I didn’t think music burn out was possible

Not too long ago I read an article on NPR about “The Good Listener: Is There Too Much Music?”  A gal had written in about wanting to take a break from buying all the records, stop the playlists, stop constantly hunting down new music and artists.  She was pretty much burned out.  She said that what started out as a passion has turned into a job.  As I read the article, I thought “this is totally me right now!” and I can completely relate to this.  Once it becomes a job, it’s no longer fun.  Like the woman who wrote in, I have listened to many albums only once and exclaimed “that is a great album” and then moved on to the next one to say the same thing.  Only to put it on the shelf with all the others and never be touched again.

I do have many great albums in my vast collection but have never really gone back to listen to them because I was always looking for the next great album, afraid I might miss one and then be disappointed that I missed it.  As the article goes on they state that the sad truth is because there is so much out there, you are going to miss something.  It’s pretty much a given.  So I have decided to cut back the hours on my passion; aka second job and dust off the older stuff and give them the respect that they deserve.  What’s also going to be fun for me is to try to figure out the mood I was in when I purchased some of them.  Like Emilie Autumn who is classified as Victorian Rock.  She’s definitely not for everybody, yet she was intriguing enough that it caught my attention and then lead me to Rasputina of the same genre.

On occasion when I didn’t have my list of artists to pick up at my beloved Dimple Records, I would just casually walk through and check out the bands that caught my eye or had a unique name like Starfucker or Owl Paws.  I laughed at the name and was then was pleasantly surprised that they were good.  I have only been disappointed a couple times and those were promptly returned for store credit.  I still keep my lists at work if I read about a new band or hear one that I like on the radio (which is rare).  But as far as researching that band and checking out their discography is becoming rare these days.  So I just pile up my lists and know that one day I will get back into like I used to be.  Don’t get me wrong, I still dabble, just not devoted.  My binder is getting full as is my tablet of bands to delve into deeper.  It remains safe and even has a designated spot.  My copied cd project has been put on hold as well.  I lost interest in going through them and writing down the songs.  I even started a lovely little Word document that is all set up and formatted for this project, but there it sits on my computer desktop and hasn’t been touched for months.

What’s really great about my passion is I have my nieces now asking me to take them to Dimple so they can get a new cd as they want a collection as big as mine.  I have to remind them it didn’t happen overnight and it’s been years in the making.  A lot of time, reading and listening has gone into this as well as talking to lots of people.  They are turning into quite the little music connoisseurs and I love it.  I do take them and show them how their Auntie shops for new music.  I browse with them through the sale bins and we look for those treasures of old.  They get just as excited as I do when they find something they really want.  Then they start to argue about what to listen to first in the car, so we have to compromise.  I also tell them if they know the words to sing them loud and proud which they do.  When at home or at my house, we usually bust out and start dancing while singing.  So I’m hoping that they will be just as musically rounded as the rest of the family is and also hope that they will pass along their musical knowledge to their own future children.  I will still read my music magazines, websites and play on the “others recommend” sections of iTunes and Amazon though.  You never know what will relight the flame.