Since as far back as I can remember, music has been a huge part of my life. I firmly believe that the music we listen to has the ablilty to shape our lives. Really, music works on multiple levels:
First, we listen to it. We hear the melody and understand the words. But on a more subconscious level, we actually feel the music. It awakens something primal in us that maybe we don't fully understand. But when we say that we like a song or an artist, we are really saying that we like how that music makes us feel. We like where the music takes us—in our heads and our hearts. It's these feelings that have the power to awaken unknown emotions inside of us.
I can remember sitting on the floor in my bedroom as a young child, listening to songs written before my time—songs about feelings and ideas I was too young to grasp—on my father's "boom box." But these songs sparked new ideas and emotions within me. Even though I may not have known what the song was trying to convey, it still meant something to me—something unique, an experience that was entirely my own.
As I got older, I was lucky enough to be exposed to many different types of music. Listening to new music became a driving force in my young-adult life. I traveled far and wide to see live music at every type of venue imaginable. As I mentioned in our last Skype call, Abby and I actually met at a music festival in 2009—the All Good Festival.