Who Influenced Your Love of Music?

[YankeeRose]

You may answer one or both. There can be more than one answer for each and as Bit'chenwomen1029 said in another Thread, please "tell all"...




Who was most instrumental in influencing your love of Music?





Who was most instrumental in your decision to begin pursuing Singing or playing an Instrument?

[bassist_25]

The answer to both would be my father. He gigged in bands since before I was born. Other than playing trumpet in school, I really didn't start getting interested in playing music until I was 13. I didn't really start listening to music heavy until I was like 11. My favorite band, and you're going to laugh because of the recent happenings on Rockpage, was Dire Straits. I really never had a "defining" moment of when I wanted to be a musician. For some, it was seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, or watching MTV, or seeing a really killer local cat. The closest I ever had to a moment like that was hearing Money for Nothing for the first time. For the record, I still like Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler is a total bad ass (Private Investigations has some of the best guitar playing I've ever heard).

But anyways, I started off playing piano. Then I learned a little guitar, but I wanted to play what my old man played: bass. He gave me his old Fender Musicmaster and started teaching me some patterns and scales. Whenever his band would do an outside gig, I would sit in for a few songs. I started off using the Fender but I soon "graduated" to using his Ric 4001. Dad's looking for a gig, so if anyone needs a bass player for an oldies, country, blues, or classic rock band, let me know (you can tell that I play in a band with Rob. I take every possible opportunity to plug someone, whether it's me or another person *LMAO).

The local musician that I look up to the most is Jeff Clapper. Not only is he a great player, but he's been around the block one or two thousand times. He has that Buddha mystique about him because of his history and the fact that he has no attitude. He's given me a lot of good tips about the business too.

[jim bagrosky]

My sister; she was a great singer/guitarist and had me listening to AC/DC, Kiss and the Runaways in like the 2nd grade. She'd put an album on, sing and play the guitar parts and force me to learn the beat behind it. I was like six and would get really frustrated but it paid off!

[bassist4life2004]

Well, to be quite honest with you, my biggest musical influence was Mark Tremonti (i know, its kinda weird, but hey...im young). His guitar riffs with Creed really made me want to play like a motherfucker.

My bass playing influences were Flea and Les Claypool. They were just so weird and offbeat, and ultimately made no fucking sense when they played, but they did it very well, and it kicked ass.

My vocal influence was mainly Maynard James Keenan from Tool. He just has a cool voice no matter what he does.

My songwriting influences, yet again, are Mark Tremonti and Maynard James Keenan. Basically, Mark can rip out some killer lyrics and guitar riffs. Maynard needs no explination.

And when i grow up to be a drummer, my biggest influence will be Rob Bonsell cuz he has a fro hanging from his chin.

[Bag]

I had some hand-me-down 8 track tapes (I'll explain what they are to you kids later ) like The Beatles, Three Dog Night, etc... from my sisters. Then one day, I heard "Rock and Roll All Night" on the radio. I was about 12 at the time. I loved that song. I had no idea who Kiss was or looked like. I went to the store with my sister, and she said she would buy me whatever I wanted. I went to the record (explain later ) department looking for the 45 (later ) and they didn't have it. So I looked in the albums (later ) and found "Kiss Alive." I about SHIT when I saw those guys! That moment probably shaped the rest of my life. It got me into rock and the whole lifestyle that went with it.

[SpellboundByMetal]

my dad had me jamming to Black Sabbath & Ozzy when i was 7. i wrote about them in elementary school journals. when i was 15, i decided i wanted to write music and be a "rockstar". bands like marilyn manson, type o negative, sepultura, Sabbath helped shape those early years. over the years, i have taught myself how to play guitar, bass, keys & drums. after reading some of type o negative's lyrics, i found out that i had alot of the same feelings as Peter Steele. that , of course, fueled my interest in all things type o negative. Peter Steele, even though he thinks he is a waste and a loser, is my biggest influence. His voice and lyrics are in a class of their own. He really speaks true from human emotion and i respect him for that. TON's music is top notch. my dream is to one day open for Type O Negative.

[Banned]

Biggest influence in my love of music? Anyone who creates it, because
music helps make the world a better place!


Person who really got me to take up the craft? My older brother who is
also a musician and recording engineer/tech. I've learned alot from him.



MUSIC RULES!

[Bit*chenWomen1029]

Biggest influence in my love of music? Anyone who creates it, because
music helps make the world a better place!

Is that in a hallmark card?? lol....... dont take it the wrong way its just gushhy!!!

[Banned]

Bit*chen,

No intention to get mushy, I just feel that with all the crap in the world
nowdays, it's good to have something we can all relate to. That's why
we have Rockpage to talk about it. Music is about the only thing that is universal, meaning everyone has some style they like and can get some
pleasure from. If they don't, dig them a hole about six feet deep and put them in it because they are already dead as far as I'm concerned (i.e.
no soul).

[ZappasXWife]

First, my mom. She made me take viola lessons for years...she tried to teach me piano (which she taught out of our house), but I got all attitude about it and she refused to teach me anymore. I then taught myself how to read piano music, basically just to spite her, and ended up being obsessed with playing it until I was ~ 17 because I loved it. I especially loved to play classical out of these huge old books she had. Still have my piano and the old books, but never play anymore, not sure why? She also listened to a lot of music at home. They had a lot of weird albums (my mom really liked Glen Campbell and Chet Atkins...I played all their old records over and over because it was all I had till I could buy my own) Mom would have been 89 now...
Also my ex-husband influenced me A LOT - I met him when I was 15.

[Jim Price]

My older brother, Mike, was the most instrumental in getting me interested in music. Eight years older than me, he was attending Penn State University right as I was reaching that impressionable age when kids get interested in stuff. Mike was bringing home albums from school from Emerson Lake & Palmer, Led Zeppelin, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Santana, Yes and more. I turned onto ELP right away, and as my interest in rock grew, I started listening to the radio to hear what other tunes were out there.

Mike also influenced my decision to try learning an instrument during that same time. He already played drums and clarinet in band, played accordion and organ, and dabbled in saxophone. Since my dad's side of the family was Italian, several relatives also played accordion, so I started taking lessons. I probably played it steadily for a good 5 or 6 years, before the interest tapered off and I started getting involved in other stuff (a.k.a. writing). If I can ever work it into my hectic schedule, I'd like to someday get back into playing something again, whether accordion, guitar, harmonica or all three.

[Bit*chenWomen1029]

Bit*chen,

No intention to get mushy, I just feel that with all the crap in the world
nowdays, it's good to have something we can all relate to. That's why
we have Rockpage to talk about it. Music is about the only thing that is universal, meaning everyone has some style they like and can get some
pleasure from. If they don't, dig them a hole about six feet deep and put them in it because they are already dead as far as I'm concerned (i.e.
no soul).

yeah, thats nicely put!! Good point!!!

[Possessed]

I would say that when I got Van Halen 1984 I decided that I wanted to play guitar. I was already into music most of my life. I had a few plastic guitars with the nylon strings when I was younger. I liked Hee Haw and wanted to play like that dude with the red, white and blue guitar. Can't remember the name. Anyone?
I wanted to get a good guitar when I was younger but my Mom didn't think I would stick with it.
So once I got a job cutting the neighbor's grass I saved all my money for the whole summer and bought a cheap electric guitar out of the Sears Wishbook. I started lessons that spring and the rest is history.
Other than I did not end up playing like VH at all. I like his playing but since everyone and their brother wanted to be him I decided to try to make my own style. Also by the time I got good enough to play VH I was into Metallica, Megadeth, Death, Obituary, Pestilence etc.
Metal for Life!!!!

[onegunguitar]

I believe the dude on Hee Haw w/ the red,white and blue guitar was Buck Owens-if I remember right.I had to watch the stupid show when I stayed at my grandparents house when I was a little kid-my grandpap dug the chicks w/ the big boobs,I guess Hee Haw wasn't all that bad!!

[songsmith]

Okay, gotta come out of lurk for this one to give props where props are due. I promise to be a good boy.
Although music was always playing in my house, and my father and uncle both played in bands at some point, the person who made it such an obsession for me is Mark Morningstar, the guy I've called my best friend since kindergarten. He always, and I mean ALWAYS, had some rock & roll playing. In the days before Walkman's, he carried a portable cassette or 8-track player with a radio everywhere he went, back when radio was a cool eclectic thing. Mark introduced me to Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, Rush, Nugent, and many, many others... I came up kinda rough, and wasn't allowed to have rock records, even if I could afford them (I couldn't). Mark always had the latest. His brother, Curt, got me into the import and LA metal stuff after Mark went to the Air Force. I consider them both brothers... family, and I'm eternally grateful. The country influence was probably the same as you all... I maintain that you simply cannot grow up around here without being exposed to some great country music. I saw George Jones and Johnny Cash live before I was 6 years old.

I decided to be a musician after hearing Kiss' "Hard Luck Woman" on WHUN-AM when it came out... 1976, I think. Terry Bittner, also a friend, played it one day I was home sick from school, and I decided then and there, although it would be a number of years until it actually happened.
The musicians who've had the biggest influence on me locally? Definitely Felix... he convinced me that you don't have to know every note to the Nth degree an hour before you play it, that improvisation and soul are more rewarding. Tim Kelly has an unbeatable work-ethic that rubs off on you. Over the last year, Marc Prave from Blind Jonny has been pretty inspiring... he understands the beauty and power of a simple, spare melody, an earthy lyric, and a driving beat as well as anyone can. He's a talented, standup guy and deserves the success his band has achieved.
There are many more, but these stand out for me. I'm better off to have known them all.-------->JMS

[ToonaRockGuy]

Who was most instrumental in influencing your love of Music?

There are 2 main people. One is my dad, who has a master's in music and got me started playing violin and drums at age 4. I played violin until I got out of high school, but never stopped playing drums. Thank god for sticking with violin that long, because I learned to read music and understand theory. It makes it a lot easier to communicate with fellow musicians onstage when I can speak the language, LOL.

THe second main one is my orchestra director from 6th grade on, Mr. Robert Phillips. Mr. P (as we called him) was instrumental in keeping me playing drums when the school system I went to didn't want me to. (My schol system required 2 years of piano lessons to play percussion in the band, pep band, marching and jazz bands, and I didn't have that. Mr. P set up an audition for the music administration to prove that I knew what I was doing, and I passed it, thanks to him and a lot of hard work.) I'll never forget him for helping me, and I e-mailed him last year and thanked him for it.

Who was most instrumental in your decision to begin pursuing Singing or playing an Instrument?

My dad, #1, and then seeing KISS in Detroit when I was 7. That sealed the deal.

[f.sciarrillo]

A couple of people did for me .. Although I try to play as good as them, I could never get it ,, They would be my brother, my dad, my grandfather, my uncles. my family is a music family, every one of them was in a band at one point or another. So they have a lot to do with what I like, and the type I like ..

[Punkinhead]

Honestly that is a hard one but, it's always been more of an ingrained thing. Everything I've always done has had music in it somewhere, whether I was working, lifting, playing, partying, etc. As for actually getting started playing:

When I was young I watched Metallica live and Kirk Hammett had a little solo section where he completely just let loose (when he could still play)..I was floored and decided to start playing guitar at that moment and decided that the best way to play guitar was as fast as possible...

[cucuplex96]

Insturmental:

Local:

My Dad - Denny Yon
Felix Kos
Ron Novac
Darrell Ruzzi

These are the guitarists I grew up to!!

National Music :

Thin Lizzy
Skynard
AC\DC
Stevie Ray
All kinds of old Skewl Bands I cant even think of...

New Skewl:
NIRVANA
Green Day
Everything

Pretty much everything has influenced my style of guitar playing in one way or another, but when I first started in music these people are who inspired me

[YankeeRose]

I grew up exposed to varying Genres of Music. Hee Haw was "the" show, as a young child. When my parents would host family picnics and parties what I call Classic Country was played...Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Sr., Porter Waggoner, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Lynn Andersen, etc. My dad liked all Music, from Classical: Bolero, Vivaldi; "Big Band": Goodman, Dorsey Brothers, etc.;, Jazz and Blues, to Rock 'n Roll by: Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and The Comets, Richie Valens, Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys, to The Allman Brothers, The Beatles, The Eagles, Kansas, The Rolling Stones and The Who. (I wasn't sure where to put Johnny Rivers, of "Memphis" fame, Country or Rock 'n Roll.) My older sister would play her boyfriend's Beatle albums he'd lent her, also other albums and 45 singles on her stereo in our bedroom. All of The Beatles and Diana Ross and The Supremes are what I most strongly remember from that period and also for some reason the 45 single, Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe". She'd also watch "American Bandstand" every Saturday. Years went by, my sister married and my brother would play his albums on the stereo in the living room. David Bowie, Cream, The Doors, ELO, ELP, Jimi Hendrix, Jackson Browne, Kansas, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Pink Floyd, Rush, Santana and Skynyrd, among others. He also played Cheech and Chong. "Class, class, SHUT UUUUP!!! Thank you." He'd watch a late night music show on the weekends, I want to call it "The King Biscuit Flour Power Hour" or something like that...there was another one, too. Due to him watching it one Saturday night he was actually home that early, I got hooked and caught most of the first season of SNL. He was my older brother and I pretty much just watched what he wanted to. You know how that is! There was only a period in the 80s I didn't watch SNL - and I also got into Monty Python because of him. A few more years went by and friends introduced me to not only George Carlin, but also to The Eagles, Cheap Trick, Journey, Styx and Van Halen, among others. They lent me their 8 Tracks at various times. I saved baby sitting money and eventually bought my own. Over the years I've discovered countless other Bands and been "introduced" to others, as well. I love all kinds of Music, always will. Even "Death Country".

[no surrender]

in order:
#1) cut my teeth on LED ZEP. this very day i go into a trance to NO QUARTER

::the end::

"There's a light, a certain kind of light, that never shown on me...

[DMFJ03]

I suppose that my Grandmother has always encouraged me. She was big into music in her younger years. She played seven instruments, managed bands, and was even a national dancing champion. She would always buy me toy instruments when I was little, and things like that. However, when I came to my parents and said that I wanted to play bass guitar, she was the one who scrimped and saved and bought my first bass. To this day, she still stands behind my music. At times, I think she is the only one who cares about it in my family. Oh well, what are you gonna do.

Oh, and it was Geddy that sealed the deal. I wanted to learn how to make it sing like he did. Never quite got there, but I'm trying!

[CHICKSINGA]

Early on, high school years, it was Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Ted Nugent, Kiss and Led Zeppelin. After getting out into the world and writing originals I was very into Grand Funk and Mark Farner's and Greg Allman's vocals, and the sound of Stevie Ray' guitar. After going to New Orleans for the 1st time I really got into blues - Etta James, Urma Thomas, Earnestine Anderson, Koko Taylor. I still love all of it - striving to sing with as much power and soul as I can muster.

[no surrender]

to continue:

Wishbone Ash
It's aBeautiful Day
(r u following me?)
The United States of America
Grace Slick & the Great Society
Captian Beyond(you no be great if you djs would give love to some this)
Ten Years After
Quick Silver Messanger Service
(guess a little air time ti great rock is too much to ask sigh)
Moby Grape
Yardbirds
Cream
Blind Faith
CCR!
Crosby Still Nash young
(this ringing abell djs? duh? why don't you play this great shit?)

[YankeeRose]

to continue:

Wishbone Ash
It's aBeautiful Day
(r u following me?)
The United States of America
Grace Slick & the Great Society
Captian Beyond(you no be great if you djs would give love to some this)
Ten Years After
Quick Silver Messanger Service
(guess a little air time ti great rock is too much to ask sigh)
Moby Grape
Yardbirds
Cream
Blind Faith
CCR!
Crosby Still Nash young
(this ringing abell djs? duh? why don't you play this great shit?)

As a matter of FACT, Q-94 (94.3 or 94.7 - AND they take calls for requests for during the 12-1 hour, too!) plays a lot of what you listed. Keep in mind, most radio stations are "corporations" now and not "freely" owned. They can only play what the businesses who MIGHT buy ads feel will help them sell in the long run...it's almost "The Last DJ", indeed.