Another reason to love the internet

Acting on a tip from my brothers-in-law (2 separate occasions), I checked out www.pandora.com. It is TOO COOL for words. It is a music site that customizes your radio to your personal preferences. They have analyzed zillions of songs for all sorts of characteristics that you would never even think of (like excessive vamping, which I apparently like since it shows up a lot in the songs they choose for me). You choose an artist or a song and they start offerings possibilities. You can vote yes or no or not at all. If you choose no they delete the song from the playlist. I'm not sure what doing nothing does, but a yes vote hones their choices.

Just for fun, I tried an experiment. I love the song All My Tears by Julie Miller. It has been recorded by her, as well as by Jars of Clay, Selah, and Emmy Lou Harris. I haven't done the Emmy Lou version yet, but I created stations based on each of the other versions. It's very interesting to see how the different versions give rise to different playlists. I spent the most time with the Julie Miller version. She has a spare, Appalachian sound with folk instruments. Some of the subsequent offerings were Allison Krause, the main song from O Brother Where Art Thou, and many artists and groups I had never heard of.

What a great way to explore music. And - it's free! I don't know how they do it, except they have links for every song so you can buy the song or the album, which must generate some kind of revenue. According to their FAQ's, they add about 15,000 songs per month. They take suggestions (so I suggested Lianna Klassen and Damaris Carbaugh) and submissions if you are an aspiring musician.