I've always been aware of surf music, but then three years ago I became a fan. As I learned to play the style, I found great satisfaction and new growth as a guitar player. How did this happen? I can trace it back to one song that captured all my favorite musical ideas in 10 melodious minutes. So what were these ideas?
Our taste in music is shaped by life experience, right? What music did your parents like? Were they musicians? What is your cultural background? My parents were not musicians, they liked honky-tonk, light classical, and some dreadful schlock. I grew up with the popular music of the 1960s. We moved overseas in 1969 and I heard pop with an international flavor.
I like dense, intense music. Gypsy jazz, bluegrass, prog-rock all sound good to me. Not surprising then, that I would be sparked by 'Jellyfish Sunrise' by Daikaiju. I found them on you tube, listened to a few more of their songs and let the autoplay algorithm do it's thing. A stream of modern surf came pouring out and I was hooked. A chance encounter with Pete Weinberger from the Surf Trio at the Subaru dealership one day further encouraged me.
For those of you who know me from my pre-surf days, this is what I'm doing. For those of you who are just tuning in, this is where I'm going.