Acoustic Alchemy

My teenage daughter has "discovered" acoustic guitar and is enthralled with it's integration into pop music. My heart is born up in the thought that she is beginning to transcend the age of "rap" and "hip-hop" and beginning to find her own preferences.

I remember listening to all the popular stuff back when I was her age. Once I got to college, I started to gravitate to Blues and Jazz. It still defines my most-listened-to choices.

When she told me she liked acoustic guitar, I couldn't help but dig out an old CD of mine. The group is called "Acoustic Alchemy" and my favorite album of theirs is called "Red Dust & Spanish Lace". I first heard their title track, "Mr. Chow", when I was driving a rental car while on vacation in Naples, FL. I never did hear the name of the song or the artist, but I was enthralled with the music. I wasn't able to find it for almost a year, but finally my Indianapolis jazz/blues station played it. I don't think I've ever waited so long to figure out what the name of a music track was and who the group was that performed it. It was just one of those things that sticks in your mind that you can't forget. The minute the radio station announced the name of the track and the group, I was off to the local music store to purchase the CD.

Music can hold you in place at a specific moment in time. I remember hearing "Mr. Chow" for the first time and I remember what I was doing at that exact moment. There are countless other memories that have stuck with me regarding other music. And the really great part about it is that every year brings new songs and tunes that register within my psyche just like "Mr. Chow" did over 20 years ago.