Thursday, May 10, 2012

Peaceful Easy Feeling


A Beatles enthusiast, closet composer, Civil War buff, and chocoholic—these all describe none other than my father, Rick Barnett.  Among other things, (including a rather distinct big toe) I definitely get my taste in music from my father. When you see someone like me you would probably imagine my favorite music to be from someone like Taylor Swift.  The truth is, yes, I do like that music, but my favorite music is from the 60s and 70s, a genre foreign to most people of my generation. That’s what I grew up listening to, whether it was from my dad’s huge record collection played on his authentic juke box, or compiled on his “Rick’s Mix” CDs.
I’ll never forget the first time I ever had a boy at my house.  My dad comes down the stairs, strumming his guitar: “What kind of music do you like, son?  I can play anything.  The Beatles? Led Zeppelin? You name it I can play it. I can just stay here for a little while… play a couple tunes…”  I don’t know what’s worse--this or cleaning a gun. 
My dad not only has a talent for playing music, but also writing.  In fact, he has written an entire rock-opera.  It has taken him 15 years, and he is now casually writing a novel to go along with it.   Who does that? Called Midnight on the Run, it involves vampires.  I know what you are thinking—Forgetting Sara Marshall. Well, no. No puppets.   But it does have a Christian redemption message.  He simply got to the vampire craze before everyone else.
This long spiel brings me to my point that we just saw the Eagles in concert.  Of course, I love the Eagles, (thanks to my Dad, obviously) but my dad was in his element.  He insisted we show up three hours (HOURS) early. But I gotta love the enthusiasm.  It was the 40th anniversary of when their music hit airwaves.  That’s incredible.  A 40-year music career!  Most music careers today are about two weeks long (often deservedly so.)  They consist of a one-hit wonder that gets overplayed on the radio or that you download to your iPod and listen to until you hate it.  Though they did not play my all time favorite song, “Waiting in the Weeds,” it was a great concert.  I just can’t believe I got to see such music legends.  Amazing concept: sounding just as good live as on the record…  

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