Mom’s. They really bring out the best in us.
My Mom has had a HUGE influence on my musical endeavors.
Probably more than she even realizes. So, I want to chat about that for a bit
and share some of my experiences about my Mom’s impact.
At a fairly young age I remember going to piano lessons. We
would drive the dusty, dirt backroads of Idaho to and from my piano teacher’s
house once a week. I had a great teacher, and I remember liking piano for the
most part, especially when I got to be a little more advanced. I participated
in a competition of sorts where you had to memorize two full pieces of music, I
believe it was, and then play them in front of a judge completely by memory. If
you were able to do this, you received a gold star. This was held once a year
and if you got 3 gold stars in three years, you were really, really good and received
some kind of special recognition. I got a gold star my very first year and was
so excited! I really wanted to do my best and get the other two stars in the
following couple years. I did not get to do that however as we moved not too
long after. We also couldn’t find a great teacher after we moved, and so I ended
up not continuing on with piano. Years later in college, I did try to pick it
up again! But it’s been quite some time now since I’ve played. Nevertheless, I
am grateful to my Mom for the hours I spent learning how to read music, getting
to know some music theory, and learning to play an instrument. It gave me a
great musical foundation that I have used throughout my life more times than I
can count!
Mom has always had a penchant for musicals. We lived almost
as far from Broadway as one could, but she was always playing cassettes, and
then CD’s of “The Phantom of the Opera”, or “Les Misérables”, or “Fiddler On
The Roof”. In fact, I have fond memories of listening to “Phantom” and “Les
Mis” as we drove back and forth on those same dusty Idaho backroads. We watched
almost every musical on VHS as well. Everything from “State Fair” to “My Fair
Lady, “South Pacific” to “Oklahoma!”, and “The King and I” to “The Sound of
Music”. My personal favorite was “The Pirates of Penzance”. “Meet Me in St.
Louis” and “Paint Your Wagon” are also great! (Though, whoever thought it was a
good idea to have Clint Eastwood sing…out loud…at all, probably got fired from
their job.) I’m thankful that she schooled me in the classics from a young age.
She has a rather eclectic taste in music herself, and I
believe this to be why I like so many different genres of music. She loves the
choir and gospel sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now known as The
Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square), as well as Alan Jackson’s Gospel album, and
many other older hymns and gospel songs. And she also listens to more modern
popular music, as well as classic rock stations. She introduced me to the
easing sounds of Alison Krauss, and then went and bought the AC/DC soundtrack
album from the movie “Iron Man 2”! We were practically raised on Queen. My Mom’s the best, haha. Johnny Cash and
country are also types of music she enjoys. She always seems to find the good
in people and things no matter who they are, what it looks like, or how things
sound. I’m very appreciative of that.
Speaking of choir and gospel music, I can’t forget sitting
next to her in church basically every Sunday of my life and listening to her
sing hymns during our services. I always thought that she had the prettiest
Alto voice, and it amazed me how she could find the Alto part in pretty much
every song that I heard her sing. She probably doesn’t know that I listened
intently to her all those years, and that I attribute my ability to somehow
easily find and create harmonies to songs because of constantly tuning my own
ear to hers. I am so glad of that.
I can recall how happy she was when I joined choir, and then
when I got lead part in the school production of “Lil’ Abner”. And how funny
and awesome she thought it was when I sang “Celebration” at the year end
spectacular in a giant afro wig and brown bell-bottomed cotton pants.
I’m glad she was there to see me on multiple occasions play
and sing with Counterfeit Digits in sometimes dark and somewhat dingy music
hangouts in downtown Provo, UT. (Btw, Dad has been there through all of this
too, but this is primarily a Mother’s Day post. We can talk about him later. 😉)
Mom has always been so supportive on so many levels of my
musical pursuits, and I will be forever in her debt because of it. Because of
her, I can honestly say that I am the person that I’ve always wanted to be.
My Mom. She really has brought out the best in me. Love you
Mom.
