Where it all began . . .

Thank you for being here! Annie’s Awesome Rock Blog is my new project and I’m excited to share this with anyone who is kind enough to take the time to read it.  I’m going to start this new endeavor with a post from my personal blog.  It’s actually a post I shared in late 2020 in a Breaking Benjamin fan group I’m in on Facebook.  This post tells a lot about why music pretty much saved my life that year. At the end, I’ll explain how my love of Breaking Benjamin led me to being involved in the music industry in a way I never could have imagined – including reigniting my passion for writing that I thought I had lost.

ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 2020

OK, I feel really silly posting this. It’s like I’m a 12-year-old middle school girl. But it IS my blog, right? No judgement allowed? So, I will do it. There is a great hard rock band called Breaking Benjamin. I absolutely love their music. Probably more importantly, they might be some of the nicest people on the planet. They love each other. They adore their wives and families. They cherish their fans. I am so into this band right now — they seriously make my days brighter. The following is something I posted in a Breaking Benjamin fan Facebook group I am in. Thank you in advance for reading. 

** LONG POST ALERT — I apologize in advance but I felt the need to share this with this wonderful group. ** I am usually good at putting words together – Hell, I was a journalism major, after all, and I still think I’m a good writer.  But I feel like I might start rambling here, so I’m sorry.  I am new to this group. I love hard rock music.  It’s what I listen to in my car.  It’s what I listen to at the gym while most people around me are probably listening to hip hop.  Recently I started listening to a lot more Breaking Benjamin.  I always loved their music, but something sparked a bigger interest in learning more about this band. First of all, I keep discovering songs I have never heard before and I really like them and keep listening to them because I’m hooked.

I know this band has a lot of interesting history, including, of course, the lineup change.  I like the original band’s music as much as the music the newer band has made. I will be honest, sometimes I wonder if it’s “okay” to like the older music so much since the only original member is Ben.  But then I see the current band members who love to play the older stuff as much as the new music and I figure it’s OK because they are so passionate about what they do.  I’m not sure if that makes any sense, but whatever.  I’ve been watching a lot of interviews the band has done in recent years, both together and individually.  Has anyone seen the “50ish Questions” interviews done with Aaron, Keith, Shaun, and Jasen on YouTube?  Really cool stuff.  Each one of these men is so interesting in his own way.  I also found a “NEPA Scene” podcast interview from 2019 with Aaron.  I loved hearing his story about how he hooked up with Ben. 

I love hearing these men talk about each other. They truly love each other and are brothers.  Their friendships are beautiful.  I also love hearing them talk about their families – especially Aaron and Jasen.  Listening to Aaron talk about his wife seriously makes me cry — she sounds like an amazing woman.  And then, of course, they really love their fans.  I know all bands do, but these men are passionate about the people that support them.  Are these men for real? Can they really be this nice? They sure can.  They are truly inspiring. 

I work in healthcare where I help people every day.  I have an 83-year-old father with health issues who lives with me and my boyfriend, and Mike and I both try to help him so he is comfortable and cared for.  I am a Type 1 diabetic diagnosed when I was almost 36 years old and I do my best every day to take care of myself so I can try to live a “normal” life.  Lately I’ve been doing better with my own health.  I’ve been going to the gym a lot (listening to lots of Breaking Benjamin, of course) and trying to eat better and I’ve lost about 10 pounds recently.  I know this might sound cheesy, but this band inspires me to BE BETTER AND DO BETTER in my own life.  It’s not just the music, it’s their unbelievable spirit and love for life and each other that are contagious.  Does this make any sense? 

2020 has been crazy.  I am grateful to Breaking Benjamin for putting some sunshine in my daily life.  Sadly — please, don’t judge — I have never seen them play live.  Can you believe this – I work in Allentown, PA, in a medical office in the building attached to the PPL Center arena where they played with Korn January 23rd of this year.  I DID NOT GO TO THE SHOW! WHY? What a dummy I was.  I have no doubt I’ll get to see them play in person – after all, the band’s roots are of course here in PA and they love playing here. They will be back, and I will be there.  We just need a damn COVID vaccine so there can be live music again!  Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this. And again, thank you for letting me be a part of this group.  Love to all!

UPDATE FEBRUARY 23RD, 2023 – MY 51ST BIRTHDAY

First off, you’ll all be happy to know that, since this post in 2020, I have seen Breaking Benjamin play live TWICE!  Once in December 2021 right in my hometown of Bethlehem, PA – an acoustic show at the local casino’s events center. I enjoyed spending time at that show with good friends Lisa, Cody, Eric, and Theresa, and meeting other Breaking Benjamin fans I had gotten to be friends with through Facebook.  Bonus:  my “favorite’ Breaking Benjamin band member, guitarist and backing vocalist Keith Wallen, opened the show with a solo set of his own music.  His 2021 album This World Or The Next is a true masterpiece and I often listen to the whole album from start to finish.  My second Breaking Benjamin experience was a huge show in April 2022 in Reading, PA, with two other bands I love, Seether and STARSET, plus the amazing Lacey Sturm.  I was so happy that my boyfriend, Mike, was able to go to that show with me.

So after only listening to only Breaking Benjamin music for about two and a half months back in 2020, I finally decided to branch out. I started joining other band fan groups on Facebook, including the I Prevail group. That’s where I found people who became some of the greatest friends I have ever known – Scott, Adam, Danny, Jeff, Cody, Eric, Theresa, Michele, Paul, Dakota, Jared, George — among others.  Through them I became a part of a music community that led me to what I’m doing now. 

Scott was the first one who got me involved in doing band promotions, and I got to know Matt, Lisa, and Joe, who became good friends to me and added me to the promo teams for many other bands.  I fell in love with helping support bands I love and share their awesome music.  Through this, I got back into my first love – writing.  I never would have expected to transition from sports writing (my original career goal as a college journalism major) to writing about music.  But it happened and I love it. I hope to be able to continue for a long time.  Thank you for checking out Annie’s Awesome Rock Blog. There will be more to come!