This is my first four paragraphs. It’s almost a full page. Everything is still rough, but feedback is much appreciated. As I sit here and take a hit off my semi-illegal substance from a cheap pipe I bought in a porn shop, I hear Rancid’s “Radio” drifting out of my speakers and I think to myself… when you got the music, you truly do have a place to go. If it wasn’t for the bands I’ve seen I wouldn’t have met some of the best friends in the world, I also wouldn’t have so many stories to tell. Music didn’t just save my life, it saved me. Next time you’re at a show.. look around you, look at all those dedicated kids that have been standing in line since sunrise, those kids who don’t care how cold it is, how hot it is, how long they’re going to have to wait. Those are the dedicated ones. Those are the kids with a story to tell. I started out as one of those kids. So many kids put these band members up on a pedestal, they worship them, treat them as Gods, then fangirl out when in their presence, but that’s not how it should be. They are just like us. They started out waiting in line for hours to see their favorite band, they started out buying every cd they could get their hands on just to have new music, and they started out wallpapering their bedrooms with their idols… just like us. I’ve met many, many people. Some of them idols. Some of them barely have an album released. Some of them fall just under what’s trendy, but no matter what they started somewhere too. Last summer I met one of my biggest idols, Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. His lyrics, their albums affect me in such a profound way. I can listen to them over and over again. I just stood and talked to him for 20 minutes outside Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. I was pretty much alone and it was a little creepy, but he was the absolute nicest person I have met. I was incredibly stoked to meet him, and it was more than well worth the wait. One of the things he said to me as we stood outside under the cover of dark discussing tattoos was that I shouldn’t tattoo over my scar on my upper right arm because scars are memories and the next time I come out to a show he expects to see my scar again without ink over it. I thought that was pretty cool. It was one of the highest moments in my life. I stood in the presence of someone that idolized and he turned out to be one of the kindest people I have ever met. Alkaline Trio’s lyrics have inspired me on so many levels. Those songs are there in my darkest hours, they are there on my weekend drinking binges, they are there when my heart is broken and I’m in desperate need of someone to understand. This is why music is my only passion. Seeing a band live never gets old. Live music can cure absolutely anything that ails you. As soon as your favorite band takes the stage and you hear that first riff, it’s like a surge of energy just powers through you. You’ve been waiting all night for this and finally the moment has arrived. You stand there and the music just.. envelopes you. There is nothing more important than standing inside a hot, sweaty, dingy venue to see your favorite band play your favorite songs. You won’t feel more alive than you do in that very moment. I love nights like this; hot summer nights inside dark, dingy venues anywhere on the east coast where I can find a band I love playing some of my favorite songs. Most of the people I know live for nights like this. Those are the same people who are going to change the scene one day.

Basically the idea of my book is to put it out there all the great things the music scene today has done for kids, whether you grew up in the early 90s listening to Green Day and The Offspring or you grew up in the early 00s listening to Sum 41 and Good Charlotte… music has somehow changed your life.

What I need is the following:

-Stories of how music changed your life
-What influenced you (whether you’re in a band or not)
-What YOU have done in the music industry (non profit, ran a webzine, clothing line, street team.. etc)

I want stories from kids and hopefully I’ll be able to collect some from band members eventually as well. It should flow sort of like one of those Chicken Soup For The Soul books, but dedicated to music and positivity. I just want your story… did music save your life? Did music change your life? What have YOU done to better the music industry? I want everything to be positive.

There are so many incredible causes out there… invisable children, punk the vote, rock the vote, punk junk donations… so many things dedicated to positivity. There are so many kids who were looking for someone to indentify with and they found their way through music. I want people to know these stories. I want people to know my story as well.

Right now I’m just collecting data and stories. I would love to hear your story. So please feel free to email your story to musicstories.bookhelp@gmail.com. It can be completely annoymous or you can include your contact information (facebook, aim, twitter, myspace).

Anything will help at all, any story, anything you would love to share. I would love to hear it and I would love to share it with others. Maybe your story could change the life of someone else the way someone changed yours.

I would love for people to reblog this, write something, or stare me in any kind of direction right now I’m not really getting much, but I would love to get more. So please feel free to send out this information. Any questions you can myspace message me or you can get me on AIM at megan rockstar x

As many know, I have begun writing a book within the last month. The idea of it is to express positivity on today’s alternative music scene through stories, photographs and so on. I’m in the process of collecting stories from people who have agreed to write for me, as well as writing my own story. In this blog I will post stuff I’ve written that I am ready to share with the public. Your feedback is appreciated. Your critizism is appreciated.

Later today I’ll put up the first page of what I have written for others to see. Feel free to poke around. I’ll also post the contact information if you’d like to submit something.