Truth be told, I didn’t actually meet Daniel as a music blogger. In fact, I didn’t meet him as Daniel. I first stumbled over some RTs that this very introspective, complex and sensitive Tweeter named The Soul Healer had shared. They said everything I felt at the time and I soon found myself checking nightly this specific Twitter handle for whatever wisdom the person behind it could impart. I frequently found that my anxious mind and wistful heart were comforted by his words or those of the tweeps he introduced to his followers. The Soul Healer quickly became a constant fixture on my #FollowFriday shout-out list.
Then, lo and behold, one day something compelled me to click on the link for his blog Echoes and Silence and what did I find out next? Much like myself, the man is crazy about music. It’s his passion, his obsession, a part of who Daniel is. I then perused blog after blog and have since made it a point to get to know this smart fella a little bit more. I feel fortunate that I get to enjoy the occasional nightly conversation with him. It was during one such chat that I learned something else that surprised me. He doesn’t actually consider writing or blogging to be his specialty, but rather as a means to deliver his passion for music. So I approached the Southern California native, whose eclectic music tastes range from Prince, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Elton John to Depeche Mode and the Cure, and I asked him if he would guest blog to talk about that passion of his and why he launched the blog back in 2010. He graciously agreed.
If you love music, too, I hope you’ll bookmark Daniel’s site or even subscribe for feeds, and be sure to stop by and say hello to The Soul Healer on Twitter.
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To understand my passion for music, you have to begin at my childhood or even before. You have to know that going back several generations on my mother’s side, music and musicians were very common. I grew up in a house filled with music of all sorts of genres and from a very early age, I was keenly interested. As a toddler, I only played quietly when my toys were paired with music. When the records finished, I attempted to restart the phonograph, resulting in many scratched records. I remember as a child listening to music while reading the album covers over and over, memorizing them. I listened to Casey Kasem’s show America’s Top 40 regularly, and my favorite parts were the stories told about songs and artists. It’s always just been a part of my soul, and I’ve continually catalogued as much information as I could in my mind.
So it would seem inevitable that at some point in my life, that obscure information would begin to trickle out in some form or another. I connect with people about music often and regularly am asked how I found an artist, why I like them, or to trade concert experiences. A couple of years ago, I figured if I shared the information via a blog, I could open up a larger conversation and tell the story once. Very quickly I realized I had no idea how to manage a blog, how to build a following or how to plan the entries out, and it quickly came to a halt.
Recently, as my experience on Twitter evolved and I began having those music conversations again, I began thinking about revisiting that blog. I wrote a couple of entries and slowly unveiled it, sharing the link via Twitter, and it’s been well received.
The entire experience has been interesting and different than I anticipated. It’s been more challenging and complex, more involved and thoughtful, but not in a bad way. I am a quick study and I’ve learned from everyone I know who has a blog, absorbing what they do and how they do it.
The blog is very cathartic for me, allowing me to revisit and re-experience some of my favorite artists and moments. I recently wrote an entry about Elton John and was pleasantly surprised at how many people loved the associated playlist of songs, which included several lesser-known album tracks. It also provided me a chance to rekindle my love of his music and songwriting.
I am finding that music really is universal and people’s tastes are much more sophisticated than they’re given credit for, especially by the music industry. While I have always known many people use music to communicate when words fail, to heal and comfort themselves, and to inspire and motivate, I am finding with greater frequency that people use it much more often and in ways I thought were only for people who obsess about music like me. I find that fact comforting, reassuring and validating.
In the end, the blog is simply about sharing music, opening minds to artists and genres, breaking down any remaining barriers. If people walk away having found just one song they liked that they didn’t know of before, then the blog will have accomplished something more than I could ever do otherwise. And that is enough for me.
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