I’m doing an online show Thursday featuring different songs that established my musical tastes and guided me into who I became as an adult and as a person. I’m sure we can all look back to the songs we heard and enjoyed in our lives. Music has quite a bit of power to influence our emotions and our aspirations. Look at the songs that inflamed people to revolution and love. The music I heard and liked was pretty varied. My dad really liked jazz standards and songs from musicals as well as classical music. I had four older siblings who listened to the popular music of the day including rock and folk and Motown. When I finally started listening to my own choices it was the early '70s when music was reflecting the singer/songwriter and folksy music that was often centered around “back-to-nature” concepts with the rise of Earth Day and the conservation movement. Our family spent at least a couple weeks each summer in the mountains which went along with this. I also liked the introspective approach to this music since I was kind of a “deep-thinker” kid. Playing ukulele and later acoustic guitar was definitely leading in this direction as well. I’m sure if I had taken up electric guitar earlier I might have gone more to the rock end of the spectrum. I did play in a band in high school that did a lot of rock music, but I only played acoustic guitar so I was the one who played all the acoustic guitar parts in those rock songs. As I became a young adult I was influenced by the places I worked and the people I knew. I worked summers in the mountains of northern New Mexico in high school and starting college, so of course I was learning mountain songs, and the music that was played around town was often Texas-style dance music for the tourists and visitors. The people I worked with were usually acoustic musicians since we didn’t have power in the mountains for amps and such, and they also came from folksy places like Arkansas and Tennessee, so you can guess what kind of music they were playing. At this summer job I was talented enough that I often performed at campfires and shows, so you can see that I already had the experience I needed to launch me into a music career. Still I didn’t jump into a music career even after my folks helped me get my first PA system and I played my first gigs during college and in the summers. I launched my career when the computer jobs I was seeking after graduation didn’t happen fast enough. The one kind of music I really didn’t get thoroughly acquainted with was country music until the mid-‘80s when country music became more like the singer/songwriter music of the ‘70s. After that I joined a country band and also fell in love with the older country songs and even the blues. Throughout this time I was also playing the music of my dad’s era including those old standards and show tunes because I had an outlet for that music in the senior homes that I had played in since high school. In the last 30 years I’ve mainly stayed to these styles of music - concentrating on music that is more folksy although you must know how much I love to play almost all styles of music. My own songs reflect all of these influences as well. So that’s the music that shaped who I am today as a musician and a person. Of course there’s much more I could say, but you’ll have to tune in Thursday to hear more!
——
What have I been up to?
My senior facilities went very well last week. We’ve been doing a lot of Spring songs and Easter songs. I love these folks.
My Thursday online show of songs about memory was a blast! We had so many people tune in and contribute to the spirit. I had several new favorite songs.
My Sunday show of favorites and requests went well too. As always there were a bunch of new songs, and the enthusiasm and love that everyone shows is just phenomenal. I can’t say enough about the wonderful folks who join me online.
——
What am I up to this week?
Wednesday will be the memorial service for one of my good friends and concert-goers, Lodzia Jordan. You are invited to go if you are in the area. It’s kind of a mini-reunion of Munch Bunchers as well. Here are the details again from Lodzia’s widow, Edward:
SERVICES FOR LODZIA JORDAN
Dear Munch Bunch Friends, Funeral services for my dearest wife, Leokadia Irena (Lodzia) Jordan will be held in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, 20 April, 2022. Lodzia, our family, and I would be honored by your attendance. Funeral Mass will be at 11AM in Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 2318 N. Cascade Ave (just north of downtown, across street from Penrose Hospital). Tom will be singing some of Lodzia's favorite hymns. Interment will follow at the AF Academy Cemetery; we will proceed in a group through the North Gate - driver will need to show license and that should be it.
Immediately following, the family will host a reception for all our guests at the Cliff House, 306 Canon Ave., Manitou Springs, so we may meet you and you may have something good to eat before the drive home. Our Granddaughters are preparing a video for the reception to remember Lodzia's life, so you will have a chance to know her better, even while saying goodbye.
Lodzia told me she wanted people to wear cheerful colors, so please do. Black suits will be just for the priest and myself. If you like, we invite you to wear something with a bit of purple, lavender or lilac, which were Lodzia's favorites.
I need an approximate count for the reception. If you think you might attend, please text me at 805-300-1166. Again, that's just to get an approximate count and not a "commitment".
Thank you,
Edward Jordan
Thursday my online show 7-8:30 mountain time will feature the aforementioned songs that shaped me. I’m really looking forward to sharing this collection of songs and stories that I hope will entertain and tell folks about why I play the music I do and how it made me who I am. You’re always welcome to my shows.
Sunday my online show 7-8:30 mountain time is the favorites and requests that so many people love to hear with our great group of concert-goers. These nights are always very special.
——
Next week special show
I want to remind you that I will be doing a special sponsored online show on Tuesday, April 26th , from 7 to 8:30 of favorites as picked out by my friend Rick Myers. This is a show called “Rick’s Choice” that he set up with me. Basically he wanted a playlist of his favorite songs that I play in the order he likes that he can use as a personal album that he can play whenever he wants to. I’m happy to do this for anyone who’d like such an album. Just contact me, and we can work out the details. Everyone is welcome, and it will broadcast on my Facebook page as always.
——
That’s it for this week. I hope you are doing well. The virus still seems to be less of a threat currently although we are watching it vigilantly. Jen and I even got our second boosters last week with very little ill effect. Take care, and I hope to see you soon.
Best always,
Tom
——
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of songs that shaped me
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Thursday, April 21, 7-8:30 pm mountain time
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Sunday, April 24, 7-8:30 pm mountain time
I try to make my emails interesting and informative, but if you ever want to be removed from my mailing list, just reply and ask to be removed - no worries.