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Hi friends! It’s a snowy Sunday morning and I’m enjoying the view as I sip my coffee. It’s a good time for thinking. Something has been on my mind this weekend and have decided to share – please leave my your thoughts on the topic in the comments. I’d like to hear from you!

I was recently interviewed as part of a Grade 12 Senior Project for a high school student and she had great questions about the importance of live music in Fredericton. It made me pause to put some thought into it. Live music is super important to me on a very personal level – it literally has had the biggest affect on my life. Through the live music experience I have met some of my best friends, enjoyed some of the best times of my life and had moments of feeling deeply connected to my community. A great example is the night a whole country joined together to celebrate Gord Downie’s last show – I was in Officers’ Square that night and felt the amazing energy as we all sang along and stood together with love in our hearts. An amazing example of the power of music to connect us.

In this short interview, one question was about my earliest memory of music. The memories are good. My parents had a record player and were partial to the country albums (Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash…) and we danced & sang along  in our living room from time to time. I was a member of the church choir along with my mother, sisters, aunts, cousins and grandmother. The women were the organizers however all voices were raised to fill the rafters with our blended sounds. Jam sessions at kitchen parties and around the bonfire are also great early memories. Memories are distinctly attached to certain songs which can provide a quick flashback and associated emotions – I’m transported to my blueberry raking days whenever I hear ‘Dust in the Wind’ because the evenings were spent with friends we’d only see in the summer and this was a favourite we all sang along to when Philip brought out the guitar.

It’s a pretty well known fact that adding live music to any event elevates everyone’s experience – church services, weddings, funerals and parties of all kinds. Music, especially when experienced live, has the power to draw out much emotion.

More support for the importance of music? There is scientific evidence on music reducing stress and promoting healing. Click here to read for yourself. In my opinion, music is a great connector and contributes to a healthy community. There is a wonderful exchange of energy between musicians and audience. We are all more similar than we are different. Lots of the same themes running through our lives and the story telling of our songwriters reflects that for us. And basically if those on stage are having fun then we are having fun too. The vibrations of the music are good for us – helps shake things loose from the inside out.

Fredericton is a better city because of the vibrant music scene we’ve got going on at this point in time. With everyone’s continued support of the events being presented we can expect to enjoy many more great musical moments together for a long time to come!

A possible regret may be that I didn’t get to as many live performances as I could have over the years but I’m absolutely trying to make up for that now! 🙂

A big thanks to Charlotte, the grade 12 student who made me stop to think about why music is important to me. I really hope she gets an A+ on her senior project!

Yours in peace, love & music
Emma

… just going to leave this clip from last night’s show featuring a few of Fredericton’s fantastic musicians in Sugarbomb whom I consider friends. ❤️ Also grateful to my great group of music loving friends who came out to enjoy & move to the music with me at The Tipsy Muse Cafe.