COOL STUFF 2

I have been fortunate enough to have connections to the past two "cool stuff" blog topics, which is something I really enjoy. Growing up in Hendersonville North Carolina, you would be shocked at the amount of diversity the little town holds. In kindergarten, my best friend and her family were from Ecuador. As a 5 year old, I had never heard of this place and thought of it as some mystic land far far away, and honestly I still do. I was so amazed by cultural differences, and was determined at age 5 that I wanted to move to this beautiful paradise and hang out with the turtles in the Galapagos. I had never really looked into the music of Ecuador, but can definitely see a lot of Spanish influence and a lot of commonality through the themes we looked at in class. This video I chose is a traditional dance, and the women are dressed in similar garb to what I remember my friend Cami showing me.

Switching gears a bit and making even more connections, you won't be surprised if you have read any of my other blogs but I am going to talk about my Dad. David Wilkins is an interesting man, and his taste in music reflects that greatly, but one of his favorite genres of music is the blues. I actually called him before to ask what some of his favorite blues songs were and he did not disappoint. This is one song I remember playing through the speakers in my home as my mom and I cooked dinner and danced in the kitchen.

My dad grew up in Memphis and as we grew up made sure we knew that the Delta Blues were the superior blues, as it was a melting pot of so many styles. He emphasized that all these "cats" needed was an old string, a raspy voice and some deep soul. I have always admired the blues because in my opinion you can make so so much out of nothing, and that is exactly what these artists chose to do. One of my favorite blues artists were Howlin' Wolf and BB King, as it was something I could shake a tail feather to.