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teratornisThis week's Friday Five.
Boy there have been a lot of Friday Five sets I find compelling lately. Here's another!
1. How often do you hear live music?
I go to see concerts or performances fairly intermittently, maybe once or twice a year, but I also have a fair number of friends and family who are either hobbyist or professional musicians. A decent number of the shows I go to are performed by people I know, and a lot of them stay in my guest room when in town. It's pretty common to hear practicing when that's the case.
It's also quite common for spontaneous singing to happen, a lot, when certain portions of my family are around. They sing all the time, both solo and together. Family gatherings have a way of turning into impromptu choir performances. Sometimes there are guitars or ukuleles involved.
2. What was your favorite live musical performance ever?
The one that rises most readily to mind was when I went to see Flobots around the time their 2017 Noenemies album came out, so they were mostly doing music from that album. They were performing with a local dance company, and it made for a really visually wonderful performance, on top of the great music.
The two members of Flobots performing also had some of the most interesting stage presence I've ever seen. One of them has the kind of charisma that really draws the eye, and the other tended to completely disappear from your perception until he started singing, and then he came out strong. It allowed for this really fascinating back and forth relay of a performance between the two of them that was amazing to see.
I also had a lot of fun seeing The Longest Johns with my sister a handful of years ago. Audience participation was a huge part of that show, and it was such a great time.
3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?
Both! I took about ten years of piano lessons, and I've dabbled here and there with a handful of other instruments. I've got an mbira and a bowed psaltery at home that I've fiddled with some in the past. I spent a bit of time in a school choir, too, and tend to sing with my aforementioned extremely musical family when the opportunity arises.
I also sing to myself in the car, but I'm not sure if that really counts.
4. Have you ever performed music onstage?
I have! When I was taking piano lessons I did several performances, both solo as an extension of that, and in a group with school bands or orchestras. The last couple of times I was singing, once in a church choir because my aunt was the choir director and needed warm bodies, and once in a performance some other friends and family were putting on.
5. Who is your favorite musician?
I'm genuinely not sure how to answer this. There are too many incredible musicians out there, that I love for a host of different reasons. What I'm most inclined to listen to changes almost daily, too. I have many favorites.
How about this, some of my oldest, longest faves are Marc Cohn and Checkfield. Marc Cohn especially. I remember as a kid any time his song Silver Thunderbird came on my mom's fancy CD player, I'd set it to repeat until she came and changed it again.
Boy there have been a lot of Friday Five sets I find compelling lately. Here's another!
1. How often do you hear live music?
I go to see concerts or performances fairly intermittently, maybe once or twice a year, but I also have a fair number of friends and family who are either hobbyist or professional musicians. A decent number of the shows I go to are performed by people I know, and a lot of them stay in my guest room when in town. It's pretty common to hear practicing when that's the case.
It's also quite common for spontaneous singing to happen, a lot, when certain portions of my family are around. They sing all the time, both solo and together. Family gatherings have a way of turning into impromptu choir performances. Sometimes there are guitars or ukuleles involved.
2. What was your favorite live musical performance ever?
The one that rises most readily to mind was when I went to see Flobots around the time their 2017 Noenemies album came out, so they were mostly doing music from that album. They were performing with a local dance company, and it made for a really visually wonderful performance, on top of the great music.
The two members of Flobots performing also had some of the most interesting stage presence I've ever seen. One of them has the kind of charisma that really draws the eye, and the other tended to completely disappear from your perception until he started singing, and then he came out strong. It allowed for this really fascinating back and forth relay of a performance between the two of them that was amazing to see.
I also had a lot of fun seeing The Longest Johns with my sister a handful of years ago. Audience participation was a huge part of that show, and it was such a great time.
3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?
Both! I took about ten years of piano lessons, and I've dabbled here and there with a handful of other instruments. I've got an mbira and a bowed psaltery at home that I've fiddled with some in the past. I spent a bit of time in a school choir, too, and tend to sing with my aforementioned extremely musical family when the opportunity arises.
I also sing to myself in the car, but I'm not sure if that really counts.
4. Have you ever performed music onstage?
I have! When I was taking piano lessons I did several performances, both solo as an extension of that, and in a group with school bands or orchestras. The last couple of times I was singing, once in a church choir because my aunt was the choir director and needed warm bodies, and once in a performance some other friends and family were putting on.
5. Who is your favorite musician?
I'm genuinely not sure how to answer this. There are too many incredible musicians out there, that I love for a host of different reasons. What I'm most inclined to listen to changes almost daily, too. I have many favorites.
How about this, some of my oldest, longest faves are Marc Cohn and Checkfield. Marc Cohn especially. I remember as a kid any time his song Silver Thunderbird came on my mom's fancy CD player, I'd set it to repeat until she came and changed it again.
Music
Date: 16 May 2026 20:13 (UTC)And thanks for sharing what your history with music is. It is interesting, particularly about how musical your family is (which I already knew, but it was good to be reminded).
So icon is Roger Daltrey from the vid of "Who Are You."
Re: Music
Date: 16 May 2026 23:56 (UTC)Glad you enjoyed reading a bit about it! I'm more musically inclined by circumstance than conscious choice, but it's definitely a very big part of my life.