Everyone has a slightly different taste in music. We each have our favorite types of music, instruments, types of lyrics, and so on. Even if we have best friends who have a lot in common there are apt to be many differences in musical opinion. One person is more a Lord Huron type, another is more of a jazz fan, others are Pearl Jam dudes, and maybe even a Tool fan thrown in for good measure.

My buddy Rick has a knack for noticing and listening for what types of music each of his friends enjoy listening to. When the opportunity is right he’ll spend hours of time building an epic playlist that will scratch the musical itch for all involved. To be honest, it is an art. How he’s able to find ways to take old favorites and combine them with more niche artists and songs that we’ve never heard before to create a unique musical experience. I’d put his brain up against the algorithms of Pandora and I’d bet that Rick would win.

His most recent endeavor has left me listening to music in the periphery of my day. I’ve downloaded more new music in the past 48 hours than I have in the past several months. The music has led to great conversations and has left me smiling throughout much of the day. Heck, did you know that you can play a game called “Guess which of the songs off of the Dixie Chicks album Taking the Long Way were written by Dan Wilson of SemiSonic.” If you’re a fan of Closing Time and Singing In My Sleep you’ll probably pick them out pretty quickly!

For reals, I am also truly thankful for so much and so many deep emotions today I’m sure I’ll write about one day in a future blog. They’re just not quite ready to be written about, they need more time in the cave to age. In the meantime I’ll spend more time listening to great tunes I’d never heard before.

Thanks!!!