52 Ancestors Week 51: Musical

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 51:

The theme for Week 51 is “Musical.” Band geeks, unite! Who in your family makes you think of music? Whether it’s someone who made their living through music or who just really enjoyed listening, this is the week to sing their praises. (See what I did there? 😉)

Blues riffs in "B". Watch me for the changes and try to keep up!

    

    Who in my family makes me think of music? There's a lot of people I can talk about for this week's prompt. Let me pick a name out of a hat. One moment. And the winner of the 2025 Musical blog is.....

My brother Jim? Okay. I guess I can work with that. I mean I did write a blog about his wife Kathleen earlier this year. Fair is fair, right? Let's go!

Jim, Kat and me

    My brother and I are like night and day when it comes to our hobbies. He collects records and plays guitar. I read comic books and create my own webcomics. Don't get me wrong. We have many similarities. We both grew up in the '80s and '90s and can quote whole scenes of movies if we so desired. It makes playing games like charades fun. And it kind of annoys the nephews. So, that's a bonus! That pop culture is forever ingrained in our heads.

    Jim has always had an ear for music and for as long as I can remember he was interested in music. I would be minding my own business playing with my toys and suddenly Twisted Sister became the soundtrack of the Autobots' battle with the Decepticons. I'd have gone with Stan Bush. But, that's a little on the nose.

    I didn't appreciate it back then but now I do! 

    Hair metal isn't the only genre he listened to....Thank God.  Jim has a very refined taste and tends to listen to various forms of music from every genre. I think our parents were the reason for his taste in music. When we were growing up, our dad would play various oldies on the radio to and from the marina where we had our boat.  When we were in the car with our mother, she would plan contemporary music. As a result we got to listen to a little bit of everything.

    Things changed a bit as we got older. He started playing the guitar and while I tried my best to mimic his play style, I never quite GOT it. Jim definitely got the music gene. I just play "Rock Band" on easy mode. It's true. He has tried to teach me how to play and sometimes it didn't turn out well.

    A family friend once gave us her electric keyboard and for years I'd "jam" with Jim using it. It was okay. I got about as far as "Stairway to Heaven". Look, we all can't be Sir Elton John! I tried my best and Jim did teach me how to play somewhat. The trick was having the patience to tickle the ivories, ya know.

Work station or music haven?

    Over time my brother began collecting records and has displayed a select few in his office at home. Whenever he visits he habitually brings his guitar case along for the ride. And no it doesn't have a machine gun in it! Those are specifically for violin cases!

    Whenever we visit, he would sometimes put a record on for our enjoyment or during a meal. If we are preparing food for Thanksgiving or some other meal, he'd toss on an Elvis record or a Beach Boys record for my father. The last time he did that I asked him if it reminded him of going down to the boat. He laughed and said "Yeah." Those songs are never leaving our heads!

    When I learned that several of our cousins in Europe were musicians, I showed him their songs and I think he was impressed by them. Their style differed from his and he tends to appreciate all forms of music. Though, I'll never forget the time I gave him a joke present for Christmas.

    He was talking about Taylor Swift and being iffy on her music. As a joke I bought him a Taylor Swift CD. To say he was unimpressed was a bit of an understatement. Though, ironically he bought one of her more recent albums a while ago. Huh. I guess times and attitudes toward certain musicians change. However, he does have a few singers he does not like and never will like! To gift him something from someone like Pitbull would have been a cardinal sin.  Never go against the family!

    

    Jim is just one of the many musically inclined people in the family and his taste kind of influenced my own. I suppose it could have been worse.  And looking back I probably should have appreciated the soundtrack to my activities in my room. It was pretty fun to be honest.

    The next generation of musicians in our family have started to take off as one of my nephews has shown himself to be just as musically inclined as Jim. Will he collect records and play music? That's to be determined. Though, he likes playing the keyboard!

    As for Jim, he still plays his music and I do love listening to him play. And before anyone asks....yes. I have tried to play his guitar on several occasions. Even when he was playing a computer game or something. I had to try it out. Why not? Was I good? Nope. Again. this is why I do Rock Band on "easy mode".

      Our father once told us that his favorite music style was here to stay. And I agree some songs are good and stand the test of time. Other songs? Not so much. My brother and I have a very eclectic taste in music. We like a little bit of everything. I think that if you truly appreciate music you need to listen to everything that's out there. Rock, Jazz, Rap, Country. Everything. Music let's people share what they want to say and it's something to be cherished.

See ya next time!

    

P.S. This is my 350th blog! WOOHOO!