30 Day Writing Challenge - Day 06

What band or musician is most important to you?

Oh, 30 day challenge... I think you are trying to kill me here! How am I supposed to narrow this down to just one? You're going to get three instead...

SHeDAISY. These girls are what sort of catapulted the whole "love for country music" thing. I loved country before - don't get me wrong - but this was the dawn of the whole online revolution, and teenage me who was awkward and weird and didn't really have many friends spent a lot of time online. I stumbled across a SHeDAISY message board (who remembers message boards? They were great) where I ended up meeting some awesome fellow SHeDAISY fans - some of whom I am still in touch with, close to twenty years later! The best part was that the girls of SHeDAISY were so in touch with their fans then, and they were online talking to us, responding to our emails, making us feel like we mattered so much. They were my first concert ever, and spoiled me (getting me snuck into the 21+ club when I was seventeen, dedicating a song to me, letting me come backstage and meet them). They might not be around much on the music scene now, but I would be crazy not to mention them and the way they changed my life. They were there for me when my mom died - and I don't mean in that traditional "oh, I listened to their music a lot during that time and it helped me cope..." kind of way. Literally, the morning of my mom's death there was an email from Kristyn in my inbox. These girls were the best. Songs you should check out: Little Good-byes. Mine All Mine. 

Emerson Drive. Oh man, these guys! I never really cared about them either way, but thought "I Should be Sleeping" and "Fall Into Me" were pretty decent songs. My friends took me to see them when we were visiting Nashville, at the Wildhorse Saloon. Yeah, they were good... but as a general rule, I am more into female voices. Then my friends took me to see them again in Lowville, New York. Definitely a little more hooked at this point... when that fall came, and I was away at college in Philadelphia (and so were my then-besties, at another college in the city) I mentioned to them that if the guys were ever local again, I'd love to go see them again. "Oh, how about Charlotte, NC and Birmingham, AL?" "I said local! Are you crazy?! But yeah I want to go!" In early November I made that trek with them, and would continue to ride along to concerts with them all over the eastern United States for several years. I think that last count, I had been to somewhere around eighty Emerson Drive shows. I only ever saw them with the lineup pictured, though it's not the same anymore. After Patrick died, I believe I only saw them one more time - where all of us bawled during "Moments" sitting in the front row, trying so hard not to look at Brad. To me, these guys were so much fun. They were goofy on and off stage, and just good, decent guys to follow. It only took Brad fifty shows or so to learn my name - which he still never called me - but man were they fun! Songs you should check out: I Should Be Sleeping. You Still Own Me. Moments. 

Thom Shepherd and Coley McCabe. These two are the only artists I have made any attempt to see since moving away from Nashville ten years ago (other than two or three Little Big Town shows). I met Thom back in 2003 (how has it been that long?!) at an event I was co-hosting in Nashville. I loved the songs he performed, and I checked out a few of his other gigs that week. The next year when I was in Nashville again, I made it a point to see him again and much to my surprise, he remember who I was. I would hit a show or two of his every year to say hi, and was always impressed with him, his music, and his super-welcoming personality. I had known who Coley was since 1999, when SHeDAISY's first album came out - she was a co-writer on their first album - and remembered her putting out a music video in 2001 or 2002, but other than that, I never heard anything else about her, until one day a couple of years ago, I saw a picture of her and Thom Shepherd together. I was probably stupid-giggly when I met Coley for the first time, at a show with Thom in Maryland in May 2013 (I think it was 2013 - it may have been 2014?). I have since seen them together several times, and will always make the trek to go see them, and show up in random places where they aren't expecting me. I drove to Michigan once to see them (my second Coley show!) and laughed because Thom asked what I was doing there, and Coley remembered who I was. I am always impressed with their songs, their stories, and just their amazing sweet and welcoming spirit. Not only do they always seem happy to see me, they always remember my friends that I drag along to shows, and my friends leave feeling welcomed and loved, too. Songs you should check out: Sand in Her Shoes. I'm With U. Forever Home.