Once, in a business meeting with a vendor, the vendor asked me something music-related. I nattered on for a bit about whatever it was and the vendor then turned to my colleague and said, “Did you see the way her eyes lit up when she started talking about music?” ‘Tis true. I love it more than anything.

That said, lots of folks ask me to “name my favorite artists.” I don’t think many people realize what a difficult question that is for me to answer. My general response is usually “I really can’t “rate” my favorites in an order. The top 5 have equal status, in my eyes, and have been the same for years.”

Just the other day, Gareth was here and I made reference to Will Hoge being my favorite artist to see live and he said something like, “You have a lot of favorites.” It’s a totally true statement – I do. And I love them all for different reasons and just as equally. But if I were forced to get rid of all of my music and only keep a few, there are some that I could just not live without.

So, who are they, you ask? In no order:

Absolutely cannot breathe not being able to hear:
Bruce Springsteen
Counting Crows
Will Hoge
Wil Seabrook
Christopher Jak

Survival would be next to impossible without:
Alpha Rev
Josh Queen
Bon Jovi
Shane Hines & The Trance
Carbon Leaf

And it would break my heart if I couldn’t hear:
Edwin McCain
Gareth Asher
Sam Thacker
Pat McGee Band
Honor By August

Depression would set in without:
The Stereophonics
Tim Brantley
Green River Ordinance
Mieka Pauley
David McMillin

Seriously, in typing this I expanded from 10 to 20 because I just can’t imagine my life without the music of some of these amazing artists. But it was next to impossible. I had to cut Corey Hart off the list, and that’s just sad. “Sunglasses at Night” is immortal. 🙂

So there it is, set in stone, or at least HTML, for all the world to see.