Greetings from Slapp Central. Sorry to the two people that actually enjoyed my daily slapps, I had to make the decision to kill that experiment when I learned that only a brave few were actually reading them. That was part of the reason, the other is I thought they would be a quick couple paragraphs but they turned into full blown slapps and doing that every day was just too demanding for my lazy ass. Luckily, there were plenty of people to slapp.  But now here we are back with a monthly slapp, the way it should be. This month I'm gonna step out of character and not present you with a slapp but instead give you a glimpse behind the Scott Slapp curtain.  

Most people think I'm a musical snob. You are right, I am. While some of my fellow antiMusic writers try to keep an open mind about music and will judge artists on other criteria aside from if they personally like the music or not. I just can't do it. Bad music sends me into cold sweats and I feel like I'm going to die.  Maybe it has something to do with being traumatized as a young child with visions of Motley Crue prancing around in women's underwear in videos accompanying songs cheesier than anything Big Bird could produce.   

I have to come clean though. I was not always as discerning in what I would listen to. While I never crossed the line into Crue or Poison-ville, as an impressionable youth I did let MTV dictate to me what I thought was cool. I just didn't know any better. But that all changed one day when a kind soul pulled an intervention on me and sent me on the path to musical enlightenment and Nirvana. 

Before I get to that story, I have to give you the set up.  A few months back, actually many months back, a few of our readers got into a discussion about music mentors; people that took them under their wings when they were at a young age and turned them on to cool music.  I remember totally relating to that and it was so cool to see that other people have similar experiences. I knew that at some point I would have to step out of character and write about my music mentor, or if you will my big brother in music. 

Now step into the Slapp Time Machine (patent pending) as I tell you how I got put upon the right musical path. I was the second or third week of seventh grade (Sep 1991) and I was sitting in my living room listening to what I thought was the coolest music on planet earth. Suddenly my older sister's boyfriend walked into the room as I was nerding out to the "fresh beats".  (He was killing time as my sister got ready to go out; a painstakingly long process). He took one listen to the "music" I was listening to and exclaimed, "What is this crap?" I was a little taken aback and I didn't want to appear uncool to my sister's cool boyfriend so I sheepishly answered "Vanilla Ice".  He just shook his head and walked out of the room. 

A few days later I was in my living room nerding out to the same tape (remember those?) when my sister's boyfriend appeared again. He walked over to me and handed me a stack of cassette tapes and simply said, "If you want to listen to good music, check these out." I wasn't gonna say no and appear to be uncool. So I took the tape on the top of the stack and put it in and pressed play and at that moment my life changed forever. I had found Nirvana. Actually it was Pearl Jam and once I heard "Once" cranking out of my speakers it was all over, I had found it! The music that would be the soundtrack to my life. I tossed out the Vanilla Ice tape that night and I couldn't get enough of Pearl Jam. "Even Flow," "Alive," "Black," "Deep," Release," all of the songs connected and opened up my ears to the wonderful world of rock.  A few months later Pearl Jam because hugely successful and everyone was listen to them but I heard them back on that one night and a light went off in my head. 

My music mentor had struck gold for me. Over the next few days I checked out the other tapes he had lent me and found other great groups. Alice in Chains' Facelift, Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz, The Beatles Abbey Road, Guns N Roses' Appetite For Destruction, Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind, Motorhead's Ace of Spades. They all changed me but none as much as Pearl Jam.  I'll admit this now but there were also a few tapes he lent me that I couldn't get into.  KISS Alive and a band called Enuff Z'nuff.  (I warmed up a bit to both bands in the years ahead). 

A few weeks later my sister and that boyfriend broke up but we remained friends.  Every couple of months he would stop by or call and tell me about a new band or tape I should check out and the next time I got my allowance I would race over to the record store and buy whatever he told me about. My collection grew rapidly that year and I got turned on to new groups (some old) and a love affair with music began that has not ended to this day. 

As I grew older the friendship with my music mentor grew. He would take me to concerts; let me in on the latest tape or CD that he was buzzed about. And that relationship remains to this day.  Although he seems a bit more jaded now with the current music scene and the turn-ons don't come as often, when he gets that buzz about a band and tells me I should check them out, I pay attention.  I really have no choice now, since he's my boss here at antiMusic. So if you want to blame anyone for my taste in music, blame Keavin.  

In all seriousness, I've been wanting to write about this for a while. He did change my life in a big way. And as I write this on the eve of his birthday (March 21), I just wanted to take the opportunity to publicly thank my musical big brother for continuing to open my eyes to new music. I have close to a thousand CDs and I would say 75% came from recommendations from him. Thanks bro! 

Wait� I'm not done yet.  A funny thing happened to me a few years back. I was a freshman in college and had the chance to repeat history when I discovered my girlfriend at the time had a little brother that was listening to crap.  I took him under my wing and did the same thing Keavin did for me. I haven't been as successful, the kid only latched on to about 2/3rds of what I tried to turn him on to but the circle continued and we remain good friends to this day and every once in a while I'll get a buzz about a CD and tell him about it.  So you see, we can save the world from crap music one fan at a time. I learnt that lesson back in 7th grade when my mentor set me on the right path. I learned it again when I carried on the tradition with my younger charge.  So did you have a music mentor? Did someone put you on the right musical path?  Have you become a music mentor yourself? If not, you should. Good music is meant to be shared. We can be selfish and keep it to ourselves but it means that much more when you look at someone the first time they hear a new piece of music and the light goes on for them too.   

Thanks for my friend and musical big brother Keavin for making sure the lights remained on with me all of these years! 

Now let's hear about your music mentor or how you turned other people on to good music. I'll be back next month with a megaslapp to make up for the slappless slapp this month. Until then, don't keep good music to yourself! 

P.S. Hey Keavin, my sister is single again. Need her number?   =) 

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