Things I love: Music

Man, a week since I posted last! I hope you don't think I fell off the face of the earth. I've just been thinking a lot about this post. It's really too much to put into just one post. Hmmm, I might split it up. Well, here's the first part:

In thinking about things, people, animals, etc. that I love naturally brought me to music. I love music. I love songs, I love instrumentals, I love movie scores, I love Broadway tunes, I love classical pieces...I love music. I laughed a few weeks ago when I read some of my journal entries I wrote when I was in Australia. In one of them I mentioned that I was just then realizing how much I loved music. How a song could just move me like nothing else could. I had no idea how much music would become part of my life. If I had known then that I would be in a studio working on a CD project, I would have died from shock.

Now, let me say here that I don't love ALL music. Rap...um, not so much. And I can only take head-banging so long (like, half of one song) before the screaming just gets to me. And there are certain genres of music I like more than others. While I don't mind a pop song here and there, and Country Music makes me smile more often than not, you can probably guess by my whole blog that I love Christian music. Love it. Breathe it. Sing it in my sleep. No kidding.

I mean, I was a Christian music addict by the tender age of 13. Yeah, that would be in 1983. Not a very hip time in the realm of Christian music. However, that was the year that one of my all-time favorite artists, Michael W. Smith came out with this HUGE hit:

This is the oldest clip I could find of it. I'm thinking he did this particular one in the early 90's. Knowing that helps me forgive that jacket/overshirt thing. Appearance aside, this is how the song is meant to be heard. Simply piano. How many of us had this song played at our graduations or baccalaureates? I know I did. Of course, back then, the song was still "new." But the thing is, IT'S STILL BEING SUNG! I wonder if MWS ever gets sick of singing this song. I think I would. I mean, I don't even sing professionally and I get sick of singing some of the same songs over and over ("Sing to the King," anyone?).

But I digress (I wonder how many times I've said that since this blog's inception?). The thing is, I was listening to Christian music when Christian music wasn't that cool. Now, the music I listened to was cooler than this:

I...just...don't...know...what...to...say... I wish someone had told the tall dude in the back that white-man dancing on television is just not pretty, no matter how groovy your beard is. Then again, the other dude in the back isn't moving AT ALL, so maybe beard dude was making up for that. No, wait, the guitar player is doing his part, too. ZAP!

Whoa. I totally got off subject. That point of that video was to say that back in its infancy, Christian music was sort of um...blah. It has come so far since "Friends" (and I don't mean the T.V. show). Here are a couple more of my past and current favorites...

When I started college, Steven Curtis Chapman became a favorite, and still is. He just gets better with age. Having followed him for so many years and watched his family grow, it absolutely broke my heart when Maria, his youngest daughter, was in a fatal accident at home. My heart still hurts for this family.

As far as groups go, my old stand-by is Hillsong Australia, and my new favorite is Gateway Worship. Kari Jobe is simply amazing. She has recorded a solo CD independent of Gateway. If you haven't heard her, please take a moment to go to her site.

I think I'll stop here and pick up later. It IS turning into a looooong post! I hope you will bear with me while I continue talking about a great passion of mine. Thanks for "listening."