A Continuation of Gospel v. Other Playlists

I agree that there is most likely an intended audience for the gospel music, and that knowing more about the people creating and listening to the music could make me be more open to/get more out of listening to the music.

At this point in the semester all of my classes are kicking it into high gear, and I know that I'm not going to start researching the artists and their histories to get a better understanding of music that as of yet, I'm not fond of if it is not required. Perhaps looking at the artists the same way we did with Jazz and Country music before listening to the playlists, would have made me more open-minded upon going into is. In all honestly even if the music just wasn't called gospel music I may have been more open-minded. (I grew up in a house were my parents' religion was pretty well forced on me until leaving for school this fall and thus have a hesitance/general dislike for overly religious things.)

Open Mic Night!

Last night was another open mic night put on by CAC concerts. I was at swing until about halfway through it, but I was able to catch the end of the open mic night. If any of you haven't been to one of these nights yet, I would strongly advise checking it out (the next one is January 25th and they usually run from about 9:30-11).

There's a lot of variety offered so it's probable that if you enjoy the audio arts at all, you'll find something you'll enjoy. Last night I saw several people playing guitar and singing, listened to a story about the sun burning out/apocolypse, and heard a couple of poems. It was a marvelous showing and the fullest (crowd-wise) that I've seen for the mic nights so far (this was the third of the year, I've made it to part of each of them). A couple of the performances that stick out were(I don't know everyone's names but I'll point out the ones I do know): the hobo song by a guy named Tyler, the Howard Dean song by Mary Ellen and someone else, the last guy's song about sleeping for a thousand years, and John Hanson's song "You're as pretty as a twig in the moonlight, twig in the moonlight. You're as pretty as a bat." (He played this song at the first open mic night too and people danced along to the chorus.)

Anyway it was a wonderful time and I saw a couple of you there. Hope you all had a good time as well and that the rest of you check it out in January!

Jamboree

Well I made it out of bed and over to Oyate bright and early on Thursday to man the table at nine in the morning. This in itself is a huge (personal) accomplishment. Needless to say, there were few others out and about at 9, other than people from other classes who also were standing at their tables. Basically no one stopped by the table during my half hour there to do anything other than ask what was in the food (provided by the 3 o'clock section) so there wasn't a whole lot of good conversation happening then.

I stopped by the table again a little before our section started (at noon) and traffic looked like it had picked up a bit. Audience participation in the swing dancing took a while to arrive, but by about halfway through our section we were getting a decent number of stragglers to join in for at least a few minutes. Teaching the Charleston seemed to be what actually got people to come start in a little bit. It definitely helped once we had most of the class participating rather than standing along the wall. People also seemed to enjoy watching and (some) trying the floor spins.

All in all, the Jamboree went better than I expected after my early morning arrival where there was no one! It was nice to harrass some friends and get them to join in the dancing and just to see what the class had learned from the crash course of sorts that Christina and I gave them over the last few weeks in addition to what some of the class learned from actually coming to swing club.

If anyone is still interested in learning more swing dance moves, they should come by swing club. We're done for this semester, but will eventually be starting up again around January/February and we'll be continuing with lifts. Also there is a Jazz dance next week Saturday, December 9, that a bunch of people from swing are planning to attend.

Gospel Music v. Other Playlists

The question was posed as to why I prefer the other music that we have listened to over the gospel music that we recently started listening to. Well...since I know very little about the technicalities behind music I tend to focus mostly on rhythms and lyrics (if they are decipherable) or just the over all melody. The gospel music has pretty clear lyrics and I'm not a huge fan of religious music in general bacuse it makes me feel as though I'm being preached at. Some of the music we listened to before had songs that I couldn't understand the lyrics in at all and I liked that better because I focused on listening to the voice to try to understand what the singer was feeling, but I had no desire to feel what the musician was saying while listening to the gospel lists. In addition to that I just related better to some of the other songs that we have listened to. I suppose if I were to listen to these lists in full (I only made it half way through the second list because it wasn't working properly and I had spent over an hour there already) perhaps I would enjoy the music better, but from my taste of the gospel music, it's just not in my realm of enjoyment.

Gospel Music Listening..or trying

So I tried to listen to the second gospel music list today, but it's not streaming so well. It keeps having to stop to load the music and once it does load, it has been playing songs over each other (two songs playing at once) so it's pretty difficult to decipher which songs are which. Thus far I'm not a fan of this playlist. I probably won't make it through the whole list because it isn't playing right, but a lot of the music so far reminds me of church music but more peppy.

I liked the first list quite a bit better, but as a whole I like the other music that we've listened to in class much more than the music of late. The last list had a few songs that were familiar to me such as "John the Revelator" and "Rock My Soul." "Yonder Come Day" (2nd list) is one song which I'm actually kind of liking. The clapping and the main voice make for a good rhythm and melody to the song and the back up voices just fill out the song nicely.

Weekend Festivities

It was quite the weekend for artistic performances on campus. My roommate is in danceline and participated in the play-in-a-day so I went to both to show some support. I missed out on the jazz show this weekend, but it was really good the last time they had a concert and I'd assume that they kept it up this week. The dance ensemble had several different types of dances. The variety was nice so that if you didn't like some there were probably still at least a couple of dances that were interesting/fun to watch.

The play-in-a-day was wonderful. I was impressed by how well together everything seemed to be despite only having 24 hours of preparation. I used to do stage crew for plays in high school so I appreciate the fact that not only did the actors memorize their lines and blocking, but there was even some tech involvement. I knew several of the ac†ors and writers from improv, swing, and seeing them around in the dorms. After something like seven hours of practice the actors showed us what they had gotten together. There were three separate plays which each lasted about 10 minutes. Each had been written by a different playwright and had its own director and cast. All in all they did a fine job of creating over the 24 hour period that they were given and were able to pull together quite the show!

Any of you who haven't gone out to see the festivities on campus should definitely start checking some of them out! I would strongly suggest going to the play-in-a-day next year and trying out the jazz and dance shows if you get a chance.

Tuesday Swing

This Tuesday one of the guys from Swing Club, Alex, is going to come to Louie's Lower Lounge to practice with us. He should be helpful in helping us teach the guys their footing and some of the moves (since I tend to want to follow rather than lead it makes it difficult to show many of the moves). He hasn't been to Swing Club the last couple of week so he won't know some of the moves that those of who have gone learned, but he knows the stuff that we learned the first couple of months. Alex is also planning to join us at the Jamboree.

Blog Summary For Oct 25th

For the most part there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of blog activity other than required blogs and a couple of exceptions that seem to blog regularly. Liz blogged today expressing her relief at being done with her presentation. (Liz-I really enjoyed the presentation especially the collage guitar that you made...way to incorporate some art in there!) Culture Jammer talked a little bit about the upcoming Jamboree and brought up the idea of doing a mockumentary again. This would be a good way to let people see what the junk band is about if that's what our class ends up doing, but how much time do we have to pull things together before the Jamboree takes place? People should check out I Am Cool Dooner's Blog-he's always got some random blogging going on and it plays music and has pictures to distract those of us with short attention spans. Jacknife blogged about Eagan's performance in class a while back. Check it out...I also meant to do that but never got around to it. It was very cool to get to hear a lot of the banjo styling we've been reading about performed for us in person-it helps a lot for understanding of the music for those of us who are somewhat musically un-inclined (such as myself). Stephanie also had some thoughts as far as the Jamboree goes, check them out on her blog.

People have been working on the podcast blogs and have commented mostly about the wide variety of music offered by the collection and the background of Moses Asch and Harry Smith. Several people used the quote about America changing through music as well as the diversity of the music.

Pandora has also been commented on a couple of times. Dano said that he enjoys listening to the station but wishes he could flip through songs as desired instead of there being limits to the number of songs skipped.

Overall the blogs seem to reflect a generally positive attitude towards the class. Check out Ashley's post from a week or so ago which includes a little overview of class perceptions. There are some that still haven't posted since their initial blogs or since September...get on that! That's all good though as far as I'm concerned, it's less to read.

Folkways-Episode 5

This episode largely focused on Harry Smith's life again as the fourth episode did. Actually the quote that stood out the most to me in this episode was quite similar to the one from the fourth episode regarding Harry Smith's response to receiving a Grammy. He said, "I've seen America change by music." His goal throughout all of his collecting of music was to expand people minds and open up the possibilities for music. This encompasses the entire course that we are taking: the evolution of music from it's roots in America and forward. It has builded onto genres and created entirely new genres so that we can enjoy a variety of music in all sorts of styles. This section again included several musical clips including "Maggie's Farm" by Bob Dylan and Blind Willie Johnson's "Blind Revelator" and many more.

Overall this episode and the third episode far outweigh the fourth which seemed to drag on. This also had a short clip about the world's largest collection of paper airplanes...good stuff.

Folkawys-Episode 4

"[Folkways] became the resource for a generation of young performers," was included in the introduction of Harry Smith, music anthropologist, during the 1991 Grammy's. Once he was up on stage he had to say, "My dreams came true. I saw America change through music." This is the true explanation of this episode of folkways. Music tends to reflect the mindset of the people in the time in which it is created. As opinions change, the way that people expreess themselves changes as well. This fact is reflected in the music that we have listened to in class. Country grew out of its roots in blues music which grew from traditional African music that came over at the tend of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s. It has continued to transform and the content of the lyrics has evolved along with rhythms.

Harry Smith was put on the folk anthology project by Moe Asch to collect the more commercialized music of around the 30s through 50s. Grio Marcus, an author reflected on Smith's collection stating, "What's fascinating about the way the whole set is put together is the way one recording echos another." Genres have expanded and transformed over the years, but at the heart of many songs you can still feel and hear the connection to other genres.

Jamboree

Performing in front of large crowds is definitely not my forte. My class has been discussing making a junk band and performing (in Edson I think) for the Jamboree. This would be alright with me as long as we're in a big group...I'm not terribly musically inclined. I can't particularly pick out notes or read them for that matter. I think it'd be cool though if we can get together a percussive type of group and do the presentation all together.

On the other side of things we could make a booth of some variety and put up information about blues, country, and folk musicians. We could put up some artwork to make things a bit more interesting. I haven't gotten around to my presentation for class yet, but I have a couple of drawings I'm planning to use in some manner for it-one of Muddy Waters and the other of Bob Dylan. They could be used for a booth if the class wanted.

Folkways Collection-Episode 3

I was definitely dreading having to listen to three one-hour long episodes for FYS, but after one episode it's not looking quite so bad. One of the first quotes in this episode is Moe Asch saying, "[of music pieces] becomes a museum piece or it becomes something that is a documentation. Well you don't take a documentation off the market do you?" He was talking about how music is meant to be preserved whether it is popular at the time or not. He took this quote and formed it into his career of searching for unknown or not popular music and musicians that show the roots of music. His discoveries have formed the backbone of the music that we listen to today. Many of the recordings that he includes in his archives have been covered a countless number of times and unbeknownst to us, they are what we listen to still-in their original lyrics, rhythm, tune, or not. They have affected what music has become and will continue to do so as music continues to evolve in the future. The episode continued on playing several pieces and clips of poetry, music, and speeches.

Most of the clips included in the episode were familiar to me--it started off with Led Belly's "(Goodnight) Irene" which is a song that my mom used to sing to me and my sisters when we were younger. It continued on for a while and later came up with "Which Side Are You On?" by the Almanac Singers which is covered by the Dropkick Murphys, an Irish punk band. It is originally a song from a miner strike in the 50s. The episode ended with a song done by Bob Dylan under the pseudonym Blind Boy Grunt. (I always love a good Bob Dylan song!)

The quote "Science began when man began to observe and to make note of his observation," by Richie Caldran helps explain Moe Asch's motivation for recording and organizing collections of music.

Pandora

Well...honestly I haven't Pandora a whole lot lately. When I've used it I've enjoyed most of the songs that it's played for me, and I like it a lot better than trekking over to the class to listen to playlists once a week. It's going to get cold soon and I would rather hang out in my dorm drinking hot chocolate and listening to Pandora than getting snowed on while I walk across campus to keep caught up in FYS. (I know, I'm a terrible Minnesotan)

In the Country of Country-Part 4

Hell's Half Acre-The Louvin Brothers

Charlie and Ira are the Louvin Brothers who were from Henagar in the Sand Mountain area. They spent a lot of the time of their youths in Georgia and Alabama. They sang country gospel music and were very versatile vocalists. They believed that more emotion can by infused into songs that the artist can relate to so they played songs that they knew about such as murders that had recently happened in Henagar.

Just One of the People-Doc Watson

Doc became fully blind before he was one year old, but his father continued to raise him like the rest of the Watson children. Because of this, Watson grew up being forced to be independent and very capable of everyday activities. He started playing the banjo when he was very young and then started making instruments out of what he could find around the house. While he was attending a school for the blind, he began playing guitar and became very good. Watson played old Appalacian folk songs often from the music that he heard on the radio and from old records that the family owned. He's very humble about his skills as a musician, p. 165 "To him it's an acquired skill-something he has a knack for."

Dawidoff-Part 3

So it took me quite a while to force myself to actually read this book, and I was kept busy enough with my other classes that I didn't get around to my regular posts from the readings until now..

Full of Beans-Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley

Bluegrass music is called such at least in part due to Monroe's roots in Kentucky, the bluegrass state. Monroe is known as the "Father of Bluegrass music." He could play the banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass fiddle and dobro. (Anybody know what the dobro is??)He mostly played old songs that had been passed down through his family and changed them by adding in his own style and interpretations. Monroe's band included himself, Earl Scruggs, and Lester Flatt

Ralph Stanley grew up in Virginia and began singing at church when he was five years old. He played with his brother, Carter, throughout the 1950s with a couple of short breaks in between those years. He was very religous and often seemed preacher-y to his comrades. Late in his life he played Old Time mountain music with Monroe.


Three Fast Fingers-Earl Scruggs

Scruggs is one of the first evolutionary banjo players. He became well-known for his ability to pick through songs with great speed using pciks on his thumb, middle finger, and index finger, and in doing so, he proved that banjos can keep up to a speedy mandolin player such as Bill Monroe. He was a member of Monroe's group (1945-1948) "The Blue Grass Boys" until Lester Flatt and him departed and formed there own duo from 1948-1969. Scruggs played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. He is joined as a former performer at that Folk Festival with the likes of Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters who perfomed at the Newport Jazz Festival. (I'm considering changing my presentation project to the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals if I can find enough stuff).

In the Country of Country-Prologue and Part 2

Prologue

The book starts off with Dawidoff researching Jimmie Rodgers. Rodgers was born in 1897 and grew up around Meridian which seems to be a pretty conservative area. He was a little racy for the area-a big drinker and he got around a bit. Rodgers is one of the first country musicians to have recorded music (along with the Carter Family in 1923). He played "plantation melodies, old river ballads, sentimental weepers, novelty numbers, swinging Dixie-land style...and country blues." He is well known for his yodel and the emotion that he puts into his voice which is partially contributed to by a bout with tuberculosis when he was young.

In the 1990s country music was considered the most popular genre based upon radio play. This country however is considered "real country" which basically as put by Dawidoff means that it is overprocessed, unemotional, has bad lyrics, and is insincere. Dawidoff prefers the more raw country which involves feeling that is associated greatly with many of the less popular country musicians including: Merle Haggard, Iris DeMent, Jimmie Rodgers and others.

Part 2: Three Women

Sara Carter was born in 1900 and was an Appalacian orphan after her mom died shortly after her birth. She married A.P. Carter when she was 16 and together along with Maybelle Carter, A.P.'s sister-in-law, they formed the Carter Family. In that time just about all of the well known musicians were men so A.P. took the forefront in publicity so that the ladies could show off their skills. In reality A.P. tended to contribute very little and he didn't need to because of the overpowering effect of Sara's voice which was drowning with emotion. They continued playing with each other after Sara and A.P.'s divorce in 1939 until Sara moved to California in 1943. She was never as tied to the music and having a career as A.P. and discontinued having performances after moving west.

Kitty Wells didn't live the hard life that she portrayed through the emotion in her voice that many people thought that she did. She did not write her own songs but was still able to infuse them with so much emotion that people thought the stories in her songs were real-life experiences. Kitty and John Wright were married for 59 years at the time the book was written and she relied a lot more on him than her feministic ideals songs would lead a listener to believe. She was generally happy and very sincere and greatly enjoyed being a housewife and singing.

Patsy Cline is the most controversial of the three women discussed in this chapter. She was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in 1932. She dropped out of school to help earn money to support the family after her dad walked out on them when she was 16. She started singing in the honky tonks when she was 13 and as she grew older she acted like one of the guys-cursing, drinking, and alluding to different things. She was married and divorced to Gerald Cline before marrying Charlie Dick in 1957. She had a wide vocal range and style that was filled with emotion. In 1961 Patsy Cline had a big hit "I Fall to Pieces." She died in a car crash in 1963, but she is still very well known and her songs are still among the top most played juke-box songs.

Discussion Summary

So I've got discussion summary duty for last week...

Tuesday we spent the hour in the computer lab at the library. It was a marvelous time. We learned how to use the online search through the Briggs website. The library guy (can't remember his name) Explained the computer system and explained SUMMON, WorldCat, Expanded Academic ASAP, Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, Lexis-Nexis, Britannica, and OED. Personally, I preferred WorldCat because you can search several different types of materials.

Thursday we started class off by coming up with some ideas for the presentations that start this week. After that we split up into small groups and discussed the readings that we've done so far from Deep Blues. We discussed James Coyner (who was brought up at the end of the second chapter) and what his relevance is in the book. We decided that Coyner was included in the book at least in part to show the racial tensions that were going on in that area. Also his specific case had whites versus blacks after everything went down because Coyner was protected until his execution which left many whites angry and searching for revenge and African Americans of the area "giddy" because one of their kind had finally been protected by the courts and police. We also discussed some of our favorite or interesting parts of the book that we had taken note of. We discussed the origins and social aspects of blues music as well as some of the musicians backgrounds.

Deep Blues Chapter 3: Mojo Hands

This chapter returned to the (musical) life of Muddy Waters. A ton of new people were introduced and a lot of them have songs that are in one of Nic's playlists so it was nice to be able to hear the music that was being explained in all of the chapters.

The chapter started off with an explanation of prominant superstitions that existed in the early 1920s-1940s (around that time anyway) including voodoo doctors that "gave" people good luck in whatever it was they were trying to do. After that intro it continued on into how Muddy began playing around with music when he was still a toddler. He first started playing the accordian when he was five and then he progressed onto the Jew's harp, French harp (harmonica), and guitar. Reading about this made me wish that I would've been encouraged to play music more as a child! It was Muddy's way out of the fields and into something that gave him release and that he loved. He was able to learn from the other musicians in Coahoma County and elaborate on that base to get his own performance style (including delayed singing).

I enjoyed reading about Muddy because I could tell in all of the quotes from him that his music is an integral part of his life just as it is for many of the other blues musicians of that time and musicians still around now. Feeling passion for one's work is something that is far underappreciated in our society where people have become more and more concerned about money than happiness. I'm not saying the money had no role in why these people played music, but there is genuine feeling in the songs that leads me to believe they played because they enjoyed playing. When I grow up and am forced to decide what I'm doing with my life, I hope that I can still say I just want to be happy in my life and career and know that I am doing something worthwhile.

Song Choice

So I finally got around to going in and listening to some more of Nic's music today. I was surprised by how many of the artists I had actually heard of from the book and also from them still being well known. I really liked Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" and Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" from Nic's playlist. I've known both of these songs for a long time and enjoy listening to both artists. I also like the song "Cuando te Conoci" by Steve Jordan because it tests my spanish skills and makes me want to actually look up the lyrics and see how much of the song I can understand. The last song that I was considering for the bios is Blind Willie Johnson's "John the Revelator" simply because I liked the sound of it.

I believe I'm going to go with "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles for my bio.

Performance

Basically, I hate performing in front of people and don't know how to read music/play most instruments. I'm thinking about making a video of some sort-maybe interview people about their music preferences and if they are involved in music, how they came to be so and have them play something. Anyone from the noon section want to form a group and do something like that? Let me know.

Another thought was that Nic mentioned something about people doing stuff with art. I love art and draw/paint/color some. I'm not sure how I would be able to incorporate that into a musically inspired presentation though.

My last thought (and the one I would dread the most) would be to actually play something for the class on the kazoo or drums...something of that nature.

Needless to say, I have not come to a clear cut decision yet and am glad I won't have to be presenting tomorrow! I'll think on it for a while...

Pandora

For some reason or another listening to the Pandora station for FYS while doing my reading for Roots actually helps me concentrate. Maybe it just helps me relate to the music better. Anyway, I've been streaming for close to an hour so it's worked its way through a couple of genres. Two songs that I've particularily enjoyed tonight are "The Angel's Message to Me" by Blind Gary Davis which just had a good gravelly, soulful feel, and "Rock Me on the Water" by Jackson Browne which is a bit more modern sounding that many of the others I've been hearing and has smooth piano and jazz sound.

Chapter Two - Deep Blues

I'm starting to get a bit more into the book but still have a hard time forcing myself to get to it early...Oh well, I got it done and am beginning to enjoy so that's all that really matters.

Several characters-both familiar and unheard of (for me anyway) were introduced this chapter including: Charley Patton, Joe Dockery, Henry Sloan, Tommy Johnson, Eddie "Son" House, and James Coyner. Patton and his life, particularily his involvement in music, were the focus. Patton, Sloan, and Johnson played together often at Joe Dockery's plantation and helped form what is now called blues. Blues songs seem to have somewhat community lyrics--bits and pieces are taken from several different songs and combined into a "original" piece that is noteworthy for its combination as well as tone and rhythm.

Tommy Johnson claimed that he learned to play the guitar so well by selling his soul to the devil. This immediately made me remember O Brother, Where Art Thou because I believe the guitarist in that movie who "sold his soul to the devil" was also named Tommy. Was it the same guy??

I'm not quite sure how James Coyner loops in with Patton...he just seemed like a very disturbed man.

Deep Blues (1st Reading)

I received a rather poor education in history at my high school (my teacher was suspended for a semester and others were coaches=gone about half the time) so reading up about the history of blues actually taught me a lot about U.S. history. The prologue dragged a bit for me though it did a nice job of relating the information to a character that is very well-known for his musical contributions (Muddy Waters). Reading about the origination of different styles/influences of blues music was enjoyable because I love listening to music but again know very little about the specifics or history of it. Several of the people mentioned (namely Charles Peabody, Alan Lomax, and W.C. Handy) sounded familiar, but I didn't really know anything about them.

Since I never really took music classes, I was a little bit lost while Palmer talks about AAA and AAB formats as well as the flattened third "blue note." I love listening to guitar music so it was interesting to learn about some of the styling such as using sliders and picking the guitar to make "rhythmic accents [that] talked back to the singer." Anyone know how to play guitar and want to try to teach me a little bit??

I also enjoyed reading about how blues music in the south developed from it's African origination in Senegambia and how it spread and changed in different areas of the states. I'm thinking about going into International Studies and for the most part love reading about different cultures (and want to actually go and experience them) so it was interesting to read about how some of our words and instruments came from Senegambia and the Wolof people like the banjo ("halam") and words like jive and hip cat...good times.

Sunday night I went to the movie at Nic's house (along with a total of about ten people). We watched O Brother, Where Art Thou which has an amazing soundtrack. I love the deep soulful music that gets played as well as the rowdier dance songs that were mixed in there a little bit. The movie portrayed several types of music which shows the diversity of music at all times but I could often find some rhythm or tone that made the music feel connected and relevant in its mix. A lot of the music in the movie portrayed stylings that were described in the reading which made the movie more interesting than it had been before (I had seen part of the movie before Sunday) because I could relate to the music better.

I started streaming music from Pandora while writing this so I'll just toss in that so far it's decent...kind of hit or miss. "Tombstone Blues" by Robert Peterson was pretty good. His voice reminds me of Ray Charles', but he's accompanied by a guitar instead of piano. I'm not a fan of Jimmy Burns' "Through All Your Faults." The rest of the songs thus far have been alright, lots of soulful stuff.

Intro to Roots!

Straight off, I chose Roots Music because we are required to take a FYS course. From the courses that were available when I registered and fit into my schedule the easiest, Roots was definitely the best option. I enjoy a lot of different types of music, but I don't know that much about the history of music or artists (both current and from back in the day) so it seemed like a good way to start figuring some music out. I haven't taken any music classes since middle school, so I also figured it would be nice to check them out again.


If I could take five pieces of music with me onto a desert isle, I would take
1. If Not For You-Bob Dylan
2. So Hard to Find My Way-Jackie Greene
3. Upside Down-Phish
4. The Way We Get By-Spoon
5. What I Got-Sublime


I associate Simon and Garfunkel with my parents. My mom doesn't like listening to just about any music, but that is the one record/CD that she will usually listen to without complaints. I don't really know any Lawrence and Welk (sp?), but the mention of them makes me think of my grandparents (both sides) because my parents tell stories about when they were younger and their parents listened to Lawrence and Welk.

If I got to choose the replacement for the National Anthem, I would choose Run-Around by Blues Traveler.

I don't play any instruments (former percussionist...for about a year, but I never learned to read music), but I love listening to music in most forms. My favorite type of music is probably just about anything with acoustic guitar. I love dancing. Now I'll have to start working on mastering the kazoo...

If I could ask Governor Blanco a question, I would ask her if there is still a large base of Cajun/Zydeco music in Lousianna and how it has shifted over the years.