They say you can’t go back and to not live in the past, but sometimes our past is what makes us who we are now. Or sometimes we forget things about ourselves and then something–a song, a fragrance, a taste–will remind us of a special memory or the person we used to be. And we want to get some part of that person back again. Recently someone said to me that they like my and the Mister’s story. So I started thinking that maybe I should write some of it down. Two college educated people who moved to the middle of nowhere to make our life around flyfishing. Sounds like a made for TV movie, no?
So we’ll meander through our story here and there as we can. One of the things that makes me who I am is being from the South. I love being from the South. I love that I grew up in Southern Appalachia. There’s a lot about Southern Appalachia that makes me who I am (like Mamaw’s Lemon Meringue Pie). One of those things is music. In particular I love bluegrass music. I also love the outdoors and the mountains. There’s nothing like the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. But music soothes my soul. It reminds me of who I am. Of what I like. Over the years the Mister and I have enjoyed finding local bands or local venues to listen to music. We’re not big concert goers, but give us a little bar or restaurant with some local folks and we’re there!
But back in the beginning was east Tennessee, and places like The Downhome where you could find professors or students, from the bluegrass program at the local college, playing. I was in nursing school, he was fishing. I didn’t yet know I wanted to be a librarian or a homesteader. We enjoyed listening to music. I liked hiking (the Appalachian Trail runs right through where we lived). We liked finding out of the way places to go for dates. There was one place, Harmony Grocery, that served crawfish étouffée and was BYOB. There was the place we went on our first date, Galloway’s, in an old farmhouse downtown. And how can you live so close to Jonesborough and not love all things Appalachia? There was only a two lane highway across the mountain to Asheville. It was nice. And there was always music.
Most of the bluegrass I listen to is older–mid 2000’s. Most of the bands aren’t together anymore such as The Near Misses, The Biscuit Burners, and Bearfoot Bluegrass, but I still have their albums and still listen to them.
Some of today’s pop music will always have a special place in my heart too. It’s all I listened to during the “Summer of Kristin 2018”. I listened to it as I walked, as I swam laps around the pool, while on vacation.
There’s music now that reminds me of things that I want to do, places I want to go, or that I just love singing along to. I’ve been listening to the local alternative rock station on my commute to work and have been discovering new-to-me artist and rediscovering old loves as well.
I love music–really all kinds. I can get down with just about anything. But bluegrass will always be special to me. Do you have a favorite genre of music that reminds you of who you are? Or that you love to get down to? Tell me all about it! I’m always looking for new music.