More birthday greetings
Aug 15
We received a lovely note from New England listeners:
Hi Bill,
Happy birthday and congratulations on 20 years of Spare the Rock!
My son and I started listening to your show in 2022. I was commuting 40 minutes to work each way and my son was in preschool on the campus where I worked. Spending 80 minutes in the car, five times a week with a 3-year-old was NOT one of my best thought-out plans, but it meant that in my desperate search for music to listen to on the drive, I found Spare the Rock, and it was the best thing to come out of that year of driving back and forth.
He quickly latched on to “The World’s on Fire (and we still fall in love),” and it was amazing to hear him recognize when you’d say, “We’ve got some Parker Woodland coming up…” He’d go, “Parker Woodland! My favorite!” It’s still his all-time favorite, and at the top of his playlist. It’s been amazing to see him develop his own taste in music. He also loves Candy Band, Lunch Money, OKGo, and the album of David Bowie covers. His first live music experience was seeing Jazzy Ash at Wolf Trap, and he was big-time disappointed that she saved “Be Outside” for the last number– a learning moment about concerts, for sure!
I also love that your show is the musical equivalent of #weneeddiversebooks. Our local libraries are great at providing books that show kids of all cultures, skin tones, body shapes, and family configurations, and Spare the Rock helps me do that with the music he listens to, both in terms of topics/content as well as styles and genres of music. Although it did once get me into the situation of trying to explain the glass ceiling when he was only 4!
So my kid was happy and engaged in the car, which is a great win for me as a mom, but I have to say that Spare the Rock brought me back the joy of discovering new music and the serendipity of hearing old favorites. It’s just so wonderful to hear a song about dichotomous keys or chocolate milk alongside the likes of Soul Coughing or the Be Good Tanyas. Many times I’d start my work day by going to the website to investigate your playlists and track down a new artist or a song I recognized but never knew the name of.
So thank you, thank you, thank you. Even though we’re relative newcomers to your 20-year run, there’s so much more I could say about what Spare the Rock has meant to our family. I hope it brings you as much joy as it gives us.
