Celebrating the music that sparks your soul

The Stories

“When I think about my oldest brother Keith, the first thing I remember is how passionate he was about the music he listened to. Music was always his thing. When he let me listen to ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’, The Cure immediately became my favorite band. We were really close, and every time he drove me somewhere I’d ask him to put that CD on. I loved it because there’s so much emotion packed into every single song. It just hit’s you like a wave.

Keith Passed away in 1999, he committed suicide. (the song) Disintegration played a big part in getting me through his death. It gave me the ability to be. I know it doesn’t make sense, but it let me just be. I think the song’s about addiction. My brother wasn’t an addict or anything, his suicide was just so unexpected, and there’s so much energy in that song, so much anger. And I was really angry about it, yeah, it’s been a long time and there’s still a part of me that’s angry.”

“When I heard ‘My Last Song to Jenny’ I immediately connected to it. It was that one song, one song that I connected to, that made me go see the Avett Brothers live. And by the end of that concert I was so in love with these guys. Their lyrics just speak to you, it’s like they speak to your soul. The more I listened to them, the more I saw that the lyrics have this feeling, a feeling of real life experiences.

At that time I was in a really dark place. I was in bad relationship, and I was around a lot of negativity. I had this really strong feeling that something was going on. Nobody told me anything, but it turned out that my roommate and best friend was seeing my boyfriend behind my back. I was lost, and I just didn’t know how to feel. Songs like ‘Pretend Love’ and ‘I Would be Sad’ helped get me through that situation. I mean, I had those songs to make me realize what I was feeling about what was going on. But some of their other songs built me back up, and made me realize, hey, it’s okay, I’m going through this, but I know something better is going to come out of it. And being a part of this community, ‘Avett Nation’, I’ve seen so many other people have their own revalations through the Avett Brothers’s music. All of their songs are a story of these emotions and these life changing events. And you realize when you’re listening to them, you know, maybe I’m not the only one going through this, and feeling this. They really help you on a level that makes you realize that you’re not alone.”

I want to live
and I want you to live
happy and free
But I don’t know how
to seperate the now
from what used to be

My Last Song to Jenny – The Avett Brothers

“My best friend introduced me to Butch Walker when we were in 9th grade. We’ve been to more than 20 shows since then, we lost count a couple of years ago. I love his music because he puts so much emotion into his songs and performances.

I can relate to ‘Ships in a Bottle’ the most. To me, the song is about losing everything to a fire, kind of as a metaphor for leaving a bad relationship behind. When that song came out I was 8 months pregnant and my ex-husband burned down my house. He threatened to do it, then he actually did it. He had tried to kill me before, so I was way too scared to turn him in. I didn’t find the courage to leave him until a couple of days after my son was born. I mean, I had protect my son. I couldn’t let him see the abuse I lived with, and I couldn’t take the chance of what might happen if we stayed.

The fire turned out to be a beautiful blessing. I lost absolutely everything, but more than anything, I needed a fresh start, to start over. And Butch’s song helped me realize that. His song found me at the exact time I needed to hear it.”

Just wanna walk away from the ashes
And take the fact that I’ve been burned
And maybe let you know I’m still standin’
If you miss it again, miss it again, I’m around

Butch Walker

Butch Walker – Ships in a Bottle

Vince gill Fans

“I had a really special relationship with my grandmother, she was an amazing lady. I only lived about 5 minutes from her when I was growing up so I’d get to see her almost everyday. I can remember getting my mom to take me to her house all the time so I could take a bath in her giant bathtub. When I was 4, we were riding to the store together and we heard “Turn Me Loose” on the radio. She turned to me and said, ‘that’s our man’. Because of her, I’ve always felt an emotional connection to Vince Gill and his music. I mean from the age of 8-10 I just knew I was going to marry him. He’s my Elvis!

My grandmother didn’t have it easy, she had to raise her family on her own after my grandpa died when my mom was 7. Money was tight. But when I was 14 years old she scrounged enough money together so we could go see Vince in Delaware at the state fair. When we got there we saw storm clouds building, the sky was getting darker and darker. Then we saw a tornado forming. We ran to hide under the stands, I mean there was no other place to go. I was so scared, but I knew I’d be OK because she was there with me. The tornado ended up circling around us, devastating the area, but never touching the fair.

She passed away in 2012, and I miss her so much. But just a few weeks after she died my husband took me to see Vince at the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida. We were just sitting there, waiting for the show to start, I looked up into the sky and saw a white owl circling around us. My grandmother always loved white owls, and you just don’t ever see them in Florida. So I couldn’t help but think that she was there with me, for one last show, with our man.”

lord huron fans

One of the things I like most about Lord Huron is their creative process. Most artists will write about an experience, a situation, a moment, and the emotion that comes with it. You know, like a love, a breakup or something like that. But what Ben does, is take that situation and play it out. He’ll imagine how the experience could turn out, and he creates a whole fantastical world around that, where all of these things take place. So I think that process is really interesting as an artist myself.

I started listening to them in 2012 when when I was in college. My friend Dave shared some of their music with me and I enjoyed it, so I started following them. But it was when Strange Trails came out that I felt a really strong connection to his music. The messages from the songs present a wanderlust kind of feel, so it falls right in line with things that I already enjoy. And tonality wise, the whole album operates as a narrative. As you listen, you’ll notice hints of tones and melodies from previous songs, and it leads you along, as a progression, from song to song.

I take music pretty seriously, I have playlists for all different occasions. I’ve got a playlists for when I’m upset or angry. I’ve got a playlist for working out, another one of just spoken word. But when it comes to adventurous times in my life, like when I’m traveling, and when I need inspiration for a creative project, I turn to Lord Huron.

The Cure fans

I was one of those little goth girls in high school that got picked on all the time. Kids use to throw food at me in the cafeteria, say dogs couldn’t sit at the table and bark at me. I felt like Robert Smith understood what I was feeling. He knew what it was like to be an outsider, he understood all the emotions I kept bottled up inside.

I just couldn’t relate to all the top 40 music I was hearing on the radio back then. Then I found the Cure and other bands that were misfits just like me. I remember listening to Head on the Door for the first time, Robert Smith singing “In Between Days”, and I was like I get that, I understand it. There was finally something I could relate to. From that moment I was in love with them.

Now I listen to those songs and they make some of the bad memories easier to think about. Like when I hear “Catch”, and it opens up with “Yeah I know who you remind me of, a girl I think I used to know”, It makes me think about how far I’ve come from being that misfit girl.

I’d say to people that feel like they don’t fit in, whether you’re 15 or 50, go back and listen to some of those songs from ’80’s alternative bands. You’ll realize that your not alone. A lot of people have gone through the same type of things you’re going though, and it won’t last forever. Just take it one song at a time, and understand that so many of those people, that are just like you, have come out the other side and done great things with their lives.

Third Eye Blind fans

“I introduced my daughter to Third Eye Blind and she introduced me to 21 Pilots, just like my dad introduced me to Zeppelin and I introduced him to Pearl Jam. It’s kinda like a trickle down effect, a tradition of music.

She loves being in the pit. She was always showing me these pictures she had taken from the middle of it. But she was so small, it kinda’ worried me. It’s really cool though, everyone takes care of her in there, protects her.

We’d listen to Third Eye Blind a lot together but I never really paid that much attention to the lyrics. One day we were sittin’ around listening to Blue and “Wounded” came on. I heard the line “You’re an angel in the pit with her hands in the air”, I was like that’s my girl, it connected us. So music has brought us closer to together, it’s our thing.

We live in Georgia and recently went to Red Rocks. As a dad I feel like, if your daughter asks if you wanna go to Red Rocks, you just say yeah. You don’t ask when, who’s playing or any other questions. It’s quality time together, and before I know it she’ll be grown up, living her life. And I know I’ll still be a part of it, but we’ll never get this special time in our lives back again.”

Blake Shelton FanLife

“I didn’t know all that much about Blake Shelton when I met him back around 2002 or so. I was working at Dave and Busters in Nashville and got to wait on him one night. I didn’t get to talk to him all that much, but he was really down to earth and took the time to make me feel like he was genuinely interested in me, asking about where I grew up and what part of town I was living in now. He just seemed authentic, not fake like some other artists I’ve seen.

After that, I started listening to his music more and more, and now he’s one of my all time favorite artists. The songs I like best are “Sangria” and “Go Ahead and Break My Heart”. But the one I have the strongest emotional connection to is “Over You”, which he wrote with Miranda Lambert about losing his brother. My Grandma passed away about 15 years ago. And every time I hear that song, I still tear up, thinking about her, and all the family and friends that I’ve lost. Wishing they were still here with me.”

An emotional live performance of “Over You” by Blake Shelton

fanlife- stevie nicks

“The first time I heard Stevie Nicks was when I was in elementary school and my mom played ‘The Dance’ DVD. I remember I would always ask her to play ‘Gold Dust Woman’, my favorite song. Stevie’s songs brought me comfort in chaos growing up. When everything went bad I would put her music on and it was like somebody telling me everything was going to be OK. I used to write poems and little songs, I would take my guitar down to the basement and pretend I was playing for thousands of people. It was like my little escape from reality, and I loved every minute of it. It’s like I finally felt like myself for the first time, playing music. I felt whole. I always wanted to help people with my own music like Stevie and so many other musicians helped me. Music was always my friend, my comfort, my everything when other people failed me.

Most of my life has been spent with headphones on rather than off. But somewhere along the way I stopped believing in myself and I started listening to other people. I sold my guitar, I threw away my journals and life took over. I kept trying to convince my heart that I would never be successful in music so why bother. I went through a lot of heartache and pain for years, until, finally I got to a point where I realized I was not happy living my life to please other people. I was tired of standing in my own way and letting my insecurities and doubts rule my life. So here I am today, writing songs and playing my music for other people. Following the dream I’ve carried since I was a little girl playing to that imaginary crowd in my basement . I’m so proud of myself for facing my fears and taking a risk. I’m grateful for all of the musicians that inspired me, shaped me and provided the soundtracks for my life. If you have a dream, go after it. Life is too short to not be happy and fulfilled. And what a shame it would be for the world to miss out on your gifts. Believe in yourself, I believe in you.”

Caitlin Elizabeth – Sad Girl Demo

The Band Perry fanlife

“I’m here with my fiance’ to see The Band Perry live for the first time. I like their new sound better than the country music they were known for before. It’s just more my style of music. And I think the songs are better because they are being true to themselves. I feel like I can relate to them in that way because I spent a long time pretending to be somebody else to keep everyone around me happy. And I know how much happier I am now, being who I am, and not having to hide myself anymore. Not being the person that everyone else wants me to be.

About 5 years ago I was just so tired of hiding. I decided I couldn’t worry anymore about whether or not my family was gonna be OK with it or not. I had to come out to them and tell them that I’m a lesbian. Some of them were supportive and happy for me. Some of them, like my mom, are starting to come around and get use to the idea. And a few of them aren’t a part of my life anymore. But it’s still better than hiding, than lying to everyone. Now I’m engaged, getting ready to be married. Something that couldn’t have happened before I came out.”