For as long as I can remember, music has always been a passion and love of mine. I was lucky to grow up in a household where music was prominent. Although my parents do not play, they were raised with music, and passed that down to my sister and I.
Before I begin my ramble about music and letting your soul shine through it, I just have to give a shout out to my dad–the one responsible for my eclectic music taste! Thanks for making me the only person I know in my friend group to love the blues as much as they love playing cup pong on a Friday night.
The title of this article pays homage to a song that I have heard since I was about 10. At least, that’s the earliest I can attribute it to; it was probably playing in the house much earlier than that. The song Soulshine by the Allman Brothers Band literally speaks to the soul. There was something about it when I first heard it–the dreamy slide guitar noise, the strong voices of Gregg Allman and Warren Haynes–that spoke to me. It is the first memory I have of music being an integral part of me.
Flash forward to being 15-years-old, in the Beacon Theatre at NYC, and my dad introducing me to the person responsible for that dreamy slide playing–Mr. Derek Trucks. It was mind-blowing, especially seeing it live. After playing piano for years, I knew it was time to learn guitar too. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made. Since then, music has been such a big part of my everyday life. It is my therapy, my destressor, my source of healing. It is the way I let go of pain or negative energy, it is what makes me happy. And most of all, it is what makes my soul shine.
What makes your soul shine?