I spent some of Thanksgiving weekend cleaning out a pile of boxes in a spare room - lots of stuff that we just didn’t need.  Included in that pile were boxes of CDs - hundreds of them - my wife and I’s entire collection.  How often do we use them?

Pretty much never.

So this week, I’ve been burning hundreds of CDs onto iTunes, and I’m reminded of the amazingly good albums I’ve collected and never listen to any more, as well as the other amazingly terrible ones that I’d like to forget I ever bought.  Hey, we all have some dirty little secrets.

I have to admit, that I have an even more dirty little secret.

The secret is this:  I’m not a music snob.

“No!!!”

Yes, it’s true.  I don’t consider myself to have great taste in music.  I don’t keep on top of the latest trends.  I was given a Radiohead t-shirt (thanks to Ben and Cindy!), but a friend had to let me borrow some Radiohead albums to familiarize myself so I wouldn’t be a shame to True Music Lovers Everywhere.  Is there a new band that you love on your favorite radio station or blog or that your friends told you about?  Yep, I have no idea who they are.  Is there some older band that I should totally be in love with that your older sibling turned you on to on vinyl?  I probably have no respect for them.

I don’t mean to say that I don’t like music, or don’t have opinions, or don’t purchase music ever - I just mean to say that if you stack up my record collection next to someone cool, I will certainly appear uncool.

So, when people ask “What’s your favorite band, Dan?” I automatically respond with one answer.

“Good Night, States”.

“No, really - a real band, after Good Night, States, not your own.”

“No, really.  It’s my favorite.”

You see, friends, out of all of the hundreds of CDs I’ve owned, and will own in the future (digitally), there is one band that matters the most.  I was reminded of this as I’ve been burning CDs for days now, and I keep thinking to myself “Oh, yeah, That-Band-I-Used-To-Love!  I should totally listen to that CD!”  Did I follow through?  No.  I was in need of a pick-up on a depressing day, so instead I listened through “Short Films on Self Control”, “In The Impossible Tension”, and all of The Internet Singles.  Because, when I listen to our music, it reminds me of why I got in this in the first place, and why I want to keep fighting the good fight.  It reminds me of listening to Steve on an acoustic guitar in his dorm room long before GN,S existed and thinking to myself “Everyone in the world needs to hear this music.”  I want to keep moving forward, because when it comes down to it, I truly am a music snob.  I’ve always known that the truth of the matter is that I listen to, and participate in, a really great band.  I’m not saying that to be pretentious - I’m saying that because I want you, reader, to know how I feel.  It’s a dirty little secret that I’m trying to get the whole world to know about.