How Music Has Affected My Life

By Terri Rimmer

From the time I was a kid, music has been a focal point to what was going on in my life, serving as a backdrop against an array of experiences, good and bad, often healing, sometimes bringing up tears of happiness.

I can still remember songs that were popular when I was just three years old, each one reminding me of a past I used to live like the song about going round in circles that played over the sound system when our family went to Six Flags. Another similar one flashes me back to a little boy in a stroller at the amusement park who I saw when I first heard a song.

When I was born in 1966 famous groups were The Birds, The Beatles, The Monkees, and other trios like them. It marked a time of innocence, experimentation and, later Woodstock. I don't remember The Doors in their heyday, though now I'm a big fan, always feeling like I was born in the wrong time period, a true hippie at heart. I do recall my older sister Debbie blasting loud rock music from our stereo in the living room when our parents weren't home as she cleaned house. It was a sound I got used to and when I went to my first concert of ZZ Top and Foghat at age seven with my sisters those notes took on a new meaning. Since my dad worked at The Omni at the time we got to go to free concerts and other events. I think partly as a result of being exposed to good music at such a young age, my three favorite groups are Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith.

When I was 5 the family liked for me to sing "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" which for some reason they got a kick out of and would want me to sing it at family gatherings sometimes.