The thing about falling in love with someone quite different in background and interests is that I often find myself in scenarios that I never dreamt I’d experience…and even enjoy.

I grew up listening to country music, as I had a small clock radio in my room I won from a band fundraiser, and I’d tune in to 104.9 or 97.3 and listen to country music at night before bed.  My dad would occasionally turn on the Grand Old Opry on Saturday nights and we’d listen downstairs for a little while together.  I realize this was my only exposure to music, and I might not have known what else I was missing, but I loved the passion in the lyrics and sounds of guitar, especially in the old stuff, like Kitty Wells, June Carter, and Johnny Cash.  One of my favorite summer memories is riding in an old pick up truck with my brother on our way to Tremont, blaring Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” and singing with reckless abandon.  Country music spoke to me directly and I was just sure that some of those songs were written just for me.  I understood the gravel roads, the hard farm work, and family values that trumped everything else.  I found a piece of myself in every song I heard and found comfort in feeling understood.

I still listen to country music; in fact, at least half of my presets are local country stations, but I’ve also been influenced by Nicholas’ musical tastes.  Nicholas is pretty open minded about music, and grew up listening to a variety of tunes, but was particularly interested in industrial bands throughout middle and high school; he owned t-shirts and CDs for bands like Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, and VNV Nation.  His parents often played the likes of The Rat Pack while they prepared red sauce and pasta, and his sister brought the hippie music of the 60s to round out the family’s musical tastes.

We listen to a bit of everything these days–Cold Play, Eminem, Pink, Fun, The Band Called Perry…the list goes on, but we’re both still true to our roots.  When I’m home alone, I listen to my favorite Pandora blend of old school country, and he’ll have anything from Jack and Diane Radio to an industrial band playing when he rules the roost.  But this past week, we experienced a blast from his past–together.  We had floor tickets for Nine Inch Nails on Thursday night, and after ten years of marriage, I couldn’t wait to experience something from his childhood, as his first NIN concert was in 1993. 🙂 We pushed our way through until we were about 20 feet from the stage.  The show was incredible, as Trent Reznor still owns the stage after a 25-ish year career as the lead singer of NIN.  The first set was his older music, and much to the shock of many friends from my younger days, I knew a few of the songs and loved the music and the experience.  It was an energetic surge of bodies and voices singing along and reliving a piece of their past, and I loved feeling like the clock backed up and allowed me to know more of Nicholas 15 years ago.

I recognize that there is nothing more important than our present life together, but this life is so heavily influenced by the people that we were, and the pieces of our past that we choose to share with each other continually shape our relationship.  When we first talked about tickets, I asked him if he wanted to take a friend instead, as I thought he might have more fun with someone who knew all their music.  He said the friend he wanted to take was me.