Influence

I didn't develop a real interest in music until high school.The first album I ever bought was Metallic's Ride The Lightening. I didn't like it. I figured out early that I don't like hard rock, punk rock, heavy metal or any kind of music that could be described as "hard". It made me feel crazy, made me want to lash out.

Music didn't open up for me until I bought Beck's Odelay in 1997. I listened to the album start to finish endlessly. It made me feel good, it made me want to dance, it made me realize how effecting music could be if you find the right kind. My favorite track is "Readymade"



A couple years later, junior year of high school, I saw O' Brother Where Art Thou? I discovered the blues and country and fell in love. I found a type of music that spoke to me, that I identified with, and I was hooked. The titular song in the film "Man Of Constant Sorrow" I loved but when I heard "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" in the scene with the main characters huddled around a camp fire my world opened up.



I through myself into the blues devouring John Lee Hooker, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Muddy Waters, R.L. Burnside, Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Son House, and B. B. King. However my modern day music exposure was slim to none. My college roommate Bob, who was and is a musician, introduced me to a ton of modern day artist that inspired me to pick up a guitar and Bob and I to start writing songs. The song that hit me the hardest was Martin Sexton's "Can't Stop Thinking About You" Bob and I discovered it during the perfect time. I had just got out of an intense emotional relationship and was heartbroken.



Since college HP and Beanpole have single handedly cultivated and expanded my contemporary musical taste. HP burned me the Saul Williams record and "List Of Demands" has gotten me amped up ever since.



Towards the end of college I discovered Johnny Cash. The first track I heard was "Folsom Prison Blues". I immedately felt a kinship with him and his music. Felt inspired and lifted up. Felt a harmony with it. Felt hardened, tempered like steel. His words and songs expressed exactly how I felt. I finally found someone who understood and expressed the storm within that I couldn't put words to.



Becoming obsessed with Johnny Cash lead me to look for more country music. I started to learn Johnny Cash songs and broadened to Hank Williams. I got into Hank III, o'death, and Adrienne Young but was always more partial to the music of the past.



I still love the blues and the majority of music is Johnny Cash. I rarely hear recent stuff now, only when Beanpole and HP send me mixes. What you like, what resonates with you, fills in the gaps, molds you.



What a person listens to can tell a lot about them. Some people may call that shallow, I call it true.