Taking One Off the Bucket List

"American Girl" Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Cheap Sunglasses" ZZ Top

We used to play this game in the car when I was little, Name the Song, and you get to pick the next  station if you were right, if you were wrong you had to listen to the song. I learned quickly to recognize opening notes. Sometimes with certain bands we would be asked trivia questions, who were the members, who played what. Don Henley as a drummer, and singer always stumped me and then with the solo project really screwed me over.  It was a fun game that passed many a car rides, it became really fun when my musical tasted veered over towards the edge and my dad had to try and name songs before the station could be changed. My parents had a huge cd collection, that we could go pull from, it was all out there in the open whether it be Storyville, Bonnie Raitt, SRV, AC/DC, Charlie Daniels, Aerosmith, the Eagles etc. it was open, I could listen to whatever I wanted and I think that it was proabably the biggest thing I am thankful to my parents for. Is the exposure to music that they let me have. Ive been to the Grand Ole Opry, and have been to Country Fest, and I had all these really great concert experiences.

ZZ Top was my first concert I was 5 and second row at Reunion Arena the Eliminator tour, I remember the car, and I saw them again when I was 7, and I remember my daddy buying me a rose, with a green neon thing in the bottom, I remember feeling really special. I could name all the members of ZZ Top, I could sing all the songs, Im not sure a 7 year old should know the word to You've Got Me Under Pressure, but I did, and i new the deep tracks, TV dinner, and so on. I always to this day when ZZ Top is on I turn it up and sing along.  I realize how the bluesy rock has wound its way into what I listen to today,

Tom Petty I didn't get so much as a kid, my parents weren't big Petty people, I got more SRV and Eagles than I got Petty. Petty in my household pretty much meant the King Richard. I started getting Petty thanks to VH1 behind the music and pop up video. I think Petty is still so releavnt and especially to my age group, when Wildflowers came out, were Dave Grohl did the drumming he got a whole new group of fans. You Don't Know How It Feels, and  Wreck Me, are songs that I instantally connected with.

Tonight I get to see both of these artists. I have never seen Petty who is on my concert bucket list and ZZ Top will be fun as grown up.