This is a tough topic because I like different artists depending upon my mood at the time.  My “standard” top artists include Neil Young, Yes, and Pink Floyd.  However, there’s a fine line separating them from CSNY, Genesis, The Band, Jethro Tull, and the Grateful Dead.  And then, there’s always Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Alice Cooper and Led Zepplin.  Other evenings, a glass of wine accompanied by Return to Forever is absolutely perfect.  Last Friday though – it was beer accompanied by David Allen Coe – followed by Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Right now I’m listening to Ben Harper and it’s pretty damn good.

When I was 10-12 years old I was really into the Partridge Family – particularly Laura Partridge…but that’s another story.  Then one day I found FM radio – WEBN 102.7 in Cincinnati to be exact – and the rest is history.  One of the first songs I heard was from this band from England named Deep Purple.  The song – “Smoke on the Water.”  I didn’t know a guitar could sound like that.  Keith Partridge never bent strings like Richie Blackmore did…  So Deep Purple became my first favorite band, Richie Blackmore became my first favorite guitarist, and the Fender Stratocaster became – and remains my favorite guitar.  Check out one of my favorite Deep Purple songs by downloading from our music partner amazon.com.  When was your first “music moment’ and first favorite artist?