Daughter Of A Preacher Man

It's my turn on the therapist's couch that has become My Music, My Concerts, My Life lately.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories detailing how a few of the writers here discovered music in their formative years.  So far, no matter what our age or the geographical or socioeconomic circumstances we were raised under, all of our stories parallel in one way:  The distinct, unexplainable, and overwhelming attraction to music which seemed to start at an early age.

I was born and raised in north central Texas, which has never been a haven of ground breaking music of any form but it was even less so way back in the 70's.  My parents were very religious.  We were in church every time the doors were open, even before my Dad became a Pentecostal preacher.

My parents were very strict.  I was only allowed to listen to the local country music radio station, which played country music every day but Sunday.  On Sundays, the station only played...  you guessed it, gospel music.  We're talking the old time shit - The Gaithers,  The Imperials, Pat and Debby Boone.  My Mom loved (and still does) Elvis so he was always allowed, especially at Christmas.  Elvis' Christmas album is so ingrained in me, I could sing every song off that album by heart.  It isn't truly Christmastime to me until I hear Elvis sing "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me".

As all tales of true love go, if it's meant to be, a way will be found.  I could occasionally catch some music on AM radio, if my radio was in the exact spot it needed to be and I held my breath and stood on one foot.  I would be in bed at night, with my small radio turned almost all the way down, under the covers, listening to whatever I could find that wasn't country or gospel.

I was always at my Granny's house because both of my parents worked and even when they weren't working, we seemed to always be there.  My Mom comes from a large family of five brothers.  Two of my uncles still lived with my grandparents during a lot of my childhood, which turned out to be a huge hidden bonus musically.  I would sneak into their rooms while they were at work and rifle through their 8 track collections.  It was during those covert missions that I would discover Cheap Trick, Foreigner, and Boston.  I was introduced to Christopher Cross and his self titled album while riding in my uncle's truck to a watermelon festival one hot summer day.  My other uncle bought a stereo and it changed my life.  The disco lights changed colors and were driven by the bass and it was absolutely fucking amazing.  I would listen to Renegade by Styx and Jukebox Hero by Foreigner over and over again in the dark, watching the lights.  I still think about that thing to this day.

As I made my awkward way into the teenage years, I had a bit more freedom musically but that was limited to the local "rock" station.  My parents wouldn't let me buy cassette tapes so I relied on radio and my peers.  I had dozens of mix tapes I would record straight from the radio to get me by.  I would sneak out of bed late at night to watch Night Tracks on the living room television.  The first time I saw Ozzy Osbourne perform was on Solid Gold.  He sang "Bark At The Moon" and I was ruined.

Another pivotal music milestone was when my best friend made me a copy of Prince's Purple Rain album.  I listened to it incessantly and could probably sing Wendy and Lisa's parts better than they could.  I learned what masturbation was from that album, or at least what to call it.  That album was like porn for my young mind.  It WAS porn for my young mind.

I was exposed to even more music on the band bus by the guys with the "Say Anything" type boom boxes.  Yes, I played the flute in my high school marching band.  Go ahead and start with the "This one time, at band camp..." jokes.  Fuckers.  The band bus is where I heard Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet and Def Leppard's Hysteria albums in full, not just the single most popular on my local radio.  These same small town Texas boys would also wear tan trench coats all the time because they worshiped Sting (I'm not even kidding).  They redeemed themselves in my eyes, however, the first time they played Motley Crue's Girls, Girls, Girls album at full blast on the band room's stereo system.  I'm not sure there was anything hotter at the time in my teenage eyes than a Motley Crue song.

Other life changing albums for me was the Pretty In Pink soundtrack, which I still listen to today.  After I graduated high school, I found The Cure and the Pixies.  That seems a bit late to most of y'all but almost no one in my small town had even heard of them.  I fell in love with the kind of local band The Toadies, who I just saw in concert last summer for the first time.  You can read my blog about that concert here on my personal blog. 

Decades have passed and I am still a huge music fan.  I don't listen to radio because it pisses me off and I also may be a bit of a control freak.  I rely on my Spotify subscription, where I have playlists for almost anything.  Yes, even that.  I listen to music every single day, most of the day, and fall asleep most nights with headphones over my ears.  Luckily, there have been some really great acts come through Birmingham, Alabama, where I currently live.  I try to make as many of those concerts as I can.

After all these years of having musical freedom, I still feel like I'm playing catch up compared to my fellow music writers here on this fine blog.  And that's okay because I don't think a true music lover can ever tire of hearing music.  New music, old music, music that's made us cry, laugh, fall in and out of love, gotten married to, made love to, danced to, may be buried to...  that's life.  Music has been my only friend at times.  It's never too busy for me.  It never judges me.  It most always reflects my mood.  It holds the story of my life and most of my memories, good and bad.

I'm grateful to my parents for being so strict on me because it probably kept me from a lot of bad things.  I also think it made me appreciate music so much more than I would have.  Music is like a drug to me, I don't care if that sounds cliche or not.  I won't ever be able to get enough of it and I think it's because of them, in the best way possible.  

I have a 13 year old daughter and you may wonder how I raise her in regards to her music listening habits.  She has her own Spotify subscription which I pay for.  She can listen to anything without the word "fuck" in it.  Those are my limits.  She's heard much worse at school already but I'd like to shelter her a bit longer.  I've taken her to a few concerts with me and she is currently very excited about seeing Chevelle next month, one of my favorite bands and now one of hers.  I know some of you know the downright giddiness that overtakes you when your child knows who Tony Iommi is or actually requests Type O Negative, The Proclaimers, ZZ Top or Monster Magnet.  I'm proud of the fact that she knows what Eddie Van Halen's yellow and black striped guitar was named and who it's buried with.  I thought I'd die the day she named her Spotify account after Queen.  The love of music is a gift I pass to her which will be there for her in times when I can't.  

I hope to see you around here a lot more.  If you haven't already, please read the posts by Gita, Fran, Shane and Joel that have been published over the last couple weeks.  If you love music, and you do or you wouldn't be here, I know you'll find something you can connect and relate to.

 My hour on the couch is up for now.  Thanks for the therapy, you can send me a bill.  Please let me know which album was most influential to you as you became a lover of music.  Down there, in the comments.  Till next time, y'all.

Stephanie

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