Boy, doesn't time fly... I'm 34. Seems like just last week I was spending the majority of my day in the dorm room blasting guitar through a 2x12 65-W amp turned up to 7. Gee, they really must have loved me back then.
Been a metal fan since sixth grade, starting when I heard Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name". Never looked back. I started playing guitar the summer before ninth grade. My tastes in music then shifted from the Ratt, Maiden, Twisted Sister (ugh!), Krokus, Saxon, Ozzy, etc.-type music to the neo-classical shred movement (Malmsteen, MacAlpine, Greg Howe [still can't believe I met the guy face-to-face and could only say three words to him], Racer X, Vinnie Moore, etc.). Around 11th grade things started getting heavier with Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies (geez, Rocky George was cool), blah blah (never much a fan of Metallica because everybody else in school liked them and my tastes were much better than mainstream-ha!), etc.
My musical preferences have expanded considerably to include Blues (went to college in Texas - Lubbock to be exact - so it had to come into favor sooner or later), jazz (my guitar teacher is big time into jazz/fusion/funk - just a logical progression since I've been under his tutelage for so damn long), classical (pretty natural since most of the music I listen to is classical based - natural that I'd want to investigate where it was all coming from), and Christian (wife is big on Christian music - the melodies are typically very cool).
Dream Theater came along my junior year in college. I heard "Pull Me Under" on the radio and almost had an orgasm. I found the name of the band and then heard they were coming to town. I went to see them and was blown away. Then got their CD, didn't stop listening to it for several months, and bought every other DT CD to follow. Since then, I'd been keeping an ear out for new stuff and heard about a kid named Mike Romeo. I looked all over for more information, but couldn't find anything. Internet growth finally led me to more information and I found out about Symphony X. I finally found one of their CDs (V) and bought it. Blew me away and I've been a steadfast fan since. I finally got to see them live a year and a half ago (talk about time flying...) and look forward to their future releases/projects/etc.
I joined this forum a while back, but don't post too much - mostly when I'm bored at work. I have expanded my CD catalog significantly based on band recommendations from this forum and my own Internet browsing. Thanks to all who have brought me new music.
