Livestream for March 8th: http://198.27.68.65:8112/stream
“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me - like food or water.” - Ray Charles
When I listen to Abby Jaidov talk about music, I am reminded of what Ray Charles had to say about music being such an integral part of his being that he viewed it as an additional body part. Like Charles, Abby sees music as both an essential part of her life and what she was destined to do with her life.
“As far back as I can remember, music was an obsession,” she says. “One of my earliest memories from the age of four highlights how music is my destiny,” she says. “We were visiting my mom’s best friend who had a piano. All the other kids were playing with toys and games and seemed to view the piano as just a way to make noise. But not me. I was obsessed with that piano. I picked around on it humming to the pleasant sounds it made. By the age of four, I was creating melodies and chords by ear.”
Abby’s mother played a vital role in nurturing her musical interest. “Mom loved music. She listened to all kinds of music, but her favorite was rock n’ roll, which led me to declare I wanted to be a “Rock Star” when I grew up. I used to imagine rocking out while I played my tennis racket like an air guitar.
Building the Dream
“There was a song called Harden my Heart by Quarterflash that was my favorite song when I was nine. There was an amazing Sax riff in it. Since I knew I would get to choose an instrument for the school band, I choose the saxophone. I imagined myself playing it in the rock band I was planning to start.
“A year later, I got a 3/4-size, no brand name guitar that my parents bought me from the Sears catalog for Christmas. I took it to the church down the street and asked the man there to show me how to tune it and read the chords my grandmother had written down for me. That chord sheet is still in my Bible. I learned to play on a $50 guitar. Now I have 25! It is simply what I was born to do in this life.”
Writing Songs
When it comes to composition, Abby says, “I can write lyrics and poetry as easy as the wind blows. I'm more critical about music, however. I like it to stand out, and match the current mood or feeling. I like it to be more than just the tri-chord generic song structure recipe that many songs have.”
A good example of the process she uses is her song, “Pandemic.” In this case, the music came first. “It felt,” Abby says, “like urgency, danger, fear, and darkness begging for hope. In that one, I brainstormed words that fit the feelings then tied them together through poetry. And that was it! The song was finished in less than an hour.”
Looking to the Future
If Abby had her way, there would be more women playing hard rock. “Hard rock is probably my favorite genre, and it’s practically devoid of female hard rockers.” When it comes to her own aspirations, she’d like to learn more about professional recording and plans to keep writing, playing, and singing songs. “I do the best I can with the low raspy voice I was born with. I can hold my own quite well on the guitar I’m happy to say. So I’ll keep making music. It's the meaning of my life.
Listen to Abby’s music here:
P.S. If you would like to make a donation to cover the costs of hosting the event and paying these amazing musicians, you can do so here: https://paypal.me/BraidedLives?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
Braided Lives is my project and Joanne is my given name :-)
If you are interested in being a sponsor of the event, with your name mentioned and logo displayed, please email me at JenaBall@CritterKin.com
Thank you!
Jenaia
ABBY!! Damn!
Spectacular. And surprising!