DEAR DAD AND MUSIC, THANK YOU

I owe so much to my dad for getting me hooked on music at such an early age and teaching me to love it and have a true appreciation for it - all genres, all styles. He taught me that it's just as much about the individual artist as it is about the song and it's content. Years of listening to and singing along in the car with artists like The Eagles, the Carpenters, The Oak Ridge Boys, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Elvis, Johnny Cash, The Gaithers, Rod Stewart, Loretta Lynn, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Randy Vanwarmer, The Bee Gees, Jackson Browne, Bob Seger, Alabama, Little River Band, Chicago, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Journey and the list goes on and on. He taught me that it's more than just hearing a song, it's listening to a song and letting it take your mind off of what was going on around you for at least 3.5 minutes, unless it was Freebird which seemed to last a lifetime. The music was always on in my house.

When a song came on, you knew immediately who the artist was because their sound was distinctive and their music was the definition of great, not like today's cookie cutter conveyor belt music. It had strength and substance, it grabbed you and MADE you listen. The artists believed in what they were singing and they were more than just "on time" with the trends, they were and still are timeless. They had stories to tell, personal stories, experiences of love, loss, sadness, joy, a drunken night, a revelation of faith or even just a random date with pen and paper.). They created art on a blank canvas of sound and senses. All I knew and still know is that a song comes on, I like it, I sing and I sing loud. I let it tune out the world around me. If it's a song with meaning, I absorb every word and let it change me in ways I may not realize. That's what GOOD music is. There are many artists out there with GOOD music, but it really seems to be going the way of disposable music, music you won't care about or sadly even remember in 10 years, many artists that are just in it for a buck and the fame and industry people who are quick to take that buck, to make promises they don't intend on keeping because they know the next big thing, the bigger moneymaker is coming.

Good music and artists that care about making it, thank you for being there for me even when it seems the industry is turning against you. Remember the listeners will be there long after your chart numbers fall, your crowd size decreases, and you're just trying to get someone to listen again.

There is ALWAYS one person you've changed.

- Jenn