Art Beat: The power of music

Hi, my name is Jacob Mann. I cover the art beat for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

Stories start in many different ways. This story started with an interview with a local musician and ended with a soft and steady beat bumping in the background as the clicks and clacks of a keyboard typed ever onward into the night.

I can’t say I’ve always loved music because the concept didn’t really sink in until I was a teenager. Once it did hit, it hard hard.

To this day, perhaps now more than ever, music lies within the very core of who I am and helps me navigate through this world, despite never being a musician. I think the same can be said for most people, and conversations like the one I had with a longtime Valley musician, LuLu Small.

“The power of music right now is how I communicate with my brother who passed away. The moment I took his ashes home… The moment I hit play on Pandora, on came the song that was his theme song, “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd, followed immediately by “Wish you Were Here.” I still get chills… My brother was into my music and my career, and music period, in general. He couldn’t sing ..., but he appreciated it, and it touched him and it guided his life in so many ways. I really truly believe that’s how I know I feel him, when the songs come on,” Small said during our interview.

Small reminds me a lot of my grandma Eddie, mainly for her flamboyant and animated personality, something that went to my mom, then to me. She also reminds me of her because her all time favorite music festival is also my all time favorite music festival, the Trapper Creek Bluegrass Festival.

Bluegrass will always hold a special place in my heart. The festival’s primary location in Trapper Creek was literally in the same neighborhood as my grandmother’s cabin, the place I came of age almost every summer until she died.

One of my fondest memories of bluegrass was chewing the fat with some bonafide flower children from the 60’s. I was happy to know when I asked them if they knew my grandmother, Eddie, or “Eddy Girl” they knew exactly who I was talking about.

My Grandma Eddie was a very popular gal. As a consequence of her widespread influence, she had three separate celebrations of life: one in Wasilla, one in Trapper Creek, and one Seward. During each ceremony, especially the Trapper Creek one, one of my grandma’s favorite songs, “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles was on blast. To this day, my mom, sister and I all think of her when we hear it.

I listen to music about 90 percent of the time I’m writing. Instrumental lo-fi and chillwave are my go-to’s. I obviously can’t have any lyrics going on, but the music itself is more than enough to keep me going. As I type this column, I hear the soft and cozy melodies off a playlist by one of my favorite members of the streaming website 8tracks, which is essentially a modern mixtape sharing site.

I listen to music to sooth my frantic brain and chaotic thoughts. I listen to music when I’m working, having fun, cleaning around the house, driving, or just sitting to listen for listening’s sake. I listen to music, because like many others, I can’t imagine a world without it.

Whether it’s making a lifelong friend at a festival, hearing a life changing song during a concert, or the insecable, bittersweet recall of someone you love popping immediately into your head the second one of their favorite songs pops on the radio; music is in just about all of us. So, if just about everybody can relate to that, just imagine what we can do if we put that to good use.

“You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us; and the world will be as one.” — John Lennon

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com