Whenever I say I like rock music, people normally look at me like I just told them I was from Mars. But in reality, anyone can like rock music (including me), and that's why I'm going to talk about my favorite rock band: Shinedown. And last night, I saw them for the third time ever at Amalie Arena and to this day, after 6 years of following them, am still amazed.

I first discovered Shinedown when I was about 12 with my father through a dance recital where their song "Second Chance" was used by another teacher in the show. The lyrics and sound of the band really stood out to me and my dad and we instantly become Shinedown fans. And we always listened to them in his truck, freaked when they released new albums and even went to their concerts.

Shinedown was founded in 2001 out of Jacksonville, Florida. They are composed of lead singer Brent Smit, guitarist Zach Meyer, bassist Eric Bass and drummer Barry Kerch. Barry and Brent are the only original members of the band today (Brad Stewart and Jasin Todd used to play the guitar and bass).

But, nonetheless, they are a hard rock band that I have seen a total of three times. The first time was on their Diamond Eyes tour in Tampa and they melted their sound board one song in and put on an acoustic show that still blew my mind. The second time was over this summer at Fort Rock which took place at Jet Blue Park and was technically the first time I had seen them perform live and not in acoustic version. And the most recent time seeing them was last night at Amalie Arena. And every time, they have literally blown my mind.

Every time I've seen Shinedown, they have surpassed every bar set and never fail to showcase their talent and share their love of music with their fans. Their lead singer, Brent Smith, is a truly talented human being. And I'm not just talking about his EXTRAORDINARY singing voice, but you can tell through the way he interacts with his fellow bandmates, crew and the fans. He never fails to let you know that they love you just as much as you love them.

As well as Brent, they have guitarists and bassists Zach Meyers and Eric Bass and drummer Barry Kerch. All of these men as well know how to give a show and have such immense talent inside of them that it literally blows my mind. I do love to watch Brent but my second favorite to watch is Barry, the drummer. His passion just shines through when you see him going all out to the rhythm of the music and you can just tell that he loves being up there and playing such awesome music.

Zach and Eric are also super amazing performers and extremely talented. These two help create such a playful but bada** dynamic onstage that it really adds to the level of the show. Honestly, none of these men's talent surpasses the other, they are all equally amazing and just jaw dropping, but together, they are magnificent.

Now, much to my dismay, I've never met Shinedown personally, but I can tell you that I know that they would be the most down to earth guys and be an absolute joy to meet. But that's not the point, this isn't about me shoving them down your throats (but I do recommend at least listening to one of their albums). But this is really just me expressing my love for this band and the talent that they are releasing into the world. And this is also for me to tell them 'Thank you.'

Thank you for sharing your talents with us. Thank you for taking the time out of your lives to perform for us and give us the joy of hearing your music live. Thank you for having such great songs with such great messages. Just thank you, thank you for having a show that we can come to and for having performed for so long. I thoroughly appreciate you guys and everything that you do.