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| Soundgarden |
I think I’m like most people out there who have a comfort zone within our work. I am aware of my personal comfort zone when it comes to writing about music. For a certainty I find it much easier to write about R & B or Hip Hop musicians. When I need to write an article about Jennifer Hudson I have no problem. If I need to speak about Beyonce, or John Legend it’s an easy week. This week presented a challenge because I chose Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden as my featured artist. It’s not that I dislike Soundgarden or grunge music as a whole. (Actually I really like and listen to a lot of grunge music ex… Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and more) Nevertheless, I don’t have a lot of Soundgarden music on my MP3 player, but I have followed the band’s history and truly respect their work. This is the goal of the Weekly Music Commentary; to increase awareness for all styles of music and help others step out of their musical comfort zones respectively. And so I go back to last week as my wife and I took in a movie, The Avengers. Oh yes, we could not escape Soundgarden’s “Live to Rise” helping to deliver the story of the summer blockbuster film. The movie theater is unequalled when it comes to sound quality and if you want the ultimate music video, it is a fantastic format. I notice that I not only listen to music these days, but also think about the artist and their personal struggles and/or triumphs to bring their music to the waiting public. Soundgarden has not been immune to the creative problems that affect all other bands. In fact, they did experience a well-known breakup in 1997 which sent band members to other bands and projects. Then, in 2010 they put the band back together. In reflecting about Soundgarden’s history I thought to myself, “These are not the same kids who started out in 1984”. Those years of experiences has helped them individually and collectively to really define their own sound. Like many other bands in our time it seems forty years of age does not mean automatic retirement. It means we can enjoy more musical quality from bands of “seasoned” musicians as we are now hearing from Soundgarden. What comes next? Consider that Soundgarden is on tour in Europe as we read this article. More music is on the horizon I hope.