Ever since I got back to school, I can’t stop thinking about my summer music experiences. I didn’t realize how good I had it living in Los Angeles, one of the greatest entertainment capitols in the world, when it comes to having great music at my fingertips. At the beginning of the summer I told myself that I was going to go out and make new experiences for myself that I would never do unless I had someone to do it with me. So I used my money and bought a single ticket for myself to two concerts.

The first concert I went to was for John Paul White. It was the first time I heard that he was doing a tour going solo, as he is known for once being in The Civil Wars, sharing the spotlight with Joy Williams. No one was available to go out with me that night, so I said “What the heck?” and threw on my dancing shoes. I came ten minutes till the show was about to start and the atmosphere was surprisingly very calm. I walked into the club and people talked in hushed voices. People finally warmed up when the opening band, The Secret Sisters came in and sang the most beautiful songs that had perfect harmonies, and yes, they were actually sisters!

At one point The Troubadour club had technical sound issues and the amps went out twice. The Secret Sisters and John Paul White were both so professional with the way they handled the sound issues as they both just went on with the next song and made sure to sing a little louder as the audience made sure to not talk while they performed. Mr. White was lovelier than ever, and what is cool about a concert is that you actually get to know the performer. You see their personality shine through as he surprised me that he was actually a pretty funny guy. He has this serious look on him with his serious black suit, but he can’t help making jokes about himself and about life. He was one cool talented dude. He even came out in the waiting room after the show to meet anyone who wanted to talk to him or get a photo with him, and stood there till everyone had the chance to meet him.

The next concert I went to I made sure that someone went with me and brought my sister along. I knew about Allen Stone for a year now, but never really KNEW him or appreciated his music like the way that I do now. The singer, Jessica Childress, who opened for him was phenomenal. She was full of life and was truly a performer, feeling the emotion in her music and talked to the audience like a real person. She made the audience come in with a positive feel good attitude for Allen Stone’s performance.

Right when Allen Stone came out and sang, my jaw dropped and I was star struck. This man really knows how to come out and captivate an audience by his positive energy and talent. Every song in his album is about love in some way as he made it clear throughout the night that his goal is to make the world a more loving place, and for him it’s through his music. I felt like Mr. Stone could really connect with every single individual in that room that night, as he made eye contact and interacted with my sister and I several times. The most powerful moment that night was when he got everyone to wrap arms around each other in the entire club and sing along to the song “Celebrate Tonight”. He wanted to come out of that concert with love in their hearts and feeling good about themselves. To this day Allen Stone is one of my favorite musicians, performers, and people of all time. He was actually one of the reasons I started writing my own songs as I love his funky tunes and fun carefree lyrics.

This summer was great for experiencing new music and discovering what kind of music I enjoyed listening to. It also made me realize what kind of a performer and musician I want to be. Before this summer, I haven’t been to that many concerts, but now I recommend that everyone should go to a concert every now and then, to discover themselves through social interaction and spirituality.