I have experienced more live music in the last five months than I have in the last fifteen years.

Here’s the thing. I love music. My love encompasses pretty much every genre. I retain song lyrics better than important information. I wish I could adequately play an instrument. I love to sing (being good at it is another story). I sing along with the radio and the songs in the grocery store. Music is my preferred background noise when I’m writing. I’m listening to a retro mix as I write this blog post.

However, I don’t go to many concerts. Living in a small town in the middle of nowhere, concerts tend to require a drive. Also, concerts have crowds, typically large crowds for the bigger acts, which does a number on my anxiety. And concerts are expensive and I’ve spent much of my adult life broke. So, live music hasn’t always been accessible to my broke-ass, semi-functioning self.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t local bands at smaller venues in my vicinity. I spent my teens going to Modern Cowboyz gigs. I’ve seen a bunch of different acts at the Apple and Pork Festival. There are always bands playing at the local bars. I have experienced local live music and I could have experienced much more if I’d left my house more often.

As it happens, I’ve recently been creating a social life for myself and this has led me to more live music.

I blame Dad Shorts, honestly.

A couple of guys I work with -one of whom is the cousin of one of my besties, Haley- are in a band called Dad Shorts. When they played a gig at a brewery down the street, I ended up going with Haley. The band was awesome, we had a blast, and the next thing I know, I’m anticipating the next show. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be for months, and at the time, I didn’t even know when their next gig would be.

It didn’t mean that I was left bereft, though.

In the meantime, the son of another one of my good friends, Amanda, did a solo set at a bar nearby. Hunter is a super talented kid who’s played solo and with bands for a few years. I had a blast just chilling in the bar with Amanda and Haley listening to him jam, just him and his guitar.

The library I work at has also been trying to book more music during the summer months, taking advantage of our newly installed pavilion and our lovely lawn. I ended up seeing both of the groups that played the library this past summer. The first -Dick and Brad- are the father and brother-in-law of yet another best good friend, Natalie, and they come with a built in audience because their family always comes to see them, which is fab. Dick and Brad are really good, too, of course, I knew that. It was yet another night with a couple of besties, Natalie and Haley, and some music we were all singing along to.

The other band -Union Avenue- is an awesome swing band and there was actually swing dance lessons before the band played. Union Avenue also had a loyal group of followers, all swing dancers, who somehow made dancing on the grass look easy. Did I go for a swing? Yes. One of the dancers was very persuasive and a very good teacher. He took me and two of my coworkers for a whirl. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t know a single song the band played and it didn’t matter. I loved it.

And then Haley gave me the news that Dad Shorts would be playing at the Eagles during the Apple and Pork Festival the last weekend in September and I was going to be her date. One thing led to another and I ended up seeing them play three times in a week -twice in the same weekend- in three different bars in two different towns. At this point, I think I’m riding the line between fan and stalker, but I don’t care. They’re so good! I can’t wait to see them play again.

I didn’t anticipate cultivating a social life at this stage of my existence and I certainly didn’t anticipate so much of it revolving around music.

But I’ll certainly sing along.