I hear Music.... (but I picked Nursing!)

I found a couple of old concert tickets in my drawer today and it got me thinking of all the concerts I have gone to.... and then I read over at Albinoblackbear that she went to a Chieftans concert (so jealous!)
So I thought I would try and remember which concerts I have gone through in past years - from the 1970s through to the last one in 2005 or so...
So here we go..... (by the way, this doesn't include pub concerts and what have you....!)

In no particular order:

1. Jesse Colin Young - then and now
2. Trooper 
3. Jethro Tull
4. Little River Band
5. Jim Messina
6. Kenny Loggins
7. Tom Johnston (Doobie Bros)
8. Good Brothers (twice - friendly guys!)
9. Hoyt Axton (twice! Darn, I had dreams of being his backup singer! Sadly, he's passed on - MI) OMG this was my all time favorite song of his!!!  I think I knew how to play and sing every song he ever did.
10. XTC
11. Young Canadians
12. SuperTramp (Breakfast in America Tour)
13. Chris DeBurgh - before he was famous....
14. Doug and the Slugs  (R.I.P.)
15. Burton Cummings (twice) (from The Guess Who)
16. Valdy  (saw him perform up at a ski hill)
17. Juice Newton (at a country fair in East Bay S.F.)
18. Wynona Judd (Concord Pavilion)
19. Take 6 (Concord Pavilion)
20. Oakridge Boys - one of the guys fell off the stage while singing.....
21. Emmy Lou Harris
22. The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson,Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash) Amazing!
23. Bryan Adams (twice - a relative got to sing with him)
24. Neil Diamond
25. Harry Chapin (I got his autograph - He met people at his concerts and would give autographs for donations to his charity.  Sadly he has passed on - MI while driving on the freeway back east)
26. Journey (one of the band members handed me a pick with their name on it while performing onstage - unsolicited! - i have since given it to my nephew)
27. Liona Boyd (now if I could only play guitar like her!)
28. Randy Bachman (from BTO ) - here is a different version of the same song-bothe with Neil Young
29. Blue Rodeo (twice - those guys are good)
30. UB40
31. Great Big Sea (Great concert! I was dating a pediatrician at the time - dumped him soon after)
32. Patti LaBelle
33. Long John Baldry (I had a couple dates with one of the members of the band whom I met in a bar accidentally, didn't know at the time who Long John was - met him backstage pre-concert and wasn't impressed.   Also met Kathi McDonald who, by the way, is a fab singer. It's a funny story)
34. Amy Grant  (in the early 1980s and then in 2005)
35. Farmer's Daughter (later met their parents on vacation - chatted with them - very nice)
36. 1998 Lilith Fair: which included -  Sarah McLaughlin, Bif Naked, Sixpence None The Richer, and other assorted musicians.
37. Shania Twain  wasn't overly impressed but I still like her music
38. k.d. lang (before she was popular -- performed in a nightclub)
39. Joe Cocker
40. Loverboy (Mike Reno) - and met him a million years ago in the hospital and no he wasn't the patient...
41.  Chuck Girard - now this is a good story....I will have to tell u this one at a later date....
42. UK  (1970s) - a member went on to join the band YES  - here is YES in later years
43. White Stripes

There could have been other bands that I happened to see, either accidentally or so long ago I forget who they are.   I know I am related by marriage to a Famous Country Singer.  Oh ya. And I used to be married to the lead singer of a band of which I will not name that used one of the members of another well known band - and that's ANOTHER funny (or not-so-funny story) -ended up ditching him.  

Geez. Are there any normal (male)musicians??

I guess I have not had much luck with Men of Music.  I've never been a groupie.  Definitely never been one to chase after someone because they were in a band.  Actually tried to avoid them.  They all just seemed to appear - and introduce themselves and assume I wanted to go out with them. 

At one point before going into nursing, I had been invited to sing in a local band in my hometown....tried it out one night and didn't really care for it.  Too much smoke and too many drunks for my liking.  And -  I was also much too practical.  I couldn't see any future in music.  Nursing won out in the end - and I continued with my RN training.

I did go in 2 singing contests when I was younger - early 20s....quite a large one in the city nearby - won 2nd (someone singing and playing  "The Rose" (urp!) on the piano came first! I sang Hoyt Axton's "Billie's Theme" while accompanying myself on the guitar), and then won 1st in the little local one  .....then won first in a province wide song-writing contest a few years later (won some cash and a chance to record - but declined..) ..........then promptly ran away to East Bay S.F. to work as an R.N.

 Everyone thought at the time I was moving to try and get into the San Francisco music scene, but I had no intentions of doing anything but nursing and was quite surprised and amused when I heard the gossip on a trip home. ( although, I secretly hoped I would have the time to go to Art Institute, but didn't)

 If I was going to do anything creative that didn't make me money - it would be art/painting.  So - I regretfully declined any forays into the music scene.  Besides - if you want to do well in music, you have to want it....and I didn't have that kind of passion.   I still enjoy music (and my acoustic Ovation with a pickup that my band buddies gave me) and have written a few more 'tunes',  but I love art so much more...and that is what I would pick as my "retirement career".


So there you go.

Music. Art. Nursing.

And I picked Nursing.