Wife on the Farm

Folk Music for Old Folks Like Me

Last night, the farmer and I attended a folk music concert.  The Brothers Four and Kingston Trio performed at the historic Elsinore Theater in Salem.  Over the years, I have developed an appreciation for just about every type of music.  There are times when I love to listen to jazz, or hip-hop, or golden rock oldies, or blues or alt-indie songs.  But I hadn't heard any folk music in years and years.  The Kingston Trio were the headliners, but I enjoyed the Brothers Four the most.  Their harmonies were amazing, and the audience was encouraged to sing along to any tunes we knew the words to.  I culdn't believe it, but I knew the words to just about every song!  I suppose the songs you listen to as a young kid just stay with you somehow.

The concert was part of a fifty year celebration tour.  Just to think that I know the words from songs from fifty years ago was sobering and depressing.  But the music was so good that it cheered me right back up.

Next weekend, I'm attending another concert at the Elsinore and I couldn't find a more opposite musical genre from American folk music if I tried.  Thanks to my son and daughter-in-law, I'll be groovin' to the beat of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a vocal group from South Africa who sing in the Zulu tradition. I can't wait!

Workout Music

I've been on-again, off-again with my attempts at fitness for over twenty years, ever since the original Jane Fonda Workout tape was released (and I still have it).  But I'll confess, my exercising had been mostly off-again until four years ago, when I bought my first iPod.  The difference music has made in my fitness regimen is like night and day.  I can actually use the fitness equipment that I spent my hard-earned money to buy because I'll stay on the darned things long enough to get my heart rate into the target range and then some.  Having my favorite tunes playing in my ear keeps me motivated, no matter which mood I wake up in: (I Want to Exercise, I Want to Exercise Not).  Here's a playlist of some of my current favorite workout music:

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More Music

I've been a member of the LaLa community for two years.  It started as primarily a CD trading site, but has become a fantastic place to explore new music and listen to old favorites as well.  With the new playlist embed feature, I can now share my favorite tunes on my blog.  This week, I'm listening mostly to what I'd label as background music....jazz, easy listening stuff, because I'm doing a lot of work on my laptop computer.  Next week, my faves will probably be workout music.  I love a great tune with a fast beat that I can listen to while on my elliptical machine.  Here's a sample:

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My Daily Dose of Music

I came sort of late to the music party.  I've always enjoyed listening to music, but it never was a huge part of my life.  I didn't spend a great deal of money on CDs or records, and my stereo components were primarily hand-me-downs.

Enter the iPod three years ago.  I bought a small 2-gb iPod mini in 2005, and began to buy digital music.  I concentrated on the rock and roll oldies that I listened to in my teens and twenties.  Then I began to branch out and purchase music from other genres since I could buy legal downloads for my iPod for 99 cents a song through iTunes.  I added three or four hundred songs to my digital music collection.  It was like I opened the door to a whole new world and I loved it! 

Then came LaLa.  I've been a member of LaLa for two years now, a site that started out as a place to trade CDs with other members from around the country.  I got rid of music I didn't listen to any more and I received CDs I was too cheap to buy new - and for at a cost was only $1.00 plus 75 cents to cover the cost of shipping .  My CD collection slowly grew, from about 50 albums to over 300.  I started to spend entire days with my son and daughter-in-law in Portland's used record stores, gathering up both "keepers" and "traders" for two or three dollars per album.  Dang, this was fun and hugely addicting!

This spring, LaLa introduced an enhanced version of its website.  In addition to trading CDs, members can now listen to entire songs - not just 30 second snippets - for free.  If I want to listen to a particular tune again later, I can pay a dime and LaLa will store the song in my online collection and I'll be able to sign on to the site on any computer and legally listen to the tune as many times as I want.  And if I really like the song and want to buy an mp3 to download onto my iPod, I just pay an additional 79 cents (a bit cheaper than iTunes) and I own a digital copy.  Is that cool or what?

LaLa's primary focus has shifted from trading CDs to streaming and downloading music.  It's understandable - that's where they're going to make more money.  Some of the LaLa members who have thousands of CDs in their trading collections and don't even own iPods or utilize the streaming features aren't as thrilled with the enhanced site as I am, but for somebody like me, it's fantastic.  I can explore new artists and new musical genres for free.  I can trade CDs I don't want to keep in my collection for CDs that I don't want to pay full retail price.  I can add to my iPod collection.  And there's no monthly membership fee.  I only pay for the music I want to play more than once.

There are a few kinks that LaLa still needs to work out.  LaLa doesn't run on my iPhone yet, but they say they're working on it.  Some of the sorting features on the new version aren't as versatile as they could be, and they have a bug in the application that sends me back to the beginning of a search queue when I use the "back" button.  I hope that these things will be fixed soon.

LaLa has become my source for background music while I work on my laptop.  While I'm laboring away on my spreadsheets, I'm listening to the latest album releases or trying out bands I've never heard of from Australia or Portugal or even Portland.

The word about the new LaLa is getting out.  Check out this review.  And then check out the LaLa site.

Taxes and.....Music?

Grand Archives

Since I've owned an ipod, I've greatly expanded my music collection.  Mostly with CDs of groups I loved back in the day.  But I also find artists that become my new favorites.  Some, I find on my own; some are recommended to me by my favorite music man.  Grand Archives is a Seattle band with a sound that's definitely a throw back to sounds of my younger days.  Their new album is now on my wish list.

Angel Eyes

We've lost another musical genius and legend in multiple genres - rock, jazz and blues.  I have a couple of the Jeff Healey Band's albums in my collection, and Angel Eyes is one of my all-time favorite songs.  I will definitely be getting his yet-to-be-released latest album, due in April.

Weekend of Music

The farmer took me on a date in the city this past weekend.  We saw the North American production of Riverdance.  I love Irish and Celtic music; I have a couple of Celtic albums in my iPod - along with the Riverdance soundtrack.  Maybe it's because my mother's ancestors - the Clancys and the O'Rourkes - emigrated a few generations ago to America from County Cork.  Or maybe it's because everybody feels a little Irish when they hear a lively reel or jig.  It was a fabulous show and now I want to spend our next vacation in Ireland.

After the show, we ate dinner at Mark Lindsay's Rock & Roll Cafe with my son and daughter-in-law.  It was great fun looking at all the music memorabilia from his years with Paul Revere and the Raiders that lined the walls at the restaurant.  It reminded me of a mini version of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.  That uber-cool place is a must-see for every true rock and roll fan.

More Music

It's so difficult to find inexpensive used CDs in Salem.  I love living near Salem - it's a small enough city that the traffic hasn't become scary (yet) but it's large enough to offer most everything we need.  However, sources for used music are few and far between.

Once every two or three months, I make my music rounds in Salem.  I hit my three main music stores:  Ranch Records in downtown Salem, EMF on Lancaster, and one or more of the Goodwill stores in the area.  Today, I visited both Ranch and EMF.  I managed to find 11 used CDs for a total of $38.00.  Now, by Portland standards, that's rather expensive.  By new CD standards, that's really cheap.  By my personal budget limitations, it's as good as I can find in Salem, so I'll take it.

Among others, I added a Christopher Cross, Seals & Crofts, Santana, Bacon Brothers, Commodores, Aretha Franklin, Queen, and a Chuck Berry import.  This supply of new tunes should last me until my next trip to Portland to go music shopping with my son and daughter-in-law.  They are the king and queen of the CD stores.

Rocking: The Quiz

Okay - so I really have been on vacation this week, wasting way too much time online and watching television.  So sue me.  It's the first full week I've taken off of all my part-time jobs since my vacation last May with my sister and mom.

But I have discovered some entertaining web sites as I've leisurely surfed this past week.  I'm a fan of Newsweek's recurring column "The Boomer Files".  Even though I was born in the first third of the boomer years, the facts, perspectives and feelings explored in The Boomer Files frequently surprise me.

This week, I discovered another quiz (yes, I'm a trivia and quiz fan - I love a mean game of Trivial Pursuit).  These questions are about the music of the boomer generation.  I guess I didn't pay close enough attention back then because I didn't score very well.