Nylund: Get out there and make some noise

Like it or not, the holidays are approaching. Halloween decorations have been begrudgingly swapped out for tinsel, poinsettias and that jolly fat man with the bangin' white beard. While we could spend weeks discussing the appropriate time for this to happen, I find it more pertinent to start discussing gift giving.

I wanted to play drums, but the band teacher already had enough of those, so I chose the closest instrument on the rock 'n' roll spectrum available to me: the alto saxophone. I was in the fourth grade. I honked on that dang thing for hours.

This is not a hyperbole. It sounded like an angry mama goose with a burr stuck in her webbed feet. I absolutely loved it. I was immediately sucked into the endless possibilities that creating music (or grating sounds in the early days, as it were) provided.

As middle school rolled around, I fell into the trap that all honest guitar players fall into: chicks like guys who play guitar. To put all of this in perspective, I should share that while most people go through an awkward phase during adolescence, mine was longer and stronger than most.

I was a lanky kid with curly hair, socially awkward, too smart for his own good and best of all, I sported glasses that darkened when sunlight hit them. Let's just say I spent quite a bit of time in trash cans and lockers at the behest of my larger and more aggressive peers.

While I enjoyed the saxophone, it did nothing for my mojo or street cred. In short, I saw playing guitar as my salvation. I got my first electric guitar for Christmas. I had been playing bass for about a year and was ready (in my own mind) to start banging around on a guitar. I've been hooked ever since.

I studied music in college, played in countless bands, attended (and enjoyed the heck out of) even more concerts, and now I even get to write about music. As you, dear reader, contemplate holiday gifts for your loved ones (or yourself), consider giving the gift of music.

In related news, if you're grown and always wanted to play music, it's never too late. Treat yo' self to the gift of playing music. Our fair city has plenty of music history, but that doesn't mean it has to stay in past tense.

Chris Nylund is a founding member of Field Note Stenographers, a collective of local musicians who write about shows in Middle Georgia. He likes books without pictures, good music and playing a variety of instruments with varying degrees of success. Contact him at fieldnotestenographers@gmail.com.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Nylund: Get out there and make some noise ."