Country music remembrances

In which part of an e-mail exchange poses as a blog post, and I show my age and nerdity.

Me: (in response to a link to "Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy" by Chris LeDoux) Yeee haw!

He: Among my many musical oddities: I like country music that sounds like older country and western -- like that. Country song popular in the 1960s or 1970s? I probably know all the words.

Me: I grew up listening to (or being forced to listen to) the likes of Freddy Fender, Tom T. Hall, Conway Twitty and others. I can still listen to Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, but most of the new country just sounds like twangy pop to me. So I can understand your "musical oddities."

He: So you... you remember the year that Clayton Delaney died?? (/arcane test)

Me: No. But I do remember the night that the lights went out in Georgia. And that day Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

He: He jumped because ROBBY BENSON DIDN'T GET THE OSCAR FOR THAT ROLE!! Ahem. The preceding microrant was gayer than a sequined handbag full of rainbows.

Me: Robby Benson WAS dreamy.

My apologies to those of you too young and/or hip to get the references. And even more apologies to those of you old enough and/or nerdy enough to get the references -- your ear worm of the day.

Kind of a Big Deal

So, my new guitar teacher told me he heard from my old guitar teacher, and my old guitar teacher is playing with a band that opened for Willie Nelson over the weekend. My six degrees of Willie Nelson just got smaller.

And even though I'm not really a big country fan, I do love Willie Nelson. So, just because I do, here's a video. Which has nothing at all to do with my old guitar teacher.

Speaking of nostalgia

The car I test drove this week was equipped with XM Satellite Radio, and whenever I drive a car with satellite radio, I immediately tune in to First Wave ("classic alternative"). While tooling around town -- and out on some country roads -- I heard "Forever Young" by Alphaville.

This song came out way back in 1984, so I'm totally dating myself with it. But didn't I think the lyrics were profound? Didn't I think they were written just for my angst-ridden teen life?

Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?

This song reminds me of my days working at the movie theater and the huge crush I had on the cute college boy with the red hair. Ah, memories.

Merry Christmas to me!

I bought myself another guitar. It's slightly used -- but just slightly. Mostly, it was played by my guitar teacher. It's a Washburn, and I really like it.

I know that it won't magically turn me into a great guitar player. But I know it will help me play better. It's not just the tools we use, but good tools can help.

Isn't it pretty?

Do re mi fa so la ti do

After having a discussion with my guitar teacher yesterday about how our brains in our heads don't always communicate with our fingers, I proceeded to rock the hell out of the Ionian (or Major) scale. That's do-re-mi. Thank you very much, "Sound of Music."

He said he's never seen anyone play it so well in just a week. Woo! I guess I'm a scale prodigy.

He then assured me that learning scales and practicing them will help with every other aspect of the guitar. Good to know. Because I still feel like I can't play a song to save my life.

Still, I bet now, I could kick butt on Guitar Hero. Do they sell a scales-only version?

Should I get his autograph now?

The S.O. gave me a guitar for my birthday this past January, and in March, I finally broke down and started taking lessons. They've been going well, and I'm starting to feel like I can actually play and am not just learning.

Yesterday, my guitar teacher tells me he's moving to Nashville at the beginning of the year to pursue an actual career in music! He has assured me he'll find me a new teacher and even has someone in mind. I know, though, that this new teacher will not be as much -- and there's no way he'll be as cute -- as my current teacher.

I just can't believe he's not taking my needs into consideration. He just has stars in his eyes. Sure, he's talented, plays guitar well, has a good singing voice -- and did I mention he's cute? So he'll probably be a big hit, and I can say I knew him when.

That's not going to teach me how to play guitar though. Geez. Some people are so selfish.

That's not my name

I've been listening to the Ting Tings, and they have me be-bopping in the car:



Thanks, Kate!

Making music

Slowly but surely I am learning the guitar. I surprised myself this weekend by picking up a friend's guitar and actually pounding out a bit of a song. No one can tell what song it is yet, but it's coming along.

For a while, every time I walked by my guitar I avoiding looking directly at it. I could feel the failure radiating off it. Now, I can pick it up and make sounds that resemble music, and we have a much better relationship.