Music & Family

For this blog, I had many great opportunities to interview the loved ones in my family. My mother is the one that I chose to focus on, and I was very surprised by how much I learned about her life and memories just through her connection to music. For her, I noticed that music isn't just background noise but it's something that moves with her in her everyday life. 

We started off talking about her first vivid musical experience and that was about her seeing the Oak Ridge Boys in concert as a kid. "It was my first concert and it was amazing!" she said. She mentioned that her parents often played music around the house, and her dad had an especially strong influence on her. She had many vivid memories sitting in the car with him, and listening to his 8-track of Pink Floyd's, "The Dark Side of the Moon". Those car rides really taught her how powerful music could be in shaping her memories and emotional journey. 

Growing up, my mom listened to music through 8-tracks, then cassettes, and later CDs (the bad part about that is I only barely knew what those were before she explained). But today she loves to listen to XM radio, she is always trying to get me to have it in my car, and I always tell her I just use Spotify and AUX and she is like what? Back on the point of music, she has always loved Christian, pop, and classical music, she said her favorite song right now is "In Jesus Name (God of Possible)," by Katy Nichole. Her favorite artist is Lauren Daigle, "because she crosses over genres, her voice is amazing, and she's a true musician." 

Music, as she said, has helped guide her through the many different seasons of life. Specifically the song "Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns motivated her to go back to school and earn her teaching degree. "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield, gives her motivation when she runs. So depending her mood, she'll listen to different generes—she LOVES classical while cooking (I can definitely attest to this), Christian music when she's sad, and a little bit of everything while running. Church music has always also played a big role in her life. She sang in the church choir growing up, and remembered singing "Go Tell It on the Mountain." She does love to joke that she's "probably tone deaf," which kind of makes sense why I feel that way too, but she always dreamed of learning to play the flute or even join a group like Celtic Woman as a violinist. 

The part of the interview I found the most sentimental to me was when I asked how music has influenced our family. She mentioned that it's always been around the house, and me and my sister grew up singing along to Christian songs like "God's Not Dead" by Newsboys, which also happened to be my favorite song, and my first EVER concert. My mom also believes that music connects our generations and that it's a way to share emotions, memories, and faith. Talking with my mom reminded me of how much my own musical taste has been shaped by her love of meaningful songs and lyrics. Although, I didn't realize this but music has had an incredibly big impact on me and my life, and has truly shaped me to be the person I am today. 

Down below I have attached some examples of some of the songs mentioned, and I hope you guys enjoy listening to them as much as I did! 

"In Jesus Name (God of Possible)," by Katy Nichole. 

"Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns. 

"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. 

"Go Tell It on the Mountain." 

"God's Not Dead" by Newsboys. (My FAV song EVER)!!! 

Pink Floyd's, "The Dark Side of the Moon" 

(I found an 8 track version on YouTube, I'm not sure how accurate this is to the actual one in the car, but I think this one sounds pretty neat either way + I kind of am becoming more interested in 70s and 80s music)