Haileywood

So much good music, so little time.

I know I’m not the only one.  

Admit it.  You have a sticky note (or an app on your phone) with a list of the new artists, or new albums you want to pickup on your next trip to the record store (brick & mortar style, or virtual).  Sometimes you build up a backlog, and the visit ends up being a bit more expensive than you expected, but there you are, with an iPod full of new tunes to jam in the car or on the train into town for work.  Doesn’t it give you the warm & fuzzies?

But what about those times when you forgot your list, or worse, haven’t kept up with the list (the horror!).  There are a handful (or more) of new albums or groups you remember wanting to check out, and they are right on the tip of your tongue -but you can’t remember ANY of their names!  

It was that song that came up on one of your Pandora playlists.

It was that band that opened for your favorite new artist at that show a few weeks back.

It was that song you Shazam’d while you were shopping last week.

…oh, what was it called???  Damn.

You don’t want forgo your trip to the music mecca that is your corner record store, or iTunes, or Amazon.com/mp3 (my personal favorite) so you decide to go in naked.  No shopping list to restrict or inhibit your musical expedition - you’re going to shoot from the hip.  This time, as you load those new tracks onto your iPod those warm and fuzzies are replaced by a childlike excitement, a hopeful anxiousness as you give your new discoveries a first listen.

More often than not, those uninhibited moments of musical experimentation result in experiences we would have otherwise missed out on.  And those experiences result in yet further new experiences as we discover other new bands that are similar to the new ones we’ve just unearthed.  

The moral of the story?  It’s ok to toss the sticky note every once in a while.  Don’t write down every new band on your snazzy new todo list app on your phone.  

Let the music come to you, my friends.