We're on vacation! And music. Yes, music.

We're on vacation. 'Nuff said.

We are sitting here watching U2 on Good Morning America. Which brings me to a discussion of music. Next week we are going to be doing a road trip with Bob and Judy. I have burned a couple of CDs of driving music but I am not sure exactly what kind of music Bob and Judy like. Other than Amy McDonald (and a Sequim radio station that plays fifties-sixties stuff) we have never discussed music.

Kathleen and I have somewhat similar tastes. She likes stuff that's a little slower than I do. More folksy than I like. We both like Los Lonely Boys, Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt and U2. Her tastes run more to the quieter, more lyric driven music and mine more to the horns and fun stuff that I can listen to while I work out.

When we first met I have to say that my music taste was kind of dead. I was still listening to stuff that I had listened to in high school and college. I hadn't progressed past that. Still listened (and I still love) James Taylor, Jackson Browne, CSNY and a few others but pretty much I was not into music. I had been in high school and college. I actually ran a concert house at Cal State Fullerton for two years and I got pretty deep into music. But over the years the only people we really listened to around the house were people my first wife liked...John Denver or Garth Brooks (and other country musicians).

When Kathleen and I first started corresponding, she listed a bunch of radio stations she listened to. Hers were all music stations. Mine were all talk radio. I guess at that point in my life I had no reason to feel very musical. That all changed with Kathleen. Now I listen to music all the time. During meals (especially weekend breakfasts), when I work out, when I drive. I would say that when I met her I would listen to talk radio about 99% of the time in the car and now only about 20%. The rest of the time I listen to music.

I am still listening to some of the same old stuff but I have broaden my horizons thanks to...Craig Fergusson. Yup, Craig Fergusson. Since we watch him every night (on TiVo the next day) he often has a band on at the end of the show. We always watch a few minutes of the band to see if they might be a new one for me to listen to. So far I have found Phantom Planet, Scarlett Crush and my favorite band, The Cat Empire. If you have never heard of Cat Empire, they are Australia's hottest group and their last album is my favorite, maybe of all time. Great vocals, cool lyrics, horns...all the things I love to listen to. And their music can only be defined as fun. With a capital F.

And recently I have kind of gone back to my roots, music-wise. When I was in high school all my best friends were in a rock band. Now don't get me wrong, they weren't that great a friends but they let me be their roady (because my parents had a station wagon) and I got really into rock music, especially guitar. Never learned how to play but I am quite a fan. Recently through Digg I came across a really excellent article on Guitar.com about the 50 greatest guitar solos of all time. From the moment I read it, I knew I had to have them all. Happily, we already owned about 20 of them and I invested another $30 in iTunes (thank God you can buy one song at a time) and I have them all. And I am loving listening to them. The best one is someone I had never heard of, Eric Johnson. This guy (who I can't believe is 54--how could I have not heard of him before) is a guitar god. He is amazing. I have found video of him and the only people I have ever seen that can play as fast as him are Albert Lee and maybe John McLaughlin. Check him out at his website here. If you have never heard of him it is probably because his music is instrumental--no lyrics. I think you have to have lyrics to become a major force in rock music. But when it comes to guitar, this guy ROCKS!

So, I guess I will take all kinds of music with us and hope that they like at least some of it. And I can't believe it took me almost 30 years to reconnect with music. And I owe it all to my sweetie. She has opened up so much for me. Brought me back to so much and gotten me into so many new things. That's why I love her.

BTW: If this post seemed to ramble a bit, you can blame Kathleen for that as well. She made our margaritas doubles tonight. YUMMY!