Music is Life

            Some people in this world think you’re crazy for paying eighty bucks to see live events, which is what my ticket to the Carolina Rebellion cost in May of 2011. It was so worth it though, because the Rebellion was a festival, with multiple bands playing. It was an all day thing and even though traffic was horrible and the lines were terrible, it was still one of the best experiences of my life. Why? Because of the music.

            Music is a major part of my life. I don’t sing or play an instrument, even though I know a few chords on guitar. I can’t read sheet music and I haven’t taken a music class since chorus in middle school, but music is still part of my every day life. I’ve often been listening to a song that shakes me to my very core and I wonder, how can people not get this? But I suppose music is just a very individual thing. A friend of mine is obsessed with the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack and I just think “meh.” So I do understand that not everyone gets carried away by the same thing.

            Pawpaw was the one who taught me to love music, and he taught by example. He played guitar and took me to bluegrass festivals and fiddlers’ conventions. Over the years, I realized bluegrass isn’t really my thing, but those memories are special to me. Music is special to me, and even though we weren’t always on the same page in regards to genre, I play songs on my computer in his memory, and it sends chills down my spine.

            I would gladly pay eighty dollars to attend the Carolina Rebellion again. I would pay eighty to see one of my favorite bands in the traditional concert setting, which brings me to what inspired this blog. Halestorm was at the Rebellion, but because of really crappy traffic, we missed them. Since then, they’ve hopped in and out of Charlotte several times and they’ve even been to Asheville, but I couldn’t go. Now, I got an e-mail on Sunday informing me that they’re coming back to Asheville in December, and nothing is going to stop me from seeing them this time. Why is this so important? Because their music is fantastic. It applies to my life (yes, I just went there) in ways that few do. Plus, I love Lzzy Hale’s voice. Halestorm gets me and it gets to me, and that is a beautiful thing.

            Music is a part of my life and I suspect it always will be. I am not a maker of music, but I am a writer, and I am capable of describing how music makes me feel. Quite frankly, it makes my spirit soar to fantastic heights, something that few things in my life are capable of doing. It moves me, makes me feel, reminds me that I’m human and that I’m alive. Across many genres and thousands of artists, music is one of those things that is universal. Celebration and commemoration, our purposes for it are as vast as the songs that make up the Amazon and iTunes stores. It is one of those things that the world would be a much sadder place without and this week, I give thanks that I have access to music from across the world, and that I can listen to it at the touch of a fingertip.

            Music is the beat of the heart in life.