I love to discover new music. Back in the day it was all
hard rock and punk. In college I attended plenty of live shows; mostly local
bands, none of whom put out CDs or anything that would allow me to remember
their names, now fully faded into my memory. We’ll call it a beer induced fog.
Whatever. I enjoyed every moment of my grunge glory days. Drinking Natural
Light from cans or kegs listening to no name bands at frat houses and dancing
in levis 501s and flannel shirts. I’m sure that this activity is still going on
at many colleges today; replace the Natty Light with PBR and the 501’s with
some lo-rise skinny jeans and somewhere on some college campus a replication of
my 19 year old self is dancing to another no name band in a frat or crappy bar.

After college I discovered folk, it fit my quieter
personality and there was less beer being consumed at these shows; smoking
substances was more the substance of choice. I enjoyed the fact that I could choose
to not partake in the recreational drug use and still enjoy the scene. My
partner and I with a good friend used to attend the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
every year. 3 days of sun, camping and really good music. It was all fun until
one year it rained the entire 3 days and the place was festering with annoying
kids who were stoned out of their mind and playing in mud. We stopped going
after that.

Now I’ve discovered that my musical taste has grown and, perhaps
matured. While I still enjoy listening to Bikini Kill, The Pixies and Heavens
to Betsy; I’ve found I must listen to them in moderation, in rotation with a lot
of other music. My partner points out that the music that I’m now discovering
is more produced, more melodic, uses more than 3 chords, the drums are tighter
and the voices smoother. I give you 3 bands I’ve discovered over the last few
months that fit my newly matured taste in music: Uh Huh Her, Telekinesis and
the Vitamin String Quartet. I’d pay good money to see any of these 3 bands play
live and have bought their albums online.  In fact if you’ve gone through the
transformation and aging process as I have I suggest that you check out Merge
Records online.  If you’re still in your
rock and punk days check out Kill Rock Stars. If you’re looking for a good mix
of recommendations check out Carrie Brownstein’s (formerly of one of my all
time favorite bands Sleater-Kinney) blog on NPR called Monitor Mix. Her recommendations
span styles and if you look you’ll find something that fits your tastes.

You might wonder why I’m writing about music on a blog about
art journaling. Do you sit in silence when you journal? I rarely do. Usually I’ll
put on a mix of my favorite music or a rerun of Law & Order. The TV is just
background noise but I find that more often than not my musical choices reflect
my mood and influence my writing and art. My brush strokes begin to match the
beat. As I write this to a techno/trance band I’ve never listened to before I
recognize that my fingers peck out the words to the beat of the music. I find
myself stalling in my art journal if I have no music on. Music is as much an
inspiration as looking at art online or putting the brush to a page. I ask you
to make a mix of your favorite music, put on some headphones, tune out the rest
of your life and art journal to music.