[Muddslide]

The "hating on modern country" thread got me curious about what folks here enjoy listening to.

Not just "what kinds of music do you play on your guitar?" but what do you dig listening to? I presume many of us listen to many types of music, and its not always in line with what we play.

I was born in '68 and grew uo hearing older and then-current popular music on the radio.

At home, my dad listened almost strictly to classical and jazz. My mom liked things like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, June Christy, The Mills Brothers and some early rock and roll (Elvis, Roy Orbison...)

When I first began buying records it was mostly hard rock. Admittedly I was a KISS fan...later on things like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, and so on.

Along about 1980 I got hooked into New Wave and punk...Devo, Cars, B-52s, Iggy, The Cramps...and soon far more obscure stuff. Back then I would either get turned on to new bands through friends, magazines or literally going to record stores and buying albums based solely on the band name, cover art and song titles. That was hit and miss, but I discovered some of my all-time favorite bands through those methods.

I always seemed to be drawn to obscure, oddball, experimental sorts of music. Much of it was still considered punk or industrial or early electronic things.

I also developed a love of "out" and free jazz as well as avant garde 20th century classical music.

By my early 20s I had very wide-ranging tastes. I came to really appreciate classic rock of the 60s, psychedelic music from that era and 70s radio hits ala Elton John, ELO, Tom Petty, Buckingham-Nicks era Fleetwood Mac..

I find a lot of the 80s new wave and punk stuff I loved back then does not hold up well now, though there are still many bands from that period that I love and whose music has stood the test of time.

Now my main interests seem to be:

Blues, country, ragtime, hot jazz and jug band music of the 1920s and 30s.

Jazz circa 1950-1965.

Early rock and roll and rockabilly along with 50s-60s country.

Fuzz/psych/garage stuff and some hippie folk from the 60s & 70s.

Certain punk bands of the 80s.

Experimental, sometimes electronic music (not dance...more like noisy soundscapes and ambient.)

Celtic and other folk music from cultures across the globe.

Of course, bits and bobs of different things such as some ska and reggae, some classical, some modern pop...

I also listen to a good bit of classical music including a lot of classical guitar material...