The Editorials

Insight Part 2

Written by Jeff Krasky and Darren O'Neill

This week we present part two in a series of editorials called Insight. The staff has always felt that it was important for our readers to know who we are and know our musical preferences. Once you have a better idea of the music that we listen to it makes it easier to match one of the editors up to your own personal musical preferences. Enjoy!

Darren O'Neill - Editor

When Jeff suggested that we write a little bit about our listening habits, I was more than willing to dive right in and hammer out this editorial. My only question was will people still respect me after reading it? Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?

I think I’ve mentioned in previous articles that I really do not understand people who only listen to one type of music. I have always been influenced by a lot of different artists from a lot of different musical genres. I could never see myself just listening to country music, or just listening to rock music. I need a definite variety to keep myself happy and sane.

A typical music day for me can be all over the board. I can listen to country, rock, alternative, rap, big band or easy listening in the course of a day. Working on websites, I will usually have music of some sort going. Just the other day I actually dusted off the old cassette deck and turntable to listen to some music that I never have replaced on CD.

It started out with three cassettes by Billy Bragg. Some of you may actually have heard of Billy, as he recently released a couple of CDs with another artist known as Wilco of some old Woody Guthrie lyrics with new music for them. Billy’s earlier stuff is definitely political, and he plays a lot of the songs with just him and an electric guitar. He sounds very British, and you can’t miss that in the music. The thing that always fascinated me with Billy was that he could get away with just accompanying himself with an electric guitar, as I often do in the comfort of my own room!

After that, I pulled out some old Beach Boys vinyl. I hadn’t listened to these records in 5-7 years, and it was like a breath of fresh air to hear the kind of harmonies these guys make. The first couple albums I played were special to me because Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys sent them to me back in 1980. You see, I was 10 years old and my parents took me to see the Beach Boys in concert at the Star Plaza in Merriville, Indiana. I woke up really early, and was bored so I went down to the poolside bar to play Pac-Man. Well, I’m sitting there and these guys come in, one of them sits down across from me (I was playing Pac-Man on one of those table-top versions of the game) and asked if he could play. I said sure, he put down a huge stack of quarters and we started playing. He asked “so how did you like the show?” at which point I actually realized whom I was playing Pac-Man with! It was Bruce Johnston, you know, the guy who wrote “I Write The Songs” for Barry Manilow.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I beat him at Pac-Man pretty bad, so when I got back home I picked up a little “How to Win at Pac-Man” book and sent it to him with a note saying how cool it was to get to play Pac-Man with one of the Beach Boys. A few weeks later I received this awesome promotional 2 LP set of their greatest hits, and across the front of the cover it says, “To Darren, Thanks for the Pac-Man Book! Bruce Johnston”… I guess it was my first brush with fame, but I’ve been a fan ever since!

After finishing with the Beach Boys, I played some other LP’s of Huey Lewis, Pete Townshend, Billy Idol and REO Speedwagon. So, I guess you can see that my rock and roll background goes pretty far back.

As a matter of fact, the first music I really got hooked on was the Beatles. They put out so much great music, and it had evolved so much over the few years that they were together. Without the Beatles neither rock nor country would be the same today. And, I do have everything the Beatles ever released on CD!

A few of you may know that I am a singer-songwriter wanna-be, and I love artists who can write a good song. Bruce Springsteen, John Hiatt, Warren Zevon and Steve Earle have to be tops on my list in this category. But, I also can’t forget people like Kevin Welch, Bruce Robison and Monte Warden. If you like good music, you can’t go wrong with any of these artists!

I do understand that this is a women of country music site, and you are all probably reading this asking “when the heck does he listen to the women of country music?” Well, I guess the answer is whenever I can! When I am listening though, you can bet that Kelly Willis, Chely Wright or Martina McBride are going to be in the CD player. I have recently been listening to some great live performances of Martina’s, including a CD from a show she did at the Fox Theater in Atlanta this year. If you have not seen Martina, go see her and you will not be disappointed! Her show is top notch, and the sound system is the best in the business.

I am going to stop this installment here, because I could literally go on for hours explaining what types of music I like to listen to… I’ve been called an addict, but that’s ok, because music is healthier than drugs or alcohol, but it may not be any cheaper of an addiction! Until the next installment, keep listening to the music!

Jeff Krasky - Senior Editor

I am a music addict. Just saying that makes me feel better. It’s the love of music that pushed me to create Women Of Country in the first place. I constantly run into people who think that I listen to nothing else because of the web site. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. You will find numerous musical styles in my music collection. In fact, while I’m writing this I have No Doubt’s new release Return of Saturn blaring on my stereo. That band creates some truly inventive alternative rock.

What music styles do I enjoy listening to? Rock, Pop, Country, Folk Rock, Bluegrass, and Folk to name a few. It wasn’t always that way however. I grew up listening to a lot of 80’s pop and rock music. Country music came into my life and I went crazy with it. I bought everything I could get my hands on and I made the mistake of thinking that it was the only music worth listening to. It actually took meeting my co-editor online to revive my interest in other music forms. Soon I was listening to everything I could get my hands on once again. Thanks a lot Darren, you’ve cost me a hell of a lot of money!

I have always been in awe of singer/songwriters. It takes an incredible amount of talent and a hell of a lot of guts to write your own songs, play them and then get a hand dirty with some of the production. Melissa Ferrick and Ani DiFranco are two of my favorite writers. Both manage to capture life in a very true form. Sometimes it might be a little brutal but that to parallels life.

Female vocalists have always captured my interest more than men. In my humble opinion their songs talk about more powerful issues and each artist has a much more distinct style. With a number of male artists you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between them. However there are a number I like. These artists include Nine Days, Vertical Horizon, Garth Brooks, Bruce Robison and quite a few more.

I’m always listening to music. In the car I’ve got CDs on (except for in the morning where I am an avid Sarah and Vinnie listener on ALICE for those of you who live in the Bay Area, CA) and when I’m home the stereo is always going. There are days when I listen to one album over and over again (especially when I’m working on the site and have to review an album) but most of the time a massive amount of albums go through my CD changer each day. I still need to buy that damn changer for my car.

Just to give you an ideal of the way a day in my musical life goes here is a sampling of what has been through my stereo today:

Ani DiFranco Living In Clip (this is one of the best live albums ever recorded)
No Doubt Return Of Saturn
Kelly Willis Well Traveled Love
Melissa Ferrick Melissa Ferrick +1 (Melissa is an outstanding acoustic guitar player)
Collin Raye Tracks
Garth Brooks The Hits
Dixie Chicks Fly
The Kinleys II
Nine Days The Madding Crowd
Patty Griffin Living With Ghosts (an exceptional acoustic folk record)

I could go on but the list would probably take to long to download!

When all is said and done all that matters to me is the song. If there is a great song out there I will be in line to purchase a copy of the album. While I am a critic for a country music website be aware of the fact that my opinions are formed from a number of influences. Not just country music. Some might consider that a fault but I consider it to be one of my strengths.

I love music, plain and simple. I can’t imagine going a day without listening to something. I’m also trying to learn how to play guitar so that maybe I can create something myself (don’t worry, none of you will have to live through the nightmare of hearing it).

My goal in creating this web site was to design a place where music fans were writing reviews and editorials for music fans. I might be considered a music critic but at heart I'm just one of the biggest music fans you'll ever run into. I hope this editorial has helped you understand the people behind the web site better.

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