My music influencers

I love music. Feeds my soul, and I'm lost without it. I started acquiring favorite bands at the age of 7 thanks to certain people in my life. Following is a list of those to whom I attribute my musical growth:

Diane Whiting (mom) - she made me take piano lessons beginning at the age of 7. Hated practicing. HATED IT. Why??? Because she used to set a baking timer and if you know the sound, you know how annoying it can be. Tick tick tick...practice, practice, practice. I eventually grew out of my hatred for practicing, the baking timer went away, and became a very decent pianist (in my mind, anyway). To this day, I can sit down and play "Right Here Waiting" and "Theme to Ice Castles" on the keyboards. On a side note, she also played Chuck Mangione, Barry Manilow and Dione Warwick records on our big living room stereo, all the time. ALL THE TIME. So, after they've been effectively burnt into my brain, I like these artists. Power of repetition. Word.

Debby Stuhler (aunt) - she's only 12 years older than me, and was always around when I was growing up. She's responsible for tuning me in to my first Kiss performance on television, during which she mimicked the Gene Simmon's tongue move. Classic. She also got me into the Bay City Rollers, and furthered my like for Manilow (it was a family obsession).

Mark McGiboney (cousin) - we would visit Mark and my great aunt/uncle in Billings, Mt. when I was little, and he gave me my first cassette tape when I was 11 - Chicago 16. Totally cool. He was a drummer, and went on to drum for the Disney on Ice show. Such a rocker.

Guy Hall, Jr. (grandpa) - the man could tap his fingers on the car window ledge until the cows came home. He was always cranking up the Big Band sounds, Benny Goodman stuff, which was awesome. He really liked his music, and it went with him wherever he traveled. I would tag along when he made frequent car trips to see his many children and other grandchildren, and I remember the bitter smell of coffee from the travel carafe and the sounds of the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey bands filtering through the tricked out van as we cruised down the highway to Colorado, Montana or Missouri.

Julie Pfau (grade school best friend) - we bought the Go Go's first album, Beauty and the Beat, in 1981 and played it until the grooves split through to the floor. Probably drove our parents nuts. But oh, were we cool. I consider these my pre-punk years.

Maggie Mundy (met in Jr. High, still friends to this day) - she's responsible for introducing me to New Wave and punk. Violent Femmes, Billy Idol, and the Dead Milkmen are in my current collection because of this wonderful woman. Bitchin' Camaro, all the way. At some point she got into rap (2 Live Crew) and is now very much into Top 40 and R&B (Flo Rida baby!), but her roots are as wild as they get.

Curt Hassebrock/Darren Zumbaum (coworkers) - METAL! Yes, growing up in North Dakota where you're always 5 years behind the times, metal ruled a great portion of my older youth. While working at the über-hip Bonanza, I was treated to such classic metal gods as Metallica, Motley Crue, Megadeth, and Scorpions after hours. Metal has a barbed-wired spot in my heart, because of these fine gentlemen who rocked the broiler and my late nights.

Tomoko Saito (college roommate) - her major was classical guitar, but she was worldly and wise, and during many late-night chats we listened to the Indigo Girls, Tuck and Patti, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Gabriel, etc. Her collection ran the gamut, and added to the breadth of my current musical tastes. Fact - Tomoko was about 5'1, but had size 10 shoes, which meant she had very long forearms (your forearms are typically the length of your feet). All the better to wrap around a guitar, I guess.

David Lampe (ex-husband) - if there's one good thing I can say about this doomed union, it was that he opened me up the world of hippie jam bands (Grateful Dead, Phish, etc.). During our time together, I developed a fond appreciation for tunes of this ilk. And during our time together, I also got two tattoo's, only one of which I am fond. So I'm 2 for 3.

Majid Al Hacham (friend) - pre 9/11, we met at work and even though we were only friends for a short time (he moved), he introduced me to a variety of international music acts, such as Sezen Aksu, Cheb Mami, Bela Fleck, and Amr Diab. I've added to my world-music collection, and have a new penchant for flamenco guitar.

Kenneth McMahan (former dalliance) - post 9/11 St. Louis, we met through mutual friends and although I had come into my own musically, Ken gave me that push to dig deeper. His raising the bar led me to new favorites like Air, Heartless Bastards, Asobi Seksu, Riverboat Gamblers, and the Spits (live and in concert at Siné, New York City 2003). I've stopped checking my mailbox for those new tunes he alluded were coming my way back in October...I guess all good things must come to an end, as the saying goes...but dammit, those were outstanding times.

Tom Sveitis (good friend) - for the last six years, Tom has been instrumental (pardon the pun) in getting me to see the jazzy side of life. A former jazz guitar student and current rocker wannabe, he continues to amaze me with the depth of his knowledge of all things guitar, rock and jazz. It also amazes me that he won't publicly embrace his love for Kelly Clarkson.

I've gotten pretty good at searching out new bands and musicians that I like, whether it's through iTunes, KDHX, Sirius, local venues or NPR's World Cafe. However, there's nothing like sharing your musical predilictions with someone whom you know will give them a fair listen, and reciprocate in kind.