Last week my middle daughter and I took a day-trip to Aspen, a four-hour trip each way over a couple of beautiful, if treacherous, mountain passes. Middle just got a huge promotion and will be moving to this picturesque ski town and we were scoping out housing and–equally important to Middle–shopping.
During the long (long!) drive, Middle cranked up her “driving playlist,” which consisted mostly of hip-hop and techno/dub-step with a little scream-o tucked in for good measure. (If you don’t know what scream-o is, thank your lucky stars!)
I have an extremely eclectic taste in music and I don’t mind a little hip-hop now and again, but after about six hours of non-stop thumping bass pulsating through my migraine-prone head, I pleaded with her to let me play something off my playlist. My ears needed rest, so I threw on the rich, smooth, classically-trained voices of The Texas Tenors. And just to be a bit of a pickle, I turned it to one of the opera tracks. Middle lasted all of ten minutes before she begged for compromise.
That, of course, got us into a discussion about how musical tastes vary. Middle’s eclectic range runs from scream-o to just over the tip of Broadway. Mine runs from opera to well-short of scream-o.
Like Middle and me, each of the characters in my books have a unique musical style. Because music plays such a prominent role in my life, I always like to know what my characters like to listen to–or not. My hero in The Soldier’s Sweetheart, Will Davenport, doesn’t care for music at all. Naturally, I paired him up with a traditional hymn-loving, organ-playing heroine. In my upcoming July release, Redeeming the Rancher, my heroine Alexis Grainger is a country girl through and through, whereas successful city-boy Griff Haddon prefers classical symphony.
So how about you? What’s on your playlist?
~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
Great question, Deb. Music is KEY (snicker) to many of my characters and my life too. My playlist is pretty eclectic (jazz, hip hop, pop, classical, sountrack etc) but NO scream-o :-)
I’ve gotten into the habit of making a playlist for every novel I write. Often times, it’s based on the music my hero and heroine would listen to. And sometimes it’s just music appropriate to the story’s theme. In a novella I just completed, my hero likes ’80s music — he even sings the chorus of “Born in the U.S.A.” when he’s stressed instead of counting to 10 — and my heroine likes classical. Yeah, that was fun to listen to.
As a musician, I love it when book characters enjoy music. In fact, I stole a character’s music style from the movie, The Horse Whisperer, for a cowboy in my first book. I found it fascinating that a cowboy would like classical music…don’t ask me why! Anyhoo, I love just about all kinds of music, but like you, I’m not a big fan of techno music or scream-o! Thanks for a great post! :)
Oh, Deb, how fun! Not the scream-o part. But the characters having different music tastes part. :)
My playlist for my lead male includes Abandon, Building 429, For King and Country, and a few others, all Christian artists. All the songs I picked are ones he would listen to AND they have to deal with what he’s going through in the story I’m writing. Kind of serves as a reminder if I get stuck.
Blessings,
Andrea
I use music appropriate to my book’s theme, as well, Beth. Usually a combination of modern praise music, some (ahem) not so modern and traditional hymns.
Do you write with music, Pepper, or do you need quiet space to get creative? I can go both ways, but since music is so much a part of my life, I’ve usually got something on.
I love that, Cathy. A cowboy who loves classical. Really gives me a good picture of who he is.
I haven’t heard of some of these groups, Andrea. Rushing over to YouTube to see if I can look them up. :)
I have very broad tastes…also limited by migraines, but I love road trips with my older son. I let him control the music with the “skip” rule, as in, if I don’t like it, he has to skip it. Most of his stuff isn’t what I listen to on my own, but I do enjoy it. And then there’s the musicals which we both love and love to sing along to. Music is such a basic thing, and tastes vary so broadly, that yes, I can see this as a major source of conflict.
I’m a HUGE fan of musicals. My favorite genre, as a matter of fact. Terrence Mann could sing me the ABCs and I’d be a happy camper.
I really don’t mind Middle’s music. It was just the four hours at a time part that eventually wore me down.
Yes, I know how that feels. I have a different crossover with my husband and my younger son. More skipping there :).
I was a music major in college, so of course, I love this post! As you might guess, my instrument of choice was flute. I have even taught flute. Goodness! Music choices…most classical, most instrumental, ALL contemporary Christian, some country, and some pop. Some dance music, also. I don’t like anything with vulgar words, screaming, rapp, or extremely loud. I like quality orchestrations.
I’m especially enjoying For King and Country right now. I’ve only heard one of their songs on the radio and took a risk purchasing their CD. Wouldn’t return it if you paid me! :)