Rock-tober 06, 2014

A year or so after Andrea and I were married, we were having dinner with a friend (she's actually the same friend you met on Rock-tober 1, 2013), and she asked me what I remembered most about the wedding. Honestly, most of it was a blur. One image did stand out. I was at the end of the aisle waiting for something, anything to happen. Suddenly Pachelbel's "Canon in D" started playing. Everyone stood and turned to face the rear of the church. The doors opened, and there she was. My bride.

I'm not sure how we decided on the Canon as the bridal march. I just know my favorite period of classical music is the baroque, and this is my all time favorite of that era. Listening to it always manages to make my spirit soar.

OK, Wayne, that's really swell. But what the bloody deuce does your wedding day and a really old ditty have to do with today's Rock-tober artist?

Blues Traveler came out of Princeton, NJ in 1987 and slowly built their fanbase by playing college venues. They hit the big time when they played a gig on Letterman and were introduced as Dave's favorite band.

Their fourth album, Four, launched in 1994 and spawned three singles. The second, "Hook", was a genius work of satire poking fun at both the music industry and its audience. The premise was it didn't matter what a song's lyrics said. As long as there was something interesting in the melody, some hook, people would buy it.

But seriously, what does this have to do with my wedding day? "Hook" does indeed contain an aural hook, at least for me. The chord progression and melody are just about identical to Pachelbel's "Canon in D". Boom. Consider yourself hooked.