A visit from the Salty Dog

When I was in college I took a three-course sequence in music appreciation. The classes covered the genres of classical, folk and jazz music.

I thought the classical music class would make me more sophisticated. I thought the jazz class would make me cooler. And I took the folk class because it was part of the sequence and needed to take it to fulfill the sequence for credit toward my liberal arts degree.

The classical music class did not make me more sophisticated. To be honest, I never really acquired a taste for classical music. But I know I got more out of the class because the instructor, Rachelle McCabe, a concert pianist, conveyed her love for the music through the expressions on her face as she would play part of a piece on the piano. It's the kind of look that you only see on a woman's face when she's passionate about something, like enjoying a rich chocolate dessert. Her passion for the music was contagious and it kept me paying attention. But the interest in classical music faded when I wasn't seeing her face several times a week.

I don't remember my instructors for the folk and jazz classes, but those genres of music became more engrained in my day-to-day musical tastes. I found I liked music, regardless of label, that is rooted in the blues. You can find it in various genres -- rock, folk, country, jazz.

The reason I got thinking about all this stuff now is because I got a comment on a recent post from one of my favorite radio/podcast personalities. Salty, aka Dennis Trevarthen, from the Salty Dog Blues N Roots show found the post somehow, through the magic of the Internet, and was kind enough to say a few words (as was Pat McDougall from PDXBluescast).

If you like blues, folk, blues-rock and related styles, I urge you to check out Salty's show. He plays great music and also features interviews with artists from Down Under or artists touring Australia. It's great music for road trips and air travel, as each show is 2-hours long and there's a new one every Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by Salty. And more importantly, thanks for sharing so much great music with us "all across the globe."