Honestly, I have many music memories. The most memorable being the time I was back-packing through Europe. I came across a poster on a street sign in Antibe, France that indicated Supertramp would be playing. I had to go! They were one of my all time favorite bands. So, my traveling companion and I bought tickets. We were in a stadium filled with people and we were on the stadium grass field waiting for the concert to begin. It was about 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon when the opening act, Chris de Burgh, began to play! A very nice warm-up to the next act, Joe Cocker! I was floored because I had no idea he was playing before Supertramp! How I missed that, I don’t know. So, the stadium continued to fill up throughout these two acts when finally, around 9:00 p.m., the main act arrived and began playing. Everyone rose to their feet, and pushed towards the stage. The entire crowd was dancing and singing!! My traveling buddy lifted me onto his shoulders for a better view. It was totally awesome until someone threw something at me from behind. For the rest of the concert, I stood on my toes. I had the best time ever!!!

Over the last 30 years or so music has always punctuated my life, but was merely background music to my days. Layer upon layer of responsibilities buried the young woman who used to dance and feel the joy released by music.However, since listening to a newly emerging Global star the last year and a 1/2, I have felt the layers peel away. The person emerging was wiser but still felt the joy of music to the very core. I now travel to concerts and have met people from all over the world. My life has a beautiful new layer above the quiet bookkeeper working out of my home. I dance, I sing, I close my eyes and am transported on a journey that the song carries me on. The catalyst has been the exquisite voice of Adam Lambert. The tone, the stellar vocals, the control, the beauty and fun are decanted like a fine wine by Mr. Lambert. I drink it in fulfilling a thirst for tribal rhythms and joy I had forgotten I needed. Music is the catalyst for this renewed joy and my life will no longer delegate music to be mere background any longer.

I always felt a little embarrassed around the holidays, riding around in a fifteen passenger van with my cousins and stopping at the home’s of family friends to sing Christmas Carols. It was like we were the only people/family in the world who actually still caroled, and we were so loud it was embarrassing! I just wanted to hide in the back row, and somehow that never happened, as the hands of aunts and uncles shoved me to the doorway with my homemade cellophane wrapped treat to give away. Even though the social torture seemed unbearable, there was one song we sang that somehow made up for it all! It was “Oh Christmas Tree.” The fact of the matter is, nobody really knows all the words to that song (well maybe a few of you do). I think we realized this after several attempts of singing the song because everyone would stop singing about one line in when they realized they didn’t really know the words. We couldn’t get past the first line, ever! ! So over time our family version of “Oh Christmas Tree” morphed into something way more doable and less embarrassing. Yep, the song consists of only three words now, “Oh Christmas Tree”.  We would especially get dramatic during the higher parts of the song, really embellish those words, and maybe throw in a few jazz hands or something cheesy like that. The real challenge was trying to get everyone to do it with a straight face as if nothing was wrong. Inevitably somebody would loose it, and we’d be laughing, struggling to finish the song. This year I am home alone with my brother. There will be no cousins, no fifteen passenger van, no cellophane wrapped pumpkin bread, but I promise you this, there will be an “Oh Christmas Tree” mail man delivering my package.

I was working security at the then New World Music Theater (IL), and we were bused out to help with an Alpine Valley show with Phish. It was an all day event, and I remember after a long encore by the band, the whole venue lit up with lighters. After working all day and evening, there was almost a perfect peace amongst all the people there at the show. I remember walking back to the bus with my fellow workers and being amazed at the complete unity we all felt after the show. It proved to me even more that music not only makes special memories but can cause us all to take a moment and be civil humans together.

I have never been to a concert or music event. I listen to music every single day and always wished to go and see different artists perform.

I can honestly remember this day so vividly; it’s one of my favorites. When I was ten years old, I was watching the movie “Wayne’s World” (a young age to be watching that I know), and in the beginning, as they’re driving along, some awesome rock song starts playing. I loved it right away. I then asked my dad what it was, and he said, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. So the next day he comes home with a CD of Queen’s greatest hits, including Bohemian Rhapsody. Being ten, I didn’t know much about the band, but I immediately fell in love with their music. I asked my dad, “Do they ever go on tour?” He said, “Not a lot now because Freddie’s dead.” I merely replied, “D-mn,” and he laughed, but they have been and will always be my favorite band ever!

On November 20th we saw The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was a wonderful show!

One of the best shows I’ve ever seen was Leonard Cohen last year in Chicago. Even though I was in the next-to-last row of the theater, Cohen commanded that auditorium with his booming voice and touching lyrics. The most powerful moment was when the music stopped and he simply read his poetry. Everyone was captivated. You could hear a pin drop.

Because of Lady Gaga, I started buying CDs again. Because of her, I sat at my piano for the first time in over 10 years and started playing. Because of her, I learned to respect, cherish, and honor the arts. Around this time of the year last time, I was ambivalent towards this up-and-coming star,  Lady Gaga. Sure, her songs were catchy, but I thought little about her artistry. It wasn’t until a last-minute decision to buy tickets to the Monster Ball, a seat at the very last row at the back of the venue, that I began to appreciate her art and her music. When she sat at the piano, the entire venue rose to their feet, their arms swaying side to side. It was an incredible moment; a lot of people (myself included) were moved to tears by her sincerity. In her 5’1″ frame, her presence was majestic; her beats were pulsating through my veins. I walked out of the theater feeling renewed, a convert who had been enlightened by the gift of music. My life was changed on December 22nd, 2009.

“Halo” by Beyonce. That’s the song that I remember days after the earthquake, here, in Chile. I was on vacation at the the south of the country, and we couldn’t get out of where we were. Roads were a mess, and people were desperate; there was no gas or light. My sister had a friend in Concepción where the earthquake hit stronger. She searched in the people searcher by Google for her friend’s name and found him. He was all right, healthy, and alive. I remember those days dancing and singing around, especially to “Halo” and “Wanna be Starting Something” by Michael Jackson.

This year I had the opportunity to attend Grammy Camp for the audio engineering track. I’ve been studying audio engineering for almost four years at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a creative arts highschool.
At the end of the camp, there was a showcase concert held at the El Rey theater. I was a bit nervous because I had never done front of house sound in a venue that big before, but all of my new friends encouraged me and kept me feeling confident. As I watched them perform, I felt so proud of all of them for comforting me when they too had to perform their hearts out. The last song came on, and the feeling of success and gratitude washed over me. All of the campers got on stage to finish the song; it was a truly beautiful, moving performance. It was probably the most emotional experience I have ever had and it meant the world to me. I will forever remember that night.

My greatest music memory was when I was a little girl; I was playing the piano at my piano recital in front of an audience and I was nervous. But once I got playing it all went away, and it felt as though it was just me and the music.

Music Memory? Well, music is my life. All of it. Without music, I’m not sure how I could praise my Savior or how I would deal with the trials of everyday life. So many musicians inspire me each and everyday. Then there is David Archuleta. I saw him first on American Idol the week he sang John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Nice timing right? Yes, because everything else in my life was seemly beginning to fall apart. My dad lost his job, I wasn’t doing well in school, and  my  self-esteem was down. David Archuleta, starting that February night, made all the difference in the world. I have so many new friends and music memories because of him. David Archuleta also lit the fire in me again to read album liners in CD jackets. I now have a dream, to be one of the few female audio engineers to win a Grammy. Thank you David. You have no idea what your music memories have meant to me, and all because you prayed to God to help you decide to try out for the show!

As an aspiring artist, music truly speaks to me. I have gone through such troubled times, having a son, losing my grandfather, and becoming non-existent to my father. Music helps me pull through every struggle I’m faced with. My memories may not be the happiest, but there’s always a song to associate my situation with,  and to turn it around. If there isn’t a song, I write one. Hearing someone sing my pain, my struggle, and my emotion, is truly a reoccurring music memory I will always remember. Music is my history, my memory, and my future.

Born in 1968, growing up in the 70′s my father was a drummer in a band. He was not the best influence, but the music playing through our home really gave me an appreciation for creativity and the art of music especially Santana (Black Magic Women) and Kansas (Carry On My Wayward Son). Today when I hear those songs, especially guitar solos,  it takes me back in time! You know what I mean!

I remember getting ready for a night of live music not knowing what to expect. Aware that it was my first concert, I was attentive to the sounds, smell, and sight of the venue. It was then that the crowd began to ask for the Electro trio, “Belanova, Belanova, Belanova …” The lights dimmed, and the people of the audience smiled from ear to ear. A beat began to flow from the sound system, only to get louder and louder! The band took the stage, and my senses got more acute. It was then that I knew this was going to be one of the best nights of my life.

I was a guest at a military base when a group of rock musicians performed. It was so moving and amazing to me to see how these vets who had lost limbs and suffered so much were so connected and uplifted by the music. They all shared how this day was so monumental to them. They are on the front line saving our country, and a song from their rock hero seemed to ease so much pain. They gave so much, and what seemed to be so insignificant as a song changed their entire outlooks. Music has the power to change the world!

I have been a fan of Patti Labelle for just about ever and when I took my son to her concert, she called him on the stage to sing with her. He was so happy, and it lifted my life up so much! Music always gets me through, more now than ever!

My parents raised us on a generous diet of piano and other music lessons, classical records (aka “vinyl”), musicals, and opera. My daddy built a Hi-Fi system himself when stereo was introduced with speakers four feet tall and vacuum tubes. My brother still uses it! I listen to everything now, from The Roots to Rooney, from Dudamel conducting Mahler to Lady Gaga. And I still have my turntable and my first album, “Meet The Beatles” in Mono, and some of those early LPs of my parents, including the original cast recording of South Pacific, “High Fidelity Sound Effects!” I thank my parents for the Gift of Music.

Sitting with the promoter of Cal Jam 1&2 and his old friend, I heard about Jimmy Hendrix nodding out before a show in a bathroom stall and Jimmy Page all strung out with a groupie stopping over the house in a depressed mood.  At Pink Floyd (Pigs Album) concert with a stage built around a tour bus for a birthday party inside, one of the floating pigs exploded into flames. Zappa – Zoot Alures was my first concert.