Receive the Music is a web log about the place of music in human life. To receive music is to recognize the power and personality of organized sound. The stunning ubiquity of music ensures that people across the globe do this all day, every day, consciously or unconsciously. Some people find music so powerful that they devote their entire lives to it, in activities and vocations ranging from analyzing recordings to professional playing to manufacturing instruments. RTM explores these activities, but it also stops to ask people to explain what music means to them and how it affects their lives.

RTM witnesses the impact of music in life by exploring a number of specific situations. The first is performance, the playing of music in a live setting or recording music for others to listen to. RTM talks to musicians, musical technicians, recording artists, critics and scholars, fans and devotees of live music to understand the thoughts, techniques, and emotions involved in making and hearing music. Where does this passion come from, how is it fed, and what are the products of the pursuit? Further, for those whose vocations include aspects of making music, does there come a point where the romance and the passion for music dwindle? What happens when music becomes a job?

Second, we look at the massive enterprise built around supplying people with the tools to make music. Entire lives have been devoted to moving forward nearly-perfected instrument designs by tiny increments; careers have been devoted to nothing but replication of superlative and favorite designs. Others dream of finding fame and fortune in the invention of new ways to make sound, or in new sounds themselves. Oftentimes, it is the innovator, the one who takes a good design and makes it great, that rises to the top of an industry. It is important to understand where, how, and from what the instruments and equipment used to make music originate. Equally important is to understand the lives of those who are dedicated to making the tools of music and how sometimes this mechanical pursuit can seem to be diametrically opposed to the art of making music.

The core mission of Receive the Music is to ask people from varied and diverse pursuits and backgrounds to explain what music means to them. Is music for you a memory? Is it an active participant in your daily life? Is music your tool, a means to an end, or does music simply serve as a background to your other pursuits? Could you live without music and what would the world be like if there were no organized sound? By doing this we can really gain an understanding of the massive presence of music.

My life has been shaped by music. My first memories are of hearing songs at home, in the car, in the air. I received my first record, the Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper, at age three as a prize for keeping the bed dry. Throughout my entire life I have played music, in school bands, in the garage, and in clubs and concert halls across the country. In September, 2005, I changed careers with the intention of making music, my lifelong passion, a bigger part of my life’s work. Since then I’ve made it a point to work on music-related projects, whether it be writing about a great guitar player, marketing a new music store or product, or working with organizations that promote music. In 2009 I published my first book, a guide to Gibson guitar amplifiers. My latest projects include a more in-depth look at musicians and bands plus an ongoing exploration of what music means to people in their daily life.

Thanks for visiting, and Receive the Music.