Musically, I was born in the wrong generation. As a 20-year-old girl, you probably wouldn't expect some of my favorite bands to be bands such as Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and Guns 'n Roses.
My taste of music is a direct result of the way I was raised.
Growing up, my dad listened to classic rock and that quickly became what I loved. I was raised on rock music. I learned to crawl to Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love." Believe me, we have video. I was even throwing up the rock fist in church as a kid. Needless to say, I was raised right. As time went on, my mom ended up exposing me to 80's rock like Guns 'n Roses and Def Leppard. Honestly, looking back I probably should have had a little bit more monitoring but it's too late now. Plus, it made me develop a love of real music.
When I got my first electric guitar, you can guarantee the first thing I wanted to learn was some sweet guitar solos from way before my time. The first full song I learned was "Back in Black" by ACDC. I learned a ton of Bad Company songs since they have always been one of my favorites. After that, I remember sitting in my room forever trying to figure out the intro to "Sweet Child of Mine." And, of course, I eventually had to master "Stairway to Heaven." To this day, if a sweet solo comes on my dad looks at me and says, "I don't care what you do in life as long as you learn to play guitar like this guy."
We would play this game with my dad's friends, where when a song came on you had to be the first one to name the band. If you got it first, then you won bragging rights or something. I am not really sure, I just remember taking it way too seriously. I quickly learned who sang pretty much every popular song from the Classic Rock era. Steve Miller Band, The Who, Boston (my dad's fave), Van Halen, and ZZ Top. I pretty much know them all.
The sad thing about being a rock fan way after its prime is that I will never experience the true atmosphere of a rock concert from back in the day. I already love the atmosphere of concerts so being in the middle of a concert from the 70's or 80's would literally be a dream for me.
Eventually as time went on, I began to experience more music, branching into Grunge from the 90's. One of my favorite bands ever is Nirvana. I can't help but love everything about Kurt Cobain.
Being raised on rock made me learn and love real music. It made me fall in love with the classic rock culture and eventually the grunge scene. Being raised on rock, led me to guitar, one of my favorite things in all the world.
So, long story short, I will proudly be that rare 20-year-old girl who rocks her Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, and Nirvana t-shirts, has sweet band posters and plays the electric guitar. No apologies.
