music and family.

For the music and family blog, I decided to interview my mother. My mother was born in 1966, and grew up in a time where vinyl records and the radio were the main ways of listening to music. My mother predominately listened to pop music of the 1970’s. Some of her favorites included Helen Ready, John Denver, The Partridge Family, and Shawn Cassidy. Her family had two record players, one of which was in my mother’s room. She generally kept to herself when listening to music, though she didn’t get involved by dancing. She said that there wasn’t really enough room, and she was never really interested in dancing. She also didn’t have many friends that encouraged it.

Both of my parents were musicians, so my mother was exposed to piano music and band music. My grandmother, a pianist, often played in the house, and my mother greatly enjoyed it. The sounds of the piano encouraged my mother to pick up the piano at a young age, and she later moved onto to learning the flute. She was also exposed to a great deal of gospel music in church. Her church primarily used only the piano and the organ for music, but, once she reached high school, she started playing her flute during the services. She always really enjoyed listening to the church choir sing. In addition to church, my mother heard music at Carolina basketball and football games. She also distinctly remembers the music from the circus’s pit orchestra. She stated that the circus was always exciting, and she remembers that the music was very dramatic and added a lot to the show.

One of the main hang out spots in the 1970’s was the skating rink, and my mom was no stranger to the rink. She went to the rink every week and listened to music while skating. She said that some songs still remind her of being there, like the music of the Steve Miller Band, Lionel Ritchie, and Chicago.

My mother also was a frequent listener of the radio. She remembered diligently listening to Casey Casum’s Top 40 Countdown every weekend with her family. She also tuned in to Dr. Demento’s Show when she was in high school.

Live concerts were also a part of my mom’s interaction with music as a child. She attended her first concert, Helen Ready, when she was about ten years old. Her parents took both her and her brother. She also went to see John Denver, Shawn Cassidy, and the Village People when she was still young. In high school, she went to a great deal of concerts. She saw Styx multiple times, as well as Foreigner, Journey, Pat Benetar, and more.

Overall, music has played a pretty essential part in my mother’s life. She has always had a love for it and continues to want to be involved with it. She admitted that she would still love to learn how to play the guitar. My mom also said that she appreciates music more than she did when she was younger. She now understands how much work goes into the music, and it means that much more to her.