Lend Me Your Ear

Welcome Canvas readers to the first of many thoughts on music. If you love it as much as do, then one column a month just won’t cut it. As a music columnist, I am constantly discovering someone new to write about. Rarely do I find a musician I don’t like. Even rarer that I’m not downloading my new finds. The problem is there’s not enough passionate ‘ipod-ers’ to share my music with. Often, I’ll mention a great band to a friend and they’ll look at me like I have four heads and say, “Where do you find these people?” On the flip side, I’ve definitely turned a few of them on to some great new music.

So, what exactly is great music? Like anything else, it’s purely subjective. My personal A-list: Pete Yorn, George Harrison and Elliott Smith to name a few. The common thread being all are great songwriters and great guitarists, melodic and mellow in tone, introspective in nature.

From week to week the B-list can get pretty long: anyone from Nick Drake, Rachel Yamagata and Joseph Arthur, to Beck, The Kinks, Sia, Lisa Marie Presley. And of course, if we venture back to the ‘60’s, ‘70’s, or ‘80’s the list becomes a script. So, that’s where this blog fits in.

Soundingboard can be a soap box for all us music hounds - a forum to discuss, question or share our knowledge about absolutely anything music-related. Here’s your chance to agree to disagree, bounce ideas back and forth or to let the world know about the next great gig.

Every month I will feature a few artists that are playing in the New York area. Feel free to add to the list.