I AM__a Disc Jockey
Remembering a Year of Musical Growth & Exploration
2023 has been a year of exploration for me. After spending time composing an article series on a political dust-up in North Dakota, ferreting out significant fraud in a sports organization, and covering local politics, I decided to become a DJ. One year ago today I woke up in New Orleans having prepared and enjoyed New Year’s Eve set on the train ride down. It was a great experience from start to finish and I decided that it would be a major focus of my year.
From that day forward I have explored how best to move forward in a capacity that allowed me to create music I would enjoy, but also primarily increase my skills. This started with the production of an 8 1/2-hour country music set. During this time I explored what country music was or could be interpreted as. I hope to revisit that set and perform some version of it this year.
Was it simply the box of twangy, story-driven music typified in the 1990s or something with far more range and interpretation? For my purposes, it made most sense to approach it based on the latter. It was more fun to interpret country music liberally, whether that be Rooster by…