It’s like Julie and Julia, only if the project required no discernable talent
It all happened pretty quickly, which is when all the most interesting ideas take shape. In my last day in the office, back in March, I started telling people I’d make them a Spotify playlist. A few people seemed interested, and then I put the offer out on Instagram, and in the first month or so of the quarantimes, I made more than 50 playlists.
It was a way to stay connected to people, a way to prevent doomscrolling, and a way to share the music I love with friends, family, and coworkers. Each playlist is like a tiny little research project that takes a small amount of time and might bring a little joy to a person or two.
I created a few ground rules for myself, mostly to give each playlist some sense of finality, otherwise I’d keep adding and adding to it. Of course, since I invented this whole thing, I’ve broken these rules whenever I’ve felt like. Here are the basic rules:
- Each playlist is about 90 minutes long.
- Each playlist features no repeat artists.
- Everyone gets one playlist, unless you asked for more than one and I didn’t have a bunch that I was working on.
- When someone requested a playlist, I would ask for a genre or a few artists that they liked. Sometimes I would feature songs from the artists they mentioned, sometimes I wouldn’t.
It was pretty easy to notice patterns about the music I like based on what I shared with other people. I enjoy a really wide range of stuff:
I’ve been listening to a lot of folk and folk rock these last few years, which really started when I first heard the Avett Brothers back in 2007 or 2008. In 2015 my sister introduced me to the Punch Brothers, a neo-bluegrass band, which really opened me up to the incredible bluegrass music that’s come out in the last 20 or 25 years.
I’m also really enjoying Vulfpeck and all the side and solo projects from the group. I encourage you all to check out their Live at MSG show, which is available in full on Spotify and as a film on YouTube.
I grew up on Billy Joel and James Taylor, and like many people who went to college in the mid-2000’s, I act like I discovered all music from the 1970’s and 80’s.
So it’s a bit all over the map.
Since the quarantimes looks like it’ll keep going for a while, I thought it might be a good idea to find some additional ways to milk my love of Spotify. So I’m going to share some playlists here and write a little bit about them. I’ve got some other ideas about little projects to write about here, so more to come!
