Music

“If music be the food of love….sing on!”

-William Shakespeare…kinda

So for those that are close to me, or even those that are not so close to me, know that my passion in life is music.  I know it started when it was really young because my parents have cassette tape recordings of me singing various songs at the top of my lungs.  My mom and dad always had music playing in the house but it was a cluster of music.  Mom was blaring Motown, Smokey Robinson, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Gloria Gaynor, Roberta Flack and Michael Jackson.  While on the other of side of the house was my dad was blasting Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John and The Beatles.  I mean can you imagine!?!?  It was AWESOME!

There have been a lot of musical milestones in my life, and by milestones I mean points I remember musically that molded me into the person I am now.  At age 7 I discovered my parents cassette tape treasure trove.  Litterally 100s and 100s of tapes that I could listen and sing to on my karaoke machine.  I started to go through them one by one and I stumbled onto one titled “The Stranger” by the one and only Billy Joel.  That was the first time I ever got chills from a song.  His voice, his lyrics, the piano….I couldn’t get enough.
For my 10th birthday my parents bought me tickets to see Billy Joel in concert for his River of Dreams tour.  I totally flipped.  I was going to get to go with my friend Matt and we had made a pact to learn ALL the words to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” before we went (cause that’s what 10 year olds do). It was when I heard him play “Lullaby”  I was so moved by its beauty that my heart just burts and I was overcome by emotion.  That was the first time music had made me cry.

The next milestone came one day when I was singing Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” in the mirror, hairbrush and all, and I decided on a whim that I was going to tryout for the school talent show(please keep in mind I was 11 and maybe 90 lbs)and I wasn’t going to tell my parents unless I made it, cause that way if I didn’t make it…no biggie!  Well I made it, I told my parents to come and I am not sure if they thought it was that big a deal cause my dad didn’t come(which is extremely rare, my dad always make it to all my performances) and my mom showed up with the video camera not realizing that I was going to be singing in front of the ENTIRE school(800 or so people).  It’s really funny to watch the tape now cause my mom is shaking the whole time with the camera and I am wearing a rediculously 90′s dated outfit, but  reguardless, that’s the point I knew I wanted to make music a part of who I was for the rest of my life.

Since then there have been many more milestones, some of which you can read about on my About page.  I love sharing my gift with people, especially children who have yet to realize what a huge impact music has the potential to have on their lives.

As I’ve been writing this I have been listening to Billy Joel tell the stories behind his music.  I’ve only been moved to tears once, but I think that’s enough for tonight.