Julian Pritcher: Class Blog 1 – This I believe…I believe in music as a bonding experience
I believe in music as a bonding experience. Ever since my parents divorced, I always spent more time with my mother’s side of the family. She re-married and had two boys, while my father focused more on his career. There was a natural family environment with my mother; so I gravitated towards that at a young age. When I did get to visit my dad, our time spent together generally revolved around music. Now, back then Apple wasn’t in the portable mp3 business so I didn’t have an iPod. Satellite radio didn’t exist yet either, so believe it or not, my first exposure to popular music was on FM radio. The rock stations we’d listen to generally played a mix of modern alternative, with some 90s grunge thrown in. Bands like Nirvana, Incubus and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were on heavy rotation. We both enjoyed these bands, but occasionally we’d here a deeper track. It was obvious something special was playing because the intro would come through the car speakers and my dad would say, “Oh turn this one up, Julian.” I remember how swaggering and loud the guitar riff was. “Listen to the way he pulls those strings,” he said, appreciating the groove, “that’s Joe Walsh.” I knew I recognized that name, so I replied, “from the Eagles?” “No this is the James Gang, his first band. The song is called Funk 49,” he said. Back then, that was the coolest song I’d ever heard on the radio. Once we got home, he showed me his collection of CDs which included “James Gang Rides Again,” the album with “Funk 49” on it. From that point on, I would consistently borrow music from his collection to listen to. “Julian, have you seen my Hendrix album?” he’d yell up the stairs to me. When I got a little older and had my owe spending money, my father would bring me to Tower Records. There were aisles and aisles of CDs to buy from classic and contemporary rock to rap, and even the daunting metal section in the back. As I explored every aisle, I began to think of these trips as an opportunity to start my own CD collection instead of taking from his. So while all my friends were using Limewire to download music for free, I was purchasing CDs, just like my dad. My collection got bigger and bigger until high school, when I gave in to the mp3 revolution. I haven’t bought a CD since then, but my dad and I still shared a love for music. He loved the 60s and 70s era classic rock from his childhood, while my expertise came with progressive rock as well as grunge and 90s alternative bands. We’d always talk about going to a concert together, but who to see? All the bands he liked had a much older crowd, but shows I wanted to see were full of 20-somethings like me. Then I heard the band Phish, and found out that their live show consists of a few classic rock covers. I showed him their rendition of “Walk Away” by James Gang and he was hooked. My dad loved it so much; he bought us tickets to see Phish live at Madison Square Garden this past New Year’s Eve. It was the experience of a lifetime that I couldn’t have shared without our mutual appreciation for the music we love.