I took a step outside my comfort zone and launched a newsletter today. The concept for the newsletter is simple: I will send an email every Monday with five new songs that I like.
Music, and particularly the act of finding new music, is one of the few things that I know I spend more time on than the average person. I spent all of 2022 documenting my favorite albums, saving them to playlists, creating a ranking system for the best ones, and at the end of the year, I had no one to share it with.
So this year, 2023, I’m trying to do things a little differently. I’m trying to be more public about how I find new music in the hope that it will start a conversation to get turned on to great artists, songs, and albums.
Earlier today I happened to stumble across Yo-Yo Ma’s Tiny Desk concert from four years ago. Not only is he an amazing cellist (everyone knows this), but he’s also an amazing storyteller. He knows exactly how to captivate the audience with both the music he performs and the words he speaks.
During the performance, he talks about how J.S. Bach’s “Prelude (from Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello)” was the very first song that he started learning at the age of four. Today, this is the song that he is most well-known for performing. Imagine learning something at such a young age and carrying it with you for your entire life (58 years to be exact).
He goes on to explain, “I’ve lived with all of this music all my life, so actually embedded in the way I play is actually, in many ways, everything I’ve experienced. Which is kind of interesting. It’s like forensic musicology.”
While you or I may not be a virtuosic cellist like Yo-Yo Ma, I think this quote applies to our collective music experience. We all have songs that have played throughout certain parts of our life that stuck with us. Maybe it’s a song that got you through a breakup. Or maybe it’s a song that you played in your car driving around late at night as a teenager. We all have a collection of songs that we’ve internalized and have become a part of who we are.
Ma continues his Tiny Desk with a performance of Bach’s "Sarabande (from Suite No. 6 for Solo Cello),” which he prefaces by explaining that this is the heart of Bach’s suites because it’s a piece that he’s played at friends' weddings and friends’ memorial services. Once again, this is another example of how music can bookmark a moment in time and take you back to that moment each time you listen to it.
When I think about why I started a newsletter to share music, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m looking for a way to soundtrack my life, and for people to share the soundtracks of their lives. The 5 songs I share each week are not just new music, but rather they are a soundtrack for whatever will come this year—blessings or hardships or both.
Thank you to all the people who signed up today. I’m looking forward to making the soundtrack of 2023 with you.
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I took a step outside my comfort zone and launched a newsletter today. The concept for the newsletter is simple: I will send an email every Monday with five new songs that I like.
Music, and particularly the act of finding new music, is one of the few things that I know I spend more time on than the average person. I spent all of 2022 documenting my favorite albums, saving them to playlists, creating a ranking system for the best ones, and at the end of the year, I had no one to share it with.
So this year, 2023, I’m trying to do things a little differently. I’m trying to be more public about how I find new music in the hope that it will start a conversation to get turned on to great artists, songs, and albums.
Earlier today I happened to stumble across Yo-Yo Ma’s Tiny Desk concert from four years ago. Not only is he an amazing cellist (everyone knows this), but he’s also an amazing storyteller. He knows exactly how to captivate the audience with both the music he performs and the words he speaks.
During the performance, he talks about how J.S. Bach’s “Prelude (from Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello)” was the very first song that he started learning at the age of four. Today, this is the song that he is most well-known for performing. Imagine learning something at such a young age and carrying it with you for your entire life (58 years to be exact).
He goes on to explain, “I’ve lived with all of this music all my life, so actually embedded in the way I play is actually, in many ways, everything I’ve experienced. Which is kind of interesting. It’s like forensic musicology.”
While you or I may not be a virtuosic cellist like Yo-Yo Ma, I think this quote applies to our collective music experience. We all have songs that have played throughout certain parts of our life that stuck with us. Maybe it’s a song that got you through a breakup. Or maybe it’s a song that you played in your car driving around late at night as a teenager. We all have a collection of songs that we’ve internalized and have become a part of who we are.
Ma continues his Tiny Desk with a performance of Bach’s "Sarabande (from Suite No. 6 for Solo Cello),” which he prefaces by explaining that this is the heart of Bach’s suites because it’s a piece that he’s played at friends' weddings and friends’ memorial services. Once again, this is another example of how music can bookmark a moment in time and take you back to that moment each time you listen to it.
When I think about why I started a newsletter to share music, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m looking for a way to soundtrack my life, and for people to share the soundtracks of their lives. The 5 songs I share each week are not just new music, but rather they are a soundtrack for whatever will come this year—blessings or hardships or both.
Thank you to all the people who signed up today. I’m looking forward to making the soundtrack of 2023 with you.
