Thank you, Gabi!

I love so many things about my current relationship to music.

For most of my life I was a fairly passive consumer of music. There was music I liked, but I didn’t really seek out new experiences. I’ve become quite adventurous about buying and listening to all kinds of music, however.

Except for concerts, which can actually be kind of impersonal, I usually listened to music alone. Now I share the music I love (and some music I don’t love but am exploring) with other people just as often as listening alone at home.

I used to buy music only occasionally, and only from musicians with whom I was already familiar. The number of musicians to whom I pay attention has expanded by an order of magnitude, and I feel I am supporting them, rather than just conducting a commercial transaction by buying their music. I seek out and purchase music sold through small distributors.

And all this increase in musical richness in my life is largely attributable to one person: Gabrielle Riel. First, Gabi shared her love of music with others by hosting wonderful weekly dance parties. I showed up and had fun hearing new and old favorites as well as chatting and gossiping with friends. Then when she added events, and the young Radio Riel was born, I was a host in support of the DJs. Eventually, through Gabi’s encouragement, I took the step into DJing in Second Life. And my musical life has never been the same!

So, thank you, Gabi!

At this very moment, I’m broadcasting from Caledon Highlands for Radio Riel’s fifth anniversary celebration. I’ll be playing Scandinavian music until 8am SLT, and then Balkan music til 9. Please join us!