It's About Time...and Music and Life

Ever since I stopped working at a brick and mortar music store fo
lks have asked me what I am listening to or what I suggest they might enjoy.
This blog will do its level best to remedy that situation
amongst the folks I know and with any luck will draw a new audience
to what I intend to be a regular forum for discussion and
sharing information about my lifelong passion for music.

Starting in the mid-1970s I would make Mix Tapes on cassettes and pass them around.
I wish I had kept a copy for reference and
archival purposes of every tape I made as
precious few have survived from my early collections.
Since my last job ended ten years ago I have made digital vinyl transfers,
copies of CDs and assembled CD compilations on my stand-alone Sony CDR-W33.
After upgrading my computer in 2006 I began collecting MP3s
and assembling MP3 compilations for my friends' edification and enjoyment.

My primary focus has been fellow musicians
in the Finger Lakes area of Upstate New York State
[barring the occasional mail out to friends living out of state].
I have been a player myself for more than 40 years and
have scads of musical contacts who range from students to amateur hobbyists
to weekend semi-pros and full-time professionals.
Without exception (if they know me) I have come to be
the go-to guy for musical resources;
i.e. influential archival recordings and attendant information
such as lyrics, publishing data, artwork, etc.

I have also had the opportunity to expand my reach over the years
as a Radio, Club & Mobile DJ to inform and entertain
the 'unsuspecting' public of music they might not hear through 'normal' channels.
My years on the turntables have given me a sixth sense
when it comes to sequence and segue.
This is most evident in many of my compilation mixes and
as I move forward with this blog I will be preparing to offer pod casts
on a regular basis that I hope will continue this tradition.
I already have quite a few mixes in reserve from the last two years and
what mix tapes I can transfer from my past will also be considered for future posts.

As a writer and music critic I will be focusing on music that I love.
That will be a daunting task for me as anyone who knows me will attest.
I have owned well over 250,000 physical recordings in my lifetime
which figured out to more than a million songs the one time I attempted to quantify it.

For the most part, my interests are firmly in Americana,
which certainly is a wide and vague enough label to include
Country, Folk, Blues, Rockabilly, Bluegrass, Cajun-Zydeco, Gospel, Celtic,
Old Timey, Swing and Jazz.
However, one can also expect to see me expound on Pop, Classic Rock,
Progressive, Electronica, Hip-Hop, Mashups, Remixes, Reggae, New Age,
Classical and what I would term Audio Archaeology.

I will definitely be shining the light
on many of my local music friends and
introducing them to a larger audience.
There will be links to their sites and many other acts I consider worth while.

I will also attempt to keep a viable list of fellow bloggers
I enjoy and links to many music related sites.
In fact, I will be interested in seeing how long it is before
outgrow this blog and have to consider spending the money
for a full blown website.
I guess your interest will make all the difference.
In the meantime I am happy to begin my committment with this first post.
Please bookmark this should you find it informative and entertaining and
I promise to keep the postings coming on a regular basis and
be a little less serious next time...oh, and begin the music postings, too!