Music and Family

 For my music and family blog, I decided to interview my grandpa about his experiences with music. I wanted to learn more about his experiences with music because I've noticed that we share similar music tastes (rock, folk, acoustic music). We both have different opinions on what country music is good country music, and he's not as excited about rap music as I am, but we both share a love for Dolly Parton. I remember we were watching some live country music on tv and that's when I became curious about what music means to him, and how he connects to music. 

 As a kid in the late 50s, early 60s, some of his first experiences with music were listening to what was on the radio. One of the things that we discussed was how much technology in music has changed throughout his lifetime. He remembers listening to music on a hand-held radio with a dial on the side that you'd have to move around to find the stations. H also said that the music never came in clearly, there was always at least a little static. Now, he says, it's amazing how you're able to listen to anything that you want on your phone, and that can be connected to a Bluetooth speaker, and the sound comes in crystal clear. From the 8th or 9th grade he remembers listening to country music and finding that to be the most relatable music because of the stories being told in the lyrics. He also started listening to rock music, and as a kid remembers wanting to listen to what kind of music older kids were listening to. I asked him if his parents liked the music that he listened to. He started laughing and said no, they hated the rock and roll music. His parents used to listen to music from the 40s, which wasn't his favorite, but he didn't mind it. When asked what he thinks about music kids listen to today, he says he probably feels the same way his parents did about the music he listened to. He says it's just hard to understand and relate to, and music is something you have to relate to and find connection with. Even today, the music that he listens to is reflective of the 50s and 60s, rock, country, and folk music, and he doesn't regret the style of music he listened to as a kid. 

I asked him what his experiences were with making music as a kid. He's wanted to learn to play the guitar for many years, but as a kid, he was involved in church choir. I asked him how his experience with choir and singing was and we started laughing. He said, "you know about that experience." He continued saying that he still likes to sing and that music still is important because it sets the tone for a lot of things you do. He says everything revolves around music. 

 As my grandpa got older, the culture of music in that time began to shift in the 60s and 70s as lyrical themes, specifically in folk music, were more involved in protesting and activism. Folk music started to become more "hippie" music, as the styles and fashion in the 70s were changing. Music then had a lot to do with culture and became very reflective of the changing society. Even today, he says that music still has a lot to do with culture, but overall they're still the same genres. He says that there are still good songs and bad songs in each genre, songs he likes and doesn't like, but overall they keep to their roots. Though, if one genre has changed the most, he says it's rock and roll music. 

The meaning of music throughout his life has been consistent. As a kid, it was to feel good, and as he got older it was about relationships, but at its heart, music has always about connection. He says music can change your mood, or it can influence your mood, it's just about how you connect with it. I asked him how his life has affected his relationship with music, and he thought about that and answered that he didn't know. He continued saying that music affects him, and music has the ability to make him feel a certain way or to take him back to a good memory, or back to childhood. I also asked about what makes him feel connected to music, specifically country music. He said it's about their song-writing ability and being able to relate to and understand the story they're trying to tell. He also said that the meaning, or purpose of music, is to tell a story and that every song tells a story of some sort, and the ones you can connect with are the most meaningful to you specifically. 

Some songs that have specific meaning to him are "Look At Us" and "I Can't Drive 55." "I Can't Drive 55" is one that he says he likes to listen to when he takes his favorite car for a drive. It's the first song in the car that he turns on because it is a feel-good song that takes his mind off of other things. "Look At Us," is one of his and my grandma's favorites because it's a song that they feel relates to their life together, all the way from when they met, to where they are now.