This question was posed to me by a young man in his early 20s after inquiring about our open mic. He wants to come to our open mic, but he writes his own music in more of a classical or traditional guitar style. “Will this be OK?” he asked. “Of course,” I replied. Then he asked me, “What kind of music do you like?”
Now that is a very complicated question to answer. I was raised on both kinds of music, country and western. My parents loved Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. But I raised myself on the Beatles and most all 70s rock, and with influence from my older brothers (Norman; Dion & The Belmonts, Perry; Traffic, REM), which led me to everything from the late 50s to early 90s rock. I find it so interesting that music can transcend time.
During our open mic nights, I meet so many young musicians wearing David Bowie, Beatles, and other rock groups T-shirts that Baby Boomers like me listened to back in the day (“back in the day,” boy I am old). When I ask them about it the answer is always the same, “Oh I love their music!” This always puts a big smile on my face; maybe there is hope for our youth.
Then there is Jack, a very good customer who we see several times a week. He is an older guy, like me. I was having a casual conversation with him the other day. He asked about our music nights. Then he said, “Do you know the song The Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel?” “Of course,” I said, well there is the cover of that song that I really love, it’s by a band called Disturbed. Disturbed I thought? Now, this was clearly a band that I would have guessed was off his radar. But again, it reminded me that music does truly transcend time and age barriers.
Back when I was about 17, I had a party in my parent’s basement (and yes, they were home, had to have one that they knew about). So down came my stereo from my bedroom to blast out Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, etc., vinyl records of course. Now remember this was 1974, our hair was shoulder length or better and the music had to be loud! When no one was looking I put on my Roger Miller Greatest Hits LP. The first song up was Trailers for Sale or Rent. My parents laughed so hard because they could hear the pool cues hitting the floor keeping time with the music. Everyone stopped and cheered; we had a great time. My mother remembered and laughed about that night for the rest of her life. Music gave us that memory.
Now at 68 I am trying to give a little of that gift of music to our community. I am gradually expanding our music offerings. Hopefully it brings you a smile or a muchneeded stress break.
Hava Java Mesa is located at the northeast corner of Power and McDowell roads in The Village at Las Sendas, 2849 N. Power Road, Suite 103, in Mesa. For more information, visit havajavamesa.com.