Courtesy of Vouge

Bob Dylan has been one of the most influential artist for me when it comes to music. Although I only started to get into his music towards the end of high school, I really took to the passion behind his songs and his voice. He is known for his politically and socially charged lyrics that symbolize change. He controversially left his early-forming fan base to record a single entitled “Like a Rolling Stone”. He continued his unique approach to music carried out through his career as he was able to play a wide range of instruments including the guitar, keyboard, and harmonica. Dylan was able to carry his music tours into the 2000’s, deserving refering to it as “The Never Ending Tour.”

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman to his shop owner father Abram and mother Beatrice in Deluth, Minnesota, he moved with his family to Hibbing, Minnesota to start his life. While in high school he played with several bands while enhancing his musical abilities. After high school he enrolled in the University of Minnesota and began to have a focus on American folk music. Giving himself the name “Bob Dylan,” he played at a local coffeehouse near where he lived. Dylan had this to say in explanation of his new name, “You’re born, you know, the wrong names, wrong parents. I mean, that happens. You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free.”

Courtesy of csm.com

Entering the 1960’s, Dylan dropped out of college at the end of freshman year and decided to travel to New York City to pursue music. Dylan quickly began to pick up success by earning small supporting roles for the albums of others. His first album, Bob Dylan, sold just enough copies to break even. His record company debated dropping his contract, but he was supported by Johnny Cash and allowed to stay on. In August of 1962, Dylan legally changed his name to Robert Dylan and signed on with Albert Grossman as his manager. Dylan then made a trip to London and played his first performances of hit song “Blowin’ in the Wind.” This was controversial with the BBC and sparked drama. Dylan refused to be silenced and continued to perform around in folk clubs. His second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan gained him popularity as a singer and a songwriter. This album was regarded as a protest album and contained many references to political controversies such as slavery and war. Dylan later on played at the March on Washington on August 28. 1963 as another form of protest. His trends continued to question the authorities throughout his career. Dylan has still been touring across the world, going to Europe in 2017 with the plans to come back across the United States and Canada.

The aspect of Bob Dylan that I most admire is how true he is. He was not in music solely for the fame and fortune. He just simply loved music, loved making it, and wanted to inspire people to changed for the better. A highly debated topic is the famous motorcycle crash of Dylan. As a motorcycle enthusiast, Dylan would frequently ride his ’64 Triumph around any country roads he was near. One day it was reported that Dylan had crashed his motorcycle and been seriously injured. He claimed that he needed to take time off of touring and making public appearances in order to recover. He took a 5 year leave to quietly live with his family. It is questioned whether he actually was in an accident or just wanted to get away from things for a while. Dylan has said the he had needed an escape from the rat race and be by himself with his family for some time. I personally do not think their was an accident, but it doesn’t matter to me. I respect Bob Dylan even more for turning away from the money in order to escape reality and spend time with his family. He truly is just a down to Earth person with a quality love for music.

Eric Church is one of my favorite country singers in music. He has a down-to-Earth personality and is one of the nicest people in music. All of his songs tell a story that mostly everybody can relate to and feel.

Born in Granite Falls, North Carolina in 1977, he began playing the guitar at age 13. following his high school graduation he attended Appalachian State and earned a degree in marketing. After moving to Nashville to pursue a music career, he scored his first record deal and released his debut album, Sinners Like Me. His song “How ’bout You” off of that record peaked at number 14 on Hot Country Songs.

His second album, Carolina, was another big success with many hit songs such as “Love Your Love the Most”, “Hell on the Heart”, and “Smoke a Little Smoke”. These songs were all co-written by Eric Church with his own personal touch and style incorporated. He rarely will take a song that he has had no part in writing as it isn’t personal or sincere enough for him to play on his own. One of his biggest characteristics is that he is always trying to have the closest connections to his fans as possible.

Courtesy of Apple Music

Church’s third album, and arguably my favorite, was Chief. Released in 2011, it sold over 145,000 copies in the first week and was number 1 on the Billboard 200. Off of this album he earned his first No. 1 single with the song “Drink in My Hand”. Following this album he began a tour with many country stars such as Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, and Eli Young Band. He was honored as one of the CMT Artists of the Year.

in November of 2015 Church released a surprise album titled Mr. Misunderstood with no promotion or advertisement. He decided to secretly write and record new songs with his band and privately develop the album without telling the media, public, and even people in his staff. Keeping the album private was his highest priority, so he took extra steps to ensure it would be kept quiet. Once finished, he mailed the album to all of the members of his church choir members, which is his fan club. the following day the album was quietly put up for sale in iTunes. This exemplifies how Eric Church doesn’t want to lose the touch and connection that he has with his fans. By doing this album secretly and releasing it first to his biggest fans shows how much he cares for them and is thankful for all of their support.

Another amazing aspect of Church are his live shows. He frequently tours the country and averages close to 40 songs a show, playing for around 2 hours. Also, he doesn’t tour with opening acts to kill time, he simply goes on at his scheduled time and plays all night.

Courtesy of wordpress.com

I first got into listening to Eric Church through my dad, who is a very big fan. I had been a fan of country music but never truly got into what it stood for or any artist in particular. He showed me a couple Eric Church songs and explained some of the lyrics and meanings to me while we listened to them together. I instantly loved everything about the songs and had a new artist to fall into. I ran with what he had taught me and listened to more songs and albums . My favorite, “Mr. Misunderstood” tells the story of a boy who doesn’t fit in with the kids around him in school. He finds a passion in guitars and cars and spends his time playing guitar and learning about cars from his dad, much like I do. I personally connected with this song as I loved everything about what the kid in the song loved. It personally spoke to me and I connected to it so well, much like all of Church’s fans do.

                                           courtesy of acdc.com

The rock band AC/DC is one of the greatest and highest regarded groups of all time. Formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young of Sydney Australia, AC/DC experience many member changes until 1975 when they released the Album High Voltage. In the following years they finished recording arguably their greatest album, Highway to Hell. Unfortunately, a few short months after this lead singer Bon Scott passed away following a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The band wasn’t sure what to do and thought about calling it quits. With the support of Scott’s parents the band pushed through and brought on Brian Johnson to take over the vocals. Coming back they released the Back in Black album and was back on their rockin’ track.

AC/DC kept the momentum going through the 80’s, into the 90’s, and even into the 2000’s with albums such as For Those About to Rock We Salute You, The Razor’s Edge, and Black Ice. songs such as Thunderstruck, Highway to Hell, It’s a Long Way to the Top, and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap define who AC/DC is as a band. They are an in your face rock group while still playing with a smooth and sweet sound. Their hard riffs flow so sweetly through their songs and eliminate any scratch.

A personal favorite song of mine, Love at First Feel, is a great showcase for all that the guys have to offer. The songs starts out with a hard riff from Angus that really sets the pace. Bon Scott jumps in with his raspy voice and immediately accompanies the chords perfectly. The song keeps a solid pace throughout and features a guitar solo from Angus that showcases his incredible talent. He has been regarded as the second best lead guitar player of all time (behind Slash, but we’ll talk about him another day). Malcolm Young is steady on the secondary guitar and lays down a solid and steady rhythm. Overall, I just feel this is one of the best songs by the group.

                                        Courtesy of Getty Images

Another aspect of Angus Young that adds to the band is his uniform. When the band had their first gig he didn’t know what to wear. He decided to just wear his school uniform and hat. This features a felt suit jacket, white button-up shirt with tie, thigh high shorts, and white socks. The gig went well and he decided to stick with it. The fans quickly took to the outfit and it became a major symbol of the band. In addition to the apparel, Angus is famously known for doing a certain duck-walk during guitar solos during live shows that the fans love. It’s a personal aspect of his guitar playing habits that the fans always love and cheer on.

On a personal level, AC/DC has always been a band that my dad and I have listened to and bonded together through. He introduced me to the music through his old school vinyl records when I was about 10. I instantly loved it all and was hooked on rock n roll. I have listened to it ever since and have no plans to quit any time soon. It’s not the in your face aspect about it that gets me, it is the freedom and individuality that it brings. Listening to rock n roll makes me feel as though I’m unique and different being who I am, rather than falling in line with everything else. It reminds me to embrace whatever I like and do whatever I may wish to do. That’s what makes the music great. It causes you to just step aside and not fall into whatever mold others may be shaping. Just be who you are and have fun with it.