Music, My Brother, and the Greatest Band on Earth

What is your favorite band?

This question plagued me for years. As a child, I wasn't allowed to listen to anything other than classical music, and kids would tease me if I said 'the New York Philharmonic'. Classical music is still a major part of my life. One of the best parts about minoring in music in college was the weekly listening lists...I fell in love with Wagnerian opera, and found a new appreciation for Brahms.

That being said, I do like a bit of variety. Not to say that there isn't variety within the realm of 'classical' music, but sometimes a girl just wants an electric guitar and English lyrics sung by one to three people instead of a choir. Luckily for me, every time my big brother wanted to 'play Legos,' (which was very, very often) we would listen to whatever he wanted, and what he wanted was certainly not found on NPR.

Nick exposed me to more music than anyone else in my life. It started off with Bobby Brown, MC Hammer and New Kids on the Block, then became Green Day and Reel Big Fish, then Metallica and Megadeth, Dream Theater, My Dying Bride, Amorphis, and countless other death metal bands (including his own, Northian...check them out; they're awesome).

But perhaps the most important band he introduced me to is Alice in Chains. 

I don't remember where we were going, but it was somewhere really far away. Possibly home from scattering my grandfather's ashes on a lake in Wisconsin. He started playing this CD, which he often did (I never had any say in the matter), and I will never forget the first time I heard 'I Stay Away,' from their EP 'Jar of Flies':

We're talking amazing harmonies, goose-bump-worthy violin (not typical of the band), and my first taste of the haunting lyrical style of the late-great Layne Staley.

I couldn't get the sound out of my head. Every time I was home alone, I would borrow the CD from Nick's room (sorry, bro), and then I found his other two AIC albums, and listened to those. He had moved out at one point and left them there, and I most definitely stole them and brought them with me to college. (I hope he never reads this...)

Periodically, I would forget about them. But every so often I would go back to them, and remember how much I liked them. After awhile I realized that they had actually become my favorite band. Alice in Chains is the only band I have actually cared about not only the frontman but the rest of the band itself. I have watched interviews with them, and Mike Inez (bassist) seems like the sweetest man on Earth. I was fortunate enough to see them live a few months ago...some bands turn out to be total jackasses when they perform, but Alice in Chains was totally professional and had a ton of fun, and didn't resort to dropping F-bombs every two seconds to make people think they're cool.

Layne Staley passed away on April 5th, 2002. I was actually unaware of this until only a couple of years ago. This past year they released a new album, Black Gives Way to Blue, with a new frontman, William DuVall. I am supremely impressed with him...his voice has a similar timbre to Staley's, but it's his own. He's not copying him. But the Alice in Chains sound that I fell in love with remains.

And finally, their own tribute to Layne Staley. Don't feel ashamed if you tear up.