So I just got back from walking my dog and, on the final block of this morning’s jaunt, I was greeted by the sounds of two dudes playing and singing along to Zep’s “Tangerine” on their third-floor balcony. To provide further context, it’s a little before 11am and it’s 12 degrees out, with snow on the way.
Much has been made – including within the pages of this magazine – of the increased embrace of musical instruments in the past year and, while it’s certainly anecdotal and in no way a metric that could serve as the basis for any business model or anything, my own neighborhood is a living, breathing (singing, somewhat flat) example of this trend.
“There [are] many people searching for a way to keep themselves preoccupied, and learning a new musical skill was that outlet and the much-needed release,” says Armadillo Enteprise’s (Dean Guitars, Luna Guitars, ddrum) Adam Gomes in this month’s feature on the ukulele market (page 14), when asked about the ongoing surge of interest in playing music. “We saw a major increase in sales once so many people were forced to stay home and looking for fun things to do,” agrees Kala Brand’s Leanne McClellon.
Back to my own ‘hood, it is now a daily “thing” to hear the folks in an apartment on the street behind my place practicing (I’m being generous with the term) at around 1pm – amplified guitar and drums, making all those detractors who scoffed at Meg White’s abilities a few years ago seem way overly harsh. This is in “the city” – one with amongst the highest population densities in the nation (Somerville, MA. Look it up!) – and we’ve got people bashing away loudly, inelegantly in the middle of week/work days, and nobody complains. I, myself, have “jammed” (hate that term…) with neighbors I had never, prior to 2020, had any connection with beyond a junior-high-level head-nod as we passed one another on the street. My buddy and former bandmate has been giving his downstairs neighbor’s son guitar lessons (kid’s just gotten The Stones’ “Dead Flowers” under his belt. I had nothing to do with this, but I’m bursting with pride, nonetheless) and my father, down in Florida, entertains the neighbors and residents of the nearby assisted living facility with impromptu classical guitar recitals.
Where am I going with this? Good question (wish I knew!).
I guess I am – like many of us are – trying to find and amplify silver linings during a complex, challenging, and, for all too many, tragic time. Can you amplify silver linings? Mixed metaphors, perhaps.
I suppose the point is: difficult times direct us towards sources of comfort, relief, and joy – and for many, many people that source has been, and remains, music.
Back to my own reality: as I type this I’ve got The Bronx spinning on my turntable (yea!) at loud volume and my downstairs neighbor is listening to Maroon 5 (boo!) on her own system, neither of us complaining. I’ll almost certainly (pffft – “almost”…) be plugging in and playing guitar loudly/badly along to “Bark at the Moon” in a few hours (don’t scoff at ‘80s Ozzy. If you can play that Jake E. Lee solo, I’ll buy you dinner) – and, again, I never get push-back these days (that was not the case in previous years).
Making music, playing music, and learning music are some of the most cathartic, community-fostering, therapeutic endeavors that exist. Screw that – the most uplifting endeavors and activities there are. Every reader of MMR helps to further this culture and should get no small degree of satisfaction from helping to keep others happy, creative, and sane as so many things in this world seem to be upended.
Here’s to joyful, healthier days to come and hats off to all in the MI community who are contributing to keeping everyone mentally correct and safe in the meantime.
