The sound of music

We all know the role music plays in our lives. Want to raise your spirits? Turn on some music.

I have started to hold nightly concerts for my own benefit that can start by 9 p.m. and last until the early hours.

I will come back to that in a minute.

While living in Bothell years ago, I used to go down to Seattle to an old book and record store — Filippis, no longer in business.

In looking through the old 78s, I found a couple of early-day Sons of the Pioneers music. You know, Tumbling Tumbleweeds and such.

I bought them along with comedy records of Two Black Crows.

While in Idaho visiting my wife’s family near Twin Falls, we went down to Jackpot, Nevada for an evening where the Pioneers were holding a concert at Cactus Pete’s. It was the Fourth of July. We enjoyed the concert, and it made me renew my interest in the old record store.  

On subsequent trips to the store, I found some more Pioneer records and bought those. By chance, we went down to my wife’s folks again on the 4th of July and repeated what we had done the previous year. The Pioneers were there again, so we listened again.

Over a period of time, I accumulated a few 78s of the Pioneers and eventually gave them to our son Nathan, along with a 1920s record player that used a sharpened nail for a needle.

It was just another collection of things I have gathered and now is collecting dust in my kids’ houses instead of my own.

Music, all forms, has always been a tonic for me.  During the anti-war protest years, I listened to folk music and attended concerts of musicians like the Kingston Trio, Arlo Guthrey and several others.

Now I exercise my fingers on YouTube and play just what I feel like listening to at that moment.

I don’t have favorites anymore. I might start with Ken Burns’ classic presentation of Country Music and end with a program from the Kennedy Center.

On a recent evening, I listened to a long string of music by Slim Dusty, the Aussie cowboy that made “The Pub With No Beer” a classic.

I ran into a spot where he had recorded some 24 songs, and I just listened and smiled.

I have made a concert out of grouping two or three Performances at the White House during the Obama years, ranging from Soul to Classical to Pop.

I like opera and can dial in opera singers from America’s Got Talent, or in general terms.

And so it goes, music for someone who can’t carry a note.

You would think that some family member would be musical, but it hasn’t been the case. I purchased guitars for some of the kids, and now am doing the same for great grandkids. But they can have fun just the same.

I ventured once and bought a banjo, but it was stolen, and maybe is making music for someone else.

If you are getting bored, turn on a little music, you might receive just the lift you need.

For me, I will concert away the time until I chill out.