I
continue to learn that so many experiences from my youth have shaped my
interests and who I am today.
I
often think of my parent’s record player and stereo speakers. For the
longest time I thought the speakers were end tables. It makes me smile to think
that thanks to Craigslist, these same speakers found a new home
and now reside somewhere in Swissvale. Hopefully another
young child is lucky enough to hear influential sounds through those
speakers. For me, my memories include listing to The Carpenters
(“We’ve Only Just Begun”); Bye Bye Birdie ("A Normal, American
Boy"); The Beatles (“I’m Looking Through You”) in my living room
through those big, magic boxes.
Now
when I play music in my house, I feel that I am not so subtlety trying to
influence the soundtrack of my boys’ youth. Will they retain the songs
that I have been playing for them? Will they eventually come
to appreciate one of the bands that I like? Or will the cycle
continue when they play Ed Sheeran and Imagine Dragons for their family?
In
addition to the recorded music of my childhood, I often think of what got me
interested in the business side of live music. I like to thank band
members from The Empty’s and many late night conversations in Foggy Bottom during my college years, but
another prominent childhood memory of mine is watching a KISS documentary
from the late 1970s (“A Day In The Life Of KISS”).
It was not necessarily the music
that stood out to me but watching the intricate set-up and breakdown
of a KISS concert will be forever imprinted in my mind.
Currently,
when attending concerts with my boys, I constantly find myself either pointing
(or wanting to point) out behind-the-scenes details about the band’s stage
configuration or instrumentation. I often think of where the band just
arrived from and how quickly they need to pack their van to head off to their
next show. Now the parent in me wonders if they have a place to stay and
if they have a back-up plan in case they no longer decide to live the life of a
touring musician.
An
age-old bar stool conversation is “What was your first concert?”.
The answers can sprout embarrassing tales or prideful memories. I know
that I have taken my boys to see their first concerts, but I wonder if they
will claim them as their own or choose their own adventures.
Thanks
for reading.
