my love affair with music

Beth and Ashely at Onward & Upward posted a fun little musical meme to add a little music to the party (my 1st party post).  What a great idea!  I love music and totally agree with them about a party is no party if there is no music. 

HOWEVER!  I could not choose my FAVORITE song for a bunch genres any more than you could tell me which child of yours is your favorite.  You just don't.  You just can't.

AND . . . all those 80's songs that were on the radio when I was growing up--I never heard.  All those 90's songs that were on the radio when I was in high school--again, never heard.  Let me tell you why . . .

Childhood

When I was a kid, I had all 6 Psalty the Singing Songbook tapes that were out at that time.  I listened to one side of one tape each night to fall asleep (which started a music listening habit that didn't stop till I got to college and had roommates).  Although I loved all 6 tapes, Kid's Praise 4 about being a servant and Kid's Praise 5 about a camping trip (casting our cares on the Lord) were played most often.  I LOVED Psalty.  These cassettes introduced me to worship and faith and showed me that praising God is a very real, everyday in everyway kind of thing.

I remember my parents listening to Keith Green and the Maranatha! Praise Team . . . these too had a powerful impact on my love of music and heart of worship.  Psalty, Keith Green, and the Maranatha! Songs hold an incredibly special, tender place in my heart.

Teen Years
When I was in sixth grade, I woke up on Valentine's Day with a terrible case of chicken pox.  It was a terrible catastrophe to me. 

As a result, my mom and dad both sympathized and spoiled me.  I clearly remember my dad buying me my very own bottle of Diet Pepsi--a glass bottle that was my very own to drink all by myself.  (By the way, I kept that bottle till 2003, which I decopoged with stickers and filled with pennies).  And, one day during my three weeks home from school, mom brought me a walking yellow helium doctor balloon and two cassette tapes--Michael  W. Smith's The Big Picture and Twila Paris' For Every Heart.

Little did I know this was part of her great plan to help me "grow up" (not the chicken pox--the tapes).  She had decided that I needed to "move past" Psalty.  When we moved at the end of that year, she helped me to finally release my Psalty tapes into the world to bless someone else. 

I spent my babysitting money and allowances on building a CD collection of contempary Christian pop music . . . in addition to Twila and Michael, I bought CDs from muscians like Steven Curtis Chapman, Point of Grace, Amy Grant, 4Him, and NewSong. I also had a several various praise and worship CDs. 

College Years
I had built quite a collection of CDs by the time I entered college.  And it had become an addiction of sorts . . . I needed to buy new music. 

My first sememster at college, I realized I was addicted to buying music.  Really--I was convicted.  So, in 1997, I didn't buy any new music at all.  I "fasted" from purchasing CDs (I'm not even sure my parents knew about this; at the time I only told my roommate LeAnn about it).

After that, I didn't really enjoy comtempary Christian music anymore.  I listened to a lot of Dennis Jerrinagin, Don Moen, and the Passion worship leaders and bands.  I longed for meaning and substance.

Now
Since I can now buy music with a single click anytime night or day,  I still have to be careful because I have a serious weakness for buying music.  I have thousands of songs stored on my external harddrive and enjoy enjoying them.  (I do not, however, want to think about the fact that that means thousands of dollars spent.)

I also enjoy a variety of sounds and styles now too. In my post-college years, for the first time in my life, I started listening to "non-Christian music."  I enjoy a little jazz or country now and then.  I look for and enjoy many indie artists; I like listening to sounds that aren't quite so "polished."  I also enjoy songs with meaningful lyrics--I like it when the singer is also the song writer.  I also prefer bands over solo artists.  Oh, and I also listen to music in Chinese.

My itunes and mini ipod most frequently play in "random shuffle" mode, but some of my current most played songs include songs by (in no particular order). . .

• Barlow Girl (love the song Enough),



• Building 429,



• The Swift,



• Tree 63,



• Bebo Norman,



• Third Day,



• Switchfoot, 



• Ginny Owens,



• Todd Agnew (totally loved his Christmas album),



• Soverign Grace Ministries,



• David Crowder Band,





• Caedmon's Call,



• Sixpence None the Richer,



• Sarah Groves,



• Julian Drive,



• Telecast,



• Bethany Dillion,



• Kathyrn Scott (blog),



• Matt West,



• Charlie Hall,



• Brian Doerksen (great stuff!!!),



• Jim Brickman,



• Mercy Me, and



• several Taiwanese singers/groups.

I could type another 20 or even another 40 groups/singers 'cuz, well, I LOVE music. :)  Nope . . . there is no way I could ever pick a favorite song or group.

How about you?  Know a group I should try out? 
Is music an important part of your life?  Why or why not?