New: Amazing Music Rocks Here Weekly
I love to read. (Almost as much as I love to dance!)
Reading exposes me to new ideas, new perspectives and new ways of doing things.
I often find cool stuff I can implement in my own life, especially from personal growth and so-called self-help books. Such was the case with Fitting In Is Vastly Overrated, a book I read and blogged about awhile ago.
The author suggested an interesting idea for get-togethers centered around music, and I decided to give it a go.
The basic idea is simple:
- invite up to 10 friends to a gathering at your home
- ask them to bring along a song or piece of music that’s meaningful to them
- listen to each piece of music individually
- discuss
It’s like a book group, but instead of discussing a book, you share a story, feelings and/or thoughts around the song you've selected.
The idea sounded interesting, but, to be honest, I didn’t know how or if it would work in real life. Much to my delight, and that of the seven other women at the “party,” the musical soiree turned out to be great fun
The group was diverse. We ranged in age from 23 to 53, and represented several different nationalities.
Our song choices were as eclectic as we were; they included music from the soundtrack of The Quiet American (partly sung in Vietnamese), a rendition of Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me by Elton John and George Michael and Superwoman by Alicia Keys (see below for the full list).
The stories we told around the tunes ranged from one of nursing a dying cancer patient 25 years ago in The Netherlands to feeling proud of a son’s band, and its recent success on the New Zealand music scene.
During the course of the evening, I discovered that my friend and AWR member Louise is a music aficionado who collects songs like some people collect stamps and coins.
She updates her ipod playlists weekly and is constantly on the lookout for new and interesting artists and pieces to add to her collection.
What an opportunity thought I !
It didn’t take toooooo long for me to convince Louise to share her musical adventures with AWR.
Here’s what she said about the evening and the launch of Amazing Music Rocks (Louise’s personal playlist that she’s promised to share with us each week):
For the inaugural week ... I thought what better way to introduce the playlist than to use the inspiration for it. The catalyst then for the AMR Playlist has to be your first musical extravaganza evening.
A diversity of music from a number of global artists introduced by and to a small group of women because of each song's ability to rekindle old memories, celebrate past highs and lows or just be good for the soul!
A fantastic way to experience new music and have the opportunity to share thoughts, feelings and lives.
Here's the music we shared:
The Quiet American Hong Nhung/Craig Armstrong (Louise)
I Know Soundtrack from City of Angels - Jude (Pascale)
Ghandi/Buddah Cheryl Wheeler (Susan)
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me Elton John/George Michael (Jackie)
Slipping Through My Fingers Mamma Mia Soundtrack (Tricia)
75 Septembers Cheryl Wheeler (Jenny via Skype)
Superwoman Alicia Keys (Valerie)
Second Chance Ana Free Candice