Thank You, Friends.

Last night, Dave did his podcast over Keith's and we guested. We picked some albums to discuss and we sort of gave our critical opinion of them. It was a lot of fun. We didn't get finished 'til 'round midnight. Dave has a lot of shits and fucks to edit out. When it's edited, i'll post a link to it if anyone cares to hear it. It's nice to have such eloquent friends. Gabby had to push us out of there or we'd still be carrying on. Sorry, Gab! All of this made me think about some of my musical mentors.

The first would be my Dad. When I was little, he'd play me all this weird music and explain it to me. I got my first exposure to Classical from him. And he was a fan of Memphis Soul which I still love today. My Mom's side of the family would get together and harmonize doo-wop style at all the get togethers and that certainly influenced me. I mentioned Uncle Anthony a few posts back. And then there's Pete Lavezzoli, my oldest friend. We totally bonded as children over music. He had very advanced taste for a sixth-grader. He still turns me on to cool music and i 'spose I do the same for him. I also met this guy in San Francisco named Derek Taylor who broadened my tastes. He got me to go outside the box and appreciate some pretty far out stuff. He still influences me even though I haven't seen or heard from him in years. I don't really know where he is.

Mojo magazine is also a huge one. You can find me on a Tuesday at Barnes and Noble every month buying my Mojo as soon as it gets there. There is so much great information inside every issue. I re-read them all the time. And I wear my Mojo shirt with pride. I guess just about everyone influences my taste in some way. If I hung around Dave long enough, i'm sure i'd max out a credit card trying to keep up. We need a RECORD store around here! Today, I bought The Best of Harry Belafonte and that's where i'm at right now.