Music Ethnography

Whenever I think of the music culture in Dallas I always think of one place, The Granada Theater. Maybe it is because I grew up just minutes away from The Granada, but the music culture in Lower Greenville has always revolved around The Granada Theater. Unlike many concert stages such as the yellow book center, The Granada Theater has kept a much more retro look. The outside design looks like an old theater from the 1950s while the inside has a nice cool acoustic room. The society around it is mainly older restaurants that have a very retro look and restaurants with a very modern look. This weekend I am going to go see Yo La Tengo and am going to observe the behavior of the crowd. There is a two bars in the theater and people tend to get quite drunk while listening to music. Also Lower Greenville tends to have a lot of people experimenting with illegal drugs. It might get pretty weird but with a band such as Yo La Tengo there will most likely be a very diverse crowd between people going there just for the music and people going for sort of a party scene.

Indie Folk

Although I can not give an absolute reason, the music style known as Indie Folk has definitely influenced me more than any other music style. Indie Folk has always been able to amaze me by all the different albums that bring their own unique sound, such as Beirut picking up a new sound by traveling to Paris and picking up a Balkan music influence (Beirut Interview). The unique sounds are mainly because of the wide array of instruments these bands use. I think this is one of the main reasons I love it so much, even this sub-genre has so many different sounds. I first started listing to artist such as Elliot Smith and Beirut, then friends would recommend other bands or I would start a Pandora station of a certain band and see all the different kinds of bands that would come up. This music is apart of my everyday life. Either when I just want to relax or when I am trying to get some homework done, I am always listening. It is able to allow me to reflect on my everyday life and I could not get through a single day without it. I would not have it any other way.