Confession

I’ve decided to start writing more. My goal is to start seeing more shows and discovering more new (to me) music, and inflicting my views about it on anybody who makes the mistake of popping in here to look around.

First, however, I have to make a confession. I don’t really know that much about music.

I like a lot of different kinds of music, and I know some things about the artists and songs that I like; but I’ve never studied the history of the bands and music I like in any depth; for many years, I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to the music scene; and I don’t make a serious effort to keep up with music news. I am familiar with the aficionado dynamic that treats music like a giant game of one-upping Trivial Pursuit, and I muddled my way through it when I worked at my college radio station fifty thousand years ago. But I’m just not that good at it.

As a result, I probably don’t know that the bass player for the Chorknozzles used to play tambourine with the Weenypops. I can research the hell out of shit like that, though, so if you see me making those connections, you can bet I’ve been pawing through the Interwebs to bring you that particular tidbit. Because I want to look smart, too.

In a similar vein, I can’t tell you that Chunderthighs’ latest hit sounds a lot like the Blumpkins before their lead singer found Ba’haiism. I just don’t have all that music floating around in my head. If you tell me it’s so, I might check it out and agree (or disagree) with you, but it’s just not something I am going to think of off the top of my head. In the meantime, the comparisons I do make may leave you scratching your head in bewilderment.

I also find that when I find a new band that I like, it often turns out that they were pretty popular among the cool kids 15 years ago and they’ve long since broken up. So I may present a discovery here — something I gleaned from a SXSW torrent, for instance — and you all will jump up and say, “Oh, we stopped listening to them back in 2005.” Just shush. Leave me my illusion of being a pioneer.

So there you have it, my deep dark secret. I hope you won’t let it come between us.