MUSIC AND FAMILY

Hi Everyone,

For this blog post, I wanted to interview my mom (I know, very predictable). My mom is really my best friend. I used to think it was lame to be "friends" with your mom, and then I realized my mom is awesome and is so for the girls. Which I think is a very good thing, considering I am exactly like her!

My mom and I spent a lot of time in the car together when I was in high school. My parents sold my car because of a speeding ticket I almost got.... It’s a long story, for another time. Anyway, all the time in the car together, I had the aux, so my mom heard a lot of music I liked, and I only heard some of what she liked.

My mom and I are pretty close, so I suspected I would know most of her answers already, but it was really fun to ask her all these questions and hear the stories connected to each of them. So here are the questions I asked my mom and her answers!

What's your earliest memory of music?

“My sisters playing piano in the living room”

What's your favorite memory of music?

“Ha! When we used to sing Bad Bad Leroy Brown in the car, and we got to the baddest man in the whole damn town and my dad was a police officer (A texas state trooper) and he couldn't fuss at us for cussing because we were singing along with the radio hahaha!”

How-- technologically--did you listen to music when you were younger?

“Oh, well, the radio and cassettes… and records.”

Did you actually make music yourself? How?

“Um, Well I played piano… poorly. And my girlfriends and I would sit around under the carport with my piano music and all sing the songs.” With no music? “NO MUSIC! And we'd all painfully listen to each other!”

What's your favorite music genre now? Is it different from when you were younger?

“Oh I don't know, is it country? I guess its country, I mean only because you find the good artists. Whatever you listen to is what I listen too. I listened to country pop when I was younger which is what I listen to now.”

Have you been to any concerts? What kind? What was your favorite?

“Ive been to Rock concerts and Country concerts and Orchestral concerts. I really like the orchestral concerts and symphonies. Because there is so much to listen to so many different parts it's not boring. 

One time we were all in the suit at the Houston Live Auction Rodeo and they were partying in one of their hospitality suites (ZZ Top) and we were there too, just hanging out with the band.”

(Yes my mom really partied with ZZTop in college)

What role does music play in your life now? What role did it play when you were younger?

“Now it's a pick me up, you know I listen to music to set a mood. And when I was younger it was for fun times with friends.”

Do you think music should be a core subject in schools?

“Yes, I think the science behind the music would be very interesting. I think there are a lot of studies of how music affects the brain and mood,I think it would be interesting for people to know.”

What do you think of my music?

“I love it, it's my favorite, I need some new releases!”

Did you and a boyfriend have a special song?

“I don't know that I had special songs with a boyfriend, but there are always certain songs that go along with chapters of my life. Like when I lived in New Orleans the song was Brown Eyed Girl. That was what played in the local bars. And Kokomo was my first semester at Clemson. Lovick was Micheal Jackson The way you make me feel, that's what my girlfriends and I would get ready to go out with. We would play that song over and over again getting ready to go out on a little RPM record.”

As I said earlier, this was a really fun activity to do with my mom. I always love listening to the ZZtop concert story! 

I love how much my mom and I have in common, and our love for music is definitely a big one! The songs she was telling me about are all songs I love now, and are the anthems we sing all the time!