Diversify Your Influences

Alot of musicians I know, tend to write songs based on the music they grew up with. So if you're a rock musician, you're most likely a rock fan, Country musician, Country fan, and so forth. There are few exceptions to this rule, but If you want to be great, (and I mean great!) you have to diversify.

I remember as a young lad, talking about different kinds of music with my friends and such, and mostly being into classic rock, untill one day I went through one of my friends C.D. collections. Now, my C.D.s tended to be all rock. I don't think I strayed to far from Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. But my friend Ben on the other hand, had the most diverse C.D. collection I had ever seen! It was a bit of a shock at first, and my first instinct (much as it'd probably be anyone's instinct) was to make fun of the poor guy! I mean really, what metal fan in his right mind would own, let alone listen to any of the b.s. put out by Nsync, or The Backstreet Boys?! These C.D.s were right next to Bob Marley, and Rod Stewart, along with Slayer and Cold Play. It was just odd. Ben was quite eccentric, as was I, so needless to say, I did not make fun of him, but in fact, at that moment, gained a new musical perspective. Especially when he told me that his favorite guitar player was Stevie Ray Vaghn. How unusual!

I can only hope that this article has the same affect on you as Ben's musical taste did on me. I remember reading in Guitar World not to much longer after this experience, that Kirk Hammet of Metallica was listening to alot of Ice Cube, and rap music in general during the making of one of their C.D.s. I can't exactly remember which one, but it doesn't really matter. It's the principal of the thing! Listen to what you want, and I guarantee, you'll get more respect in your music, than he who is narrow minded.

John Denver!