Blues, Canned Heat, Eric Burdon and War, Grand Funk Railroad, John Mayall, The Youngbloods and Alice Cooper. I went to high school in the San Francisco bay area. The Grateful Dead were always around, but I wasn't a huge fan until I met my husband. He really loved them, and after attending a few of their concerts, I became a fan too. The Dead had such a wide range of musical influences, including folk, country and bluegrass. Jerry Garcia would go off on his own and play with many other musicians like David Grisman and Merle Saunders. I really think it expanded my musical horizons. During the mid 70s I mostly skipped the disco era, I loved Marshall Tucker, The Eagles, Lynrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Waylon Jennings. Also the album "Will the Circle be Unbroken" a collaboration album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was a favorite. It brought my attention to artists like Vassar Clements, Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs. During the 80s and 90s my musical awareness was somewhat stagnant. When I listened it was mostly to music I already knew. By 2000 I was feeling bored and looking for something new. That's when my husband and I decided that music was too important to us to only listen to music that was over 20 years old. We started going to some local music festivals and concerts. We attended the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park a couple of times. We went to other events at the park too, including the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love and The Outside Lands Music Festival. We even planned some vacations around music. We went to the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival in Colorado one year, and several times we went on the Delbert Mclinton Sandy Beaches Cruise, which is a music themed cruise. That was so much fun! Festivals are a great way to discover new artists. We go because someone we love is playing there, and somebody we never heard of steals the show! The photo is one I took at the Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park in 2008. Jack Johnson and Paula Fuga.