Well, this is a little odd, because a lot of it is from before I was born.
Birth to, oh, 10: Old-fashioned acoustic blues, hillbilly music (not Presley - Homer Rodeheaver, the Weavers, Flatt and Scruggs, and like that. You know, the stuff that came BEFORE the Grand Ole Opry); a few scraps of ethnic music (the Missa Luba!).
Late grade school: My parents (who ran a music store) introduce me to the Beatles. But it's mostly the Mills Brothers and Bing Crosby on the original 78's. Music that was top o' the pops before my parents started teething!
Middle School: My classmates introduce me to James Brown, Sly Stone, and other soul luminaries. "KDIA Lucky Thir-tee-een!" I discover the Monkees ... but on the other hand, Country Joe McDonald works for my dad. "Light My Fire" figures in my drama class's updated version of West Side Story. I also discover some more ethnic music. And Dead White Guy Music: Georg Phillip Telemann, Vivaldi and some others.
High School: I remember a name dropped casually by one of my teachers in middle school and sample Mongo Santamaria - my first taste of Latin jazz.
I become a jaydub and wrap myself in Kingdom Melodies. The classical strand extends into the Baroque.
Young Adult years: More of those damn Kingdom Melodies, more Dead White Guy Music. My husband fills the air with the sweeter electronica of the 1970's - Fripp and Eno, Mike Oldfield (OK, so partly acoustic), Walter Wendy Carlos. I discover the Chieftains. Oh, and Dr. Demento.
Escape from the Watchtower: I wake up one day and discover that we own virtually no music that *I* like. I discover the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Mojo Nixon's "Horny Holidays", Los Lobos, Crash Test Dummies, Cafe Tacuba, Astor Piazzolla. My husband begins composing his own music in earnest. I use one of his early pieces, "Gamelatonic," for ambient music during a Full Moon Circle (neopagan ritual for women). My daughter-in-law turns me on to Zap Mama.
Lately: I discover emusic.com, which leads me to Nati Cano, Cab Calloway, Amadou et Mariam, Boban Markovic Orkestar, Django Reinhardt. Oh, and Los Orishas, Eddy Navia, and Inti-Illimani.
Except for Los Orishas, I managed to miss the rap scene altogether. And disco. And heavy metal.
gently feral
