Mel Mead
My first concert was a New Kids on the Block show during their Magic Summer Tour in 1990…a show that involved huge lights, big production, big merchandise sales…the big time. Yes, I loved the New Kids, but even more, I loved the experience of being in a crowd, united by the powerful force of music. I was hooked…at 9 years old.
I grew up listening to mostly country music. At least, that was what I listened to when I was with my mom in the car or with my grandparents. My grandma and grandpa loved country music and every weekend I spent with them involved watching or listening to the Grand Ole Opry and Hee-Haw. I loved listening to Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and so many more. My cousins and I would dance around the kitchen to "Louisiana Saturday Night," by Mel McDaniel and we had a blast.
But then…
Whenever I was with my dad, I listened to rock. My dad listened to bands like Queen, Boston, The Eagles, and Elton John. I loved the driving sounds of the guitar and heavy drum beats…and all of this influenced me in my musical tastes that shaped my life.
So I cannot remember a time when I didn't love music or that music wasn't around. It has always been important to me. My dad wasted no time after I got my first car and had a CD player installed immediately.
My musical tastes have varied throughout the years, but I always seem to come back to those roots of mixing country and rock…and find that I gravitate to music that falls within that spectrum.
I've seen countless live shows. I've seen everyone from Garth Brooks to Justin Timberlake over the past 20 years. I've seen shows in the greatest of venues to the smallest of venues.
I love music…I don't have an ounce of musical ability in my body, but I love actively listening to it. I love what music inspires in the world and how unifying it can be. And that's why I'm doing this…because I have experienced firsthand some of the greatest moments of enlightenment and realization in my own life while at a show. I've been to concerts that have changed me and inspired me.
So in my own small way, this is what I hope to contribute to the world…a place where we can recall those moments at a concert where for the most brief moment, a group of people are unified in a spirit of togetherness and that feeling when you hear a lyric that makes you think "Yes…I've felt that way, too. I'm not alone." It is one of the most beautiful and most powerful feelings to experience.
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