The Paradigm Shift of My Musical Taste

I think that I am officially over Phish. This feeling has been coming for some time now and I've been reluctant to acknowledge it, but it is time. My obsession with those four guys is now over and I am both sad and relieved. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be one of those guys that discards his old band like an ex-girlfriend with disdain and complete disregard for anything that band stands for. Phish is linked to far too many great memories for me to just toss them aside. I still like the band and if a song comes on the ol' IPOD, I will no doubt jam out for old times sake. However, the days of me listening to nothing but Phish all the time are over. During my big Phish days, which have long past me by since their breakup, I didn't really search out new music and pretty much stayed with the one band. Recently I've wondered if I was completely blind or if there just wasn't any good music coming out during that period of my life. Like most things, it was probably a little bit of both. Anyway, this sole preference towards Phish made me a major music snob, disregarding all other music as crap. Even though I have taken Phish off their pedestal, my music snobbery hasn't left, it just has been transferred to a wider range of music, artists and bands.
One of these bands is Marah. Marah is pure rock and roll. I can't stress enough that they are a straight translation of a rock and roll band. They embody everything that rock music should be and isn't right now. Our obsession with giving every type of music its own unique genre has deprived us of what good rock music is and this boys and girls is GREAT ROCK MUSIC. Now while Marah is pretty far removed from Phish, surprisingly there are some things that they have in common. First is that you must see both bands live to really appreciate how great they are. Phish is great live because of the whole atmosphere that comes with going to a concert. Marah is great live because of the atmosphere they create onstage. Marah could be playing for two people and would still put on a show that would blow them away. Both bands share a great passion for the music too, which is contagious and a true music lover will grasp on to and hold tight because they now it to be true. People would always ask me what type of music I liked and I would always respond with "Music that is true." I know it is cheesy, but it is so true. If the music feels true, a quality that is about as hard to quantify as anything else, but if something feels true to me, I know it. Marah might make the truest music around. . .or ever.
My music taste has changed dramatically in the last five years and Marah marks how much it has changed. The reason that I think it is a paradigm shift is that while the change has been dramatic, it is subtle at the same time. Awhile back I read The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which is all about paradigm shifts. I vaguely remember that, as far as this book goes, a paradigm shift is subtle during the actual change, but then looking back the change is seen to be dramatic. I might just be making all of this up. The point is that, five years ago, I don't think I would have embraced Marah, but now I have. Music has a way of finding you in different stages in your life and fitting into it perfectly. So when your music taste is shifting it is more likely that your life is. Marah is a culmination of my life/music taste making a complete shift and Phish isn't apart of that shift.
So what is the point of the meandering post? Go buy a Marah album, see them in concert and embrace them. You might not realize it now, but it could be the beginning of a major change in your life. (BTW, if you want to read more about Marah, check out my buddy's blog, it is listed to the right under the "Much Love" heading. His blog is called "There was a time when I didn't talk..." )