There’s something about live music—the experience of not just hearing, but seeing and being in the given moment. Anyone who has a personal relationship with music, as I do, has those songs we associate with particular moments or periods in our life. A memory of a place, a time, or an experience and every time we hear that song, we are transported back. Particular albums become anthems or needed support for particular phases or periods of our lives. The notes, chords, lyrics, passion connect to our soul in a deep-seated manner, hard to shake. When you take this type of relationship with music and introduce the live aspect, you end up with powerful experiences that both create and stir memories of a lifetime.
Music is associated with the sense of hearing. It is an auditory production. Yet when you place yourself in an environment where music is performed it creates so much more than the ear can perceive. The environment becomes part of the experience; be it a small intimate venue, a huge arena, inside or outside, or friends gathered around a campfire.
I will never forget seeing Tom Waits at the House of Blues Cleveland in 2006; a decent sized venue I had been to plenty of times, yet this evening it was transformed into a dark smoky bar—the bodies of the sold out crowd made it hard to move without becoming intimately acquainted with your neighbor and the cigarette smoke created a visible cloud hanging in the air as Tom Waits unique, gravely voice cut through to stir my soul. It wasn’t just my ears that created the experience that will stay with me for a lifetime… it was the smell, the sight, the sound, the touch, even the taste of the drink in my hand and the smoke in the air.
Live music also creates a relationship. Whatever relationship you may already have to the songs being played enters into the equation, and so does that of the performer. Their face, their expression, their emotions entwine with the notes and lyrics to become part of the song and the experience—creating an entirely unique point in time that can be revisited, but never recreated. The performance creates a mutual experience between the listener and creator that is intimate and personal. And while a performer on stage may not be individually aware of each member of their audience, they are positively aware of the palpable energy pulsing through the crowd. In February of 2000, I was standing in the very back of the Odeon Concert Club because it was the only place in the packed venue where I could find a little space to breathe and dance. As I stood there, awed by the musical brilliance on stage, I felt the chords from Ben Harper’s guitar open my heart—in that moment, the hundreds of people between me and that stage melted away, the performance became intimate and personal, as if he was singing directly to me.
Music speaks to my emotions. I find music elicits emotional responses from me, as well as creates an outlet when needed. My musical preferences vary vastly from classical to electronic, from folk to hip-hop, and everything in between. My environment, my emotion, my intention dictate the music I choose. And no matter how much I may try to control that partnership, just as with any relationship, sometimes it takes me by surprise. Back at the House of Blues Cleveland in 2009, I found myself intrinsically drawn to India Arie performing onstage with all of her heart and passion. Before I knew it, the music reached into my soul and pulled the passion, love and longing I had contained within myself for my partner (who was on the other side of the world, at the time) and the tears came streaming down my face, uncontrollably.
As it is for many people, music has and always will be an incredibly important aspect of my life—a soundtrack that varies daily in theme and expression. I am deeply thankful for the outlet and inspiration music provides. Even more so, I am grateful for the ability to experience live music in every form—seeing legendary performers such as Sade or Paul Simon, discovering and supporting local artists at coffee shops and intimate venues, or sitting around with incredibly talented friends as they strum and sing their songs on the porch. Live music is a transformative experience that can soothe and inspire the soul for both those that create and receive. I look forward to exploring this facet of life through the changing years and hope all of you who are touched by the notes or words in a song, take the opportunity to make the experience a live one.