New music in my life...it's like adopting a child!
Some of you know that before taking on the role of doctor, I was a professional musician. Having been actively involved in music since I was 7 years old, when I started piano lessons (after two years of begging), music has become a truly integral part of my life. I took serious lessons for 10 years, practicing upwards of 4-5 hours a day (yes, of my own volition), before I went to college to get my BA in Piano Performance, with an emphasis in 20th-century art music. Also during my formative years, I couldn't seem to get enough instruments. So, I picked up formal lessons in violin, clarinet, classical guitar, and organ (yeah, the massive air-blowing, pipe-type that too few churches have enough money to invest in these days), spending more time studying music that traditional schoolwork. (That was the period of time when I did my work via correspondence with a school back here in the States. The beauty of studying on your own...only took me 4 hours per day to get through all my high school material.)
Anyway, I found a serious penchant for composition and studied that, with a focus on newer mediums and expressions, for 2 years in grad school, down at my beloved UVA. During that time, when I wasn't teaching undergrad classes, attending my own, writing or playing music, I finally had time to sit for hours on end (6-8 hours straight on some days) just acquiring and listening to new music...serious art music, folk music, rock, jazz, metal, hiphop, even the occasional country, just to name a few. I lived, ate, slept, dreamed: music. On the weekends, instead of relaxing, I'd drive 90 miles up to Northern Virginia to teach music lessons all day Saturday, and then to play masses and church services for the rest of the weekend before driving back. I continued doing that for another year after grad school, while I was preparing to go to med school.
Once I started med school, I thought that maybe I'd stop. However, it was like a drug (not to mention, it also brought in a hefty sum each month). I didn't stop playing so much until I started travelling these last two years of school. I've missed it. I've been able to fulfill my desires partially by attending an inordinate number of shows; but, indeed, part of the joy of finally being finished with medical school is being able to feed my addiction yet again between now and the time I start residency in a month. And tonight...
TONIGHT...I have just purchased the new release from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (which has been a long time coming, if I my say so):
Stadium Arcadium.
There is no way for me to express the emotions that come when an album I've been waiting for finally hits the shelves. There are few things in life which excite me...and none which excite me as much as new music. If I could describe the feeling, I think it would probably border on the sin of lust. You could liken it to a junkie finding a purer version of his favorite drug...or just a whole new drug that he's not experienced before, from his favorite dealer. OK...maybe I'm going too far with these analogies.
On to the stadium!
P.S. - This first track sounds like a funktified, aural aberration of Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance." I love it!
Anyway, I found a serious penchant for composition and studied that, with a focus on newer mediums and expressions, for 2 years in grad school, down at my beloved UVA. During that time, when I wasn't teaching undergrad classes, attending my own, writing or playing music, I finally had time to sit for hours on end (6-8 hours straight on some days) just acquiring and listening to new music...serious art music, folk music, rock, jazz, metal, hiphop, even the occasional country, just to name a few. I lived, ate, slept, dreamed: music. On the weekends, instead of relaxing, I'd drive 90 miles up to Northern Virginia to teach music lessons all day Saturday, and then to play masses and church services for the rest of the weekend before driving back. I continued doing that for another year after grad school, while I was preparing to go to med school.
Once I started med school, I thought that maybe I'd stop. However, it was like a drug (not to mention, it also brought in a hefty sum each month). I didn't stop playing so much until I started travelling these last two years of school. I've missed it. I've been able to fulfill my desires partially by attending an inordinate number of shows; but, indeed, part of the joy of finally being finished with medical school is being able to feed my addiction yet again between now and the time I start residency in a month. And tonight...
TONIGHT...I have just purchased the new release from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (which has been a long time coming, if I my say so):
Stadium Arcadium.
There is no way for me to express the emotions that come when an album I've been waiting for finally hits the shelves. There are few things in life which excite me...and none which excite me as much as new music. If I could describe the feeling, I think it would probably border on the sin of lust. You could liken it to a junkie finding a purer version of his favorite drug...or just a whole new drug that he's not experienced before, from his favorite dealer. OK...maybe I'm going too far with these analogies.
On to the stadium!
P.S. - This first track sounds like a funktified, aural aberration of Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance." I love it!