The Eye of the Hurricane

5 Questions For Fans – Heather Jank

Welcome to the 3rd installment of 5 Questions For Fans where we’ll hear from Heather Jank, who was selected by Meg. Heather lives in Dallas with her dog Lola and is an accountant by trade. She loves Adair’s Saloon, live music, road trips, floating the river, Gruene Hall, and hanging out with her friends as much as time allows!

FYI, I’m calling an audible and adding a new question and bumping the previous #5. I really wanted to hear more “stories” and I think you’ll agree with the choice.

1) If you had to pick 2 albums that you would be the only music you could listen to from now on, which would they be?
This is the hardest question EVER for me, but I’m going to go with:

2) When was the first time you realized that music was going to be an impacting force in your life? Or perhaps a “turning moment” in your love of music.
Music has been a huge force in my life from day 1. My mother always had the radio on, or a record playing when I was growing up. Rarely did we watch TV in our house. I hold tons of knowledge on old 70′s/80′s music, where as most people my age know all the details of episodes of the Brady Bunch. Some of my friends tease me that I should compete on Rock N Roll Jeopardy. As far as Texas/OKOM goes, an old friend I grew up with took me to my first Great Divide show back in 2001. The lyrics hit me immediately and I was hooked. From TGD came Ragweed, Boland, Randy Rogers, Bingham, Stoney, Wade Bowen … and I’ve been here ever since.

3) Do you have any words to live by… something written in a song or spoken/quoted from a musician?

“Don’t go changing just to try and please someone, please yourself and just stay wild” ~ Mike McClure/The Great Divide – Wildflower

4) Any concert/road trip/meet & greet/restaurant/hotel advice to share? Choose one…
Never be afraid to steer off the beaten plan or path, or to try something new or unexpected on a whim. Some of my best road trip experiences have happened on the spur of the moment, with a decision to pick up and go somewhere hours away within a matter of minutes, sometimes to hang out with people I had never met in person before! And some of these people are now the best friends I have ever had.

5) Tell us a story that sticks out in your mind when you think about all your experiences in this music scene.
When I first found this scene I was a lurker on the TUFTFU board for about two years. I never posted or talked to anyone, I just went there to look for information on shows and where I could find more great music. I was also a member of most of OKOM’s Yahoo message boards, and talked to a few people there. In 2003, I found myself having to work a temporary assignment for what ended up being 9 long months in Houston, especially being a Dallas girl, and knowing NO ONE in Houston at the time. I turned to one of the Yahoo message boards, since a lot of people from Houston seemed to post there a lot, to see if I could meet up with some of them at a Bleu Edmondson show at the Firehouse Saloon. And to my rescue came JuneBug. We met up at the show, and she welcomed me with an open heart, open arms and full beer, and we have been friends ever since. She convinced me to join Galleywinter, which had just started a few months prior to this, encouraged me to talk to the people on GW and speak up and make friends, and also introduced me to Nee Nee, heathergrows, HogLeg, and a host of others. And most of the people I now call my best friends I met here too. So thanks for that, Junie B. We may all live far apart, but our love for music always brings us back together full circle. And for this I am thankful!

Who should I ask these questions to next?
Ryin Jones – the newly appointed Steamboat Jesus. I’ve known him for awhile, and if anyone has better stories to tell than me, it is Ryin!

Previously, 5 Questions for Suzy Johnson and Meg Ruffing.

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