Spotify is my new obsession.  I’ve been on it nonstop for the past week ever since my invite.  I became a paying subscriber within 24 hours.  The thing I like most right now is that I’m listening to music that I haven’t thought about in years - and it’s fun.  I’m going back to the places where I first fell in love with music.  Last week I rediscovered Less Than Jake.  Know when the last time I listened to Less Than Jake was?  7th grade. At a concert with New Found Glory in a mosh-pit.  Wow. 

Then I put on some Jack Johnson and remembered the first song I learned on guitar, and the first time I played to an audience: Inaudible Melodies at a campfire at Camp Timberlane in the Summer of 2002.  It was a special moment.   

I’ve got the first jazz CD I ever owned in a playlist (Joshua Redman’s Beyond).  I remembered when my dad gave me that CD and it inspired me to pick up the tenor sax and join a jazz band.

And now I’ve got all my college favorites queued up: Animal Collective, The Avalanches, Sufjan Stevens, and the list goes on and on and on.  And all of these bands, and all of their songs are right there at my fingertips whenever I want.  And they all remind me of something and take me back to a place where I fell in love with them, or an obscure moment where I remember something that puts a smile on my face.  And they make me nostalgic, but happy because I remember why music played such a formidable role in my life.  And Spotify helps me relive that and keep it all going.