Winter, Los Angeles
Music has always played a significant role in my life. I started playing the piano at a very young age, plunking out the tunes I heard in my head, and I have continued making and enjoying music throughout much of my life.
But there was a time when the music went dark.
A few years ago I was living in a "rural, sophisticated" town in Connecticut. I found it to be a lonely, isolating place; of course, it didn't help that I was contending with an unravelling marriage and a partner with an undiagnosed mental illness. It was around this time that I stopped hearing music. I know I played it - I was always playing music for my two young daughters - but it stopped resonating with me. It became background noise to the chaos in my life.
And then I met Joe and Carol.
Joe and Carol were the parents of my daughter's friend. Soon after meeting them, they invited us over for dinner and a dip in the pool. With everything falling apart in my life I wasn't too keen on going, but I accepted the invite.
That night, Joe and Carol fixed a delicious homemade meal and poured many glasses of wine. And they had the best music playing. After dinner, while Carol entertained the kids in the pool, Joe and I sat in lawn chairs, under the setting sun, and talked music. We both had a deep passion for it and he turned me onto the radio station that we had been listening to, WFUV. You know how some people just shine a little brighter than everyone else? That's Joe. His zest for life and passion for following his dreams (he had recently given up a lucrative job at a mutual fund to become a math teacher) was infectious.
Between the food, wine and conversation, I felt a part of myself come back to life that night.
After that, I listened to that radio station all the time. Sometimes it was the best part of my day, letting the music sweep me away from everything else that was going on around me.
Eventually, Joe and Carol moved away. And then so did I. As will happen, we didn't keep in touch. This year, as I was putting my holiday card mailing list together, something resonated with me when I came across Joe and Carol in my address book. So I sent them a card. I didn't think much about it until a few days ago when I received a large envelope in the mail with their return address on it. Inside was a letter from Carol and a page full of pictures: Joe and Carol and their two children in front of a pyramid in Egypt; Joe with full camping gear on his back, knee deep in a riverbed, giving the thumbs-up; and Joe on horseback, giving a big old wave goodbye.
And there at the bottom of the page were the terrible words that Joe had passed away in August from inoperable lung cancer at the age of 49.
I never got to tell Joe how much he helped me that night.
The world has lost one of the good ones.
Joe, thank you for bringing music back into my life. This one's for you.
Listen to Gun Bun Music Monday 2012 playlist on Spotify or on Everyone's Mixtape.
Suggest songs via the collaborative playlist here.
Watch videos of the tracks here.
Listen to 2011 Music Monday playlist here.
"The A Team" - Ed Sheeran
This post by Bob Lefsetz made me take a listen to Sheeran. This twenty-year old musician leads the nominations for the 2012 BRIT awards and you can catch him here in the U.S. opening for Snow Patrol's upcoming tour.
"Eyes Like Pearls" - Van Hunt
I hate to be a name-dropper but I can't resist on this one because Van Hunt and I go way back. Ok, not really. He offered me a copy of his first CD on the streets of Park City at Sundance eight years ago. I had no idea who he was but I took the CD and I actually listened to it when I got home. I listened to it a lot. So I'm very excited to see that he's back with a new one.
"Simple Song" - The Shins
This is the first single from the Shin's upcoming fourth album. James Mercer wrote it when he and his wife were about to have their first daughter, as a tribute to their whole new life ahead of them. Ironically, Mercer told Q Magazine that this "Simple Song" was the most difficult song to put together in the studio. You can preorder Port Of Morrow now.
"We Were Children" - Tribes
NME turned me onto this band with this cerebral declaration: "This track is actually fucking great." I have to agree. I love that this UK band initially rebuffed the interwebs and insisted that their fans find them the old fashioned way, through concert posters. I supposed with their increasing success, they had to give in.
"Thieves and Kings" - The Peach Kings
Sometimes to find new and interesting music, I follow the internet breadcrumbs and see where they lead me. This time, it led me here and I think the fact that they do this is so cool (food + music = a good combo). And then I read this and I had to add this track to the playlist.
For those of you who aren't on the Spotify bandwagon, I'm trying out an alternative method for listening to the playlist - Everyone's Mixtape. You can give it a try here.
Cheers, Lisa
P.S. Here's a fun mashup that's worth a download.
