Why A Music Blog? Who Am I?

I'm not a musician.  I'm not a producer.  I'm not a tour manager.  I'm not a roadie.

I'm a music lover, plain and simple.

Ever since I can remember, I've been needing to listen to music.  I can tell you some of my first tapes, my first CDs (New Kids On the Block; Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill).  I blame a lot of my directional-impairedness on the fact that I always had headphones on (or was reading a book) as a child, and never paid attention to where we were going... ergo, I get lost in my own homestate.  

When I was in middle and high school, I was sort of stuck in one genre of music.  If you asked me what my favorite bands were then, I would had had three responses: The Barenaked Ladies, Dave Matthews Band, and Vertical Horizon.  All talented musicians, all successful bands, but all pretty similar overall.  Sure, I listened to some other bands/musicians, but wasn't as open to listening to new things as I am now.  Once I hit college and heard all types of music floating throughout the dorm hallways, my ears were opened, you could say.

At one of the first concerts (Vertical Horizon) that I attended at The Webster in Hartford, CT, I found myself wanting to write down the setlist so that I could share it online with the message board community I had joined.  I remember feeling excited about the fact that I had found others who were just as excited about particular band, and that we could chat and share photos, stories, setlists, etc.  That night, I got to meet the co-headliner, Sister Hazel, as well as Sean Hurley from Vertical Horizon, and take photos with them... it was a moment that definitely stuck out for me, music-wise.  I knew that I wanted to experience any music that I loved live.

Vertical Horizon @ The Webster Theater, 2001 - photo by Joanna Barker

So, who am I now?  I'm in my late 20s, living outside Boston, working in the Special Education field (slowly finishing up school to get my Masters).  I'm not pretending to be a professional music critic, or reviewer, or anything like that.  I'm just a girl who has a deep appreciation for the passion that musicians put into their art, who has a connection with the music she has listened to, and is always on the lookout for new music.  Join me in my exploration of these things, and more.