Dad

My dad had an amazing stereo when I was growing up - a complete rack of top of the line EVERYthing. He even had little round silver speakers in the roof I used to play 'beam me up' under. Every Saturday and Sunday morning he'd play a WIDE variety of music that I woke up and stayed in bed to listen to. Everything from ABBA to Zamfir and Alan Parsons to ZZ Top. My dad's a big reason I write and play music today and I've told him many times how much I appreciate his influence. I remember in my high school years when we'd go on long road trips I'd bring a ton of CDs. I was into a lot of AC/DC and Metallica at the time and he had no problem turning it up as loud as we could stand whilst powering down the highway. How cool is that for a teenager? As a result I had no problem sitting through his selections, 'The Highwaymen' or 'Crash Test Dummies' and the like - bands I wasn't into at the time but have since come to love.
My folks moved many years back and I had an opportunity to inherit all his albums. I didn't take them and I've been punching myself in the face for it ever since. Luckily they stayed in the family though and I've got my eye on 'em...
Dad still listens to a lot of music, though it's mostly MP3s on iPods now. He's got the pro Bose system so it still sounds great, and I'm sure he still occasionally wakes my mom up Saturday mornings to the sound of music.
I hope as my own kids grow up in our home, my wife and I can provide them with the same brand of musical variety he did for me, and that they will grow to appreciate everything it has to offer.

All music is beautiful.
~Billy Strayhorn