It’s Swaggie Maggie’s 100th post! I can’t believe this is my 100th post, and I can’t tell if I feel like it’s been more than 100 or less. I’ve loved this journey, and even though I fall into ruts of not posting, I hold what I have posted (and what I plan on posting) very close to my heart. To celebrate my 100th post, I thought I’d take a look back at my favorite musical memories I’ve made through this blog. What started as something fun I could do in my free time has turned into much more than that.
I think the first thing that comes to mind when I think about my physical music journey is understanding and coming to love the history of music. When I took a class during my senior year of high school called RASH (Recent American Social History) I learned about the music that is the soundtrack to American History. I’m from the Metro-Detroit area, and growing up near Detroit Rock City gave me a wide appreciation and knowledge of music from an early age, but once I started actually studying these bands and lyricists and musicians from Motown who paved the way for, truly, all other genres of music I was stunned. I can distinctly remember taking a tour through the Motown Museum, the actual houses where all of those artists recorded those timeless hits. I remember singing “My Girl” by The Temptations in Studio A, and I remember crying with pure joy because I was literally standing where music history had been made.
The next thing that helped me through my journey was my internship with the Vail Jazz Foundation and Festival. I was fortunate enough to spend the last two weeks of my senior year in high school working in Colorado, managing the foundation’s databases, updating ticketholder’s email addresses, and even writing articles for the website! It was the first time that I realized my love for music, and my love for writing could actually become a career.
My first year of college was a huge year for me, not only in my professional life but in my personal life. I listened to a lot of fantastic, new music. I got my heart broken. I lived away from home for the first time. I had the absolute best time of my life. Everything that happened last year shaped who I am today, and my experiences will continue to shape me and, call me sentimental, but I think that’s a pretty cool thing to realize.
I took an alternative spring break trip with my residential college to New Mexico last Spring, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I took the train to Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu and then spent the week doing service, hiking, and enjoying nature. I was up with the sun each morning and stayed awake at night to try and memorize the beauty of the night sky. I had a lot of time to reflect in New Mexico, and a lot of time, and a lot of space to be creative and to work on my music and writing. It was a great trip, and I can’t wait to get back out west.
This Summer I had the amazing opportunity to work with Vans Warped Tour during the Detroit date of the tour. I worked with the press team to sign bands up for interview times, to check in different media personnel, and to direct bands to their interview slots. It was insanely cool to see that side of Warped Tour and learn about the Press aspect, and how much hard work and precise planning goes into a single day of the tour.
So what’s next for Swaggie Maggie? As of now, I will continue to update this blog, but I will also be writing for my school’s radio program and website called Impact. The website features a lot of music posts, so be sure to check over there for more writing from me I’ll also be training to DJ on air, so that should be exciting! I’m also thinking about changing the platform for this blog…possibly a WordPress website? Who knows, though! I’ll keep you updated!
I’ve grown so much as a writer since I started writing this blog. I’ve also grown as a person, and as a musician. There’s pretty much just a lot of growth and discovery all around. I’ve learned that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and I’ve learned that my greatest contribution to this world can be my writing. If I have caused any of you, my readers, to feel anything while reading this blog then I’ve done my job. So thank you all for reading, and letting me do what I love!
-Swaggie Maggie