A Hearty Welcome

Without a doubt, this blog is a work of passion, a fruition of long-lasting interests.

Counterculture has always been a part of my life, whether through the music I was raised on, a series of particular interests and obsessions (I can especially cite a longstanding fascination with hippies from early on), or just the general sense of "otherness" I felt growing up, never quite fitting in. Either way, I've always been passionate about various cultures, music, and the combination of the two. The idea of communities forming around similar interests in genres, literature, and ideas captivated me, and for a long time, I've considered myself part of that counterculture world. 

So this project, a culmination of my passions, was inevitable.

Fast-forward to my last year of music school, during which I found myself faced with the question of my senior project. A teacher encouraged me to put my interests to use and do a continuation of a presentation - a PowerPoint outlining the Gothic subculture - from freshman year. Following her advice, I created a website, Musiccounterculture.com, in which I broke down 3 countercultures - Beat, Hippie, and Goth - into their historical background, traits, ideologies, and music and offered some comparisons and contrasts. I was also able to utilize new techniques that I had acquired from Journalism, Editorial, and Opinion Writing classes.

Out of space (the domain that I had chosen only allotted room for a set amount of pages at its price, which was all I could afford on a college student budget), pressed for time (it was a very hectic graduation year), and utterly stressed out, I couldn't do all that I wanted to do with my project. I left it with a sense of unfulfillment, only able to imagine its full potential.

I couldn't leave it alone for long, so, with new motivation, I have decided to revisit it, but now in the form of a blog. In this Phase 2, I can take the opportunity to explore not only those three countercultures but others as well. I also get the chance to experiment with a less academic and formal tone, instead offering my own voice and sharing my opinion in some articles as I plunge further into these worlds and branch out into other aspects of the music subculture world.

I hope you will join me as I explore and experiment, embracing the uniqueness of these fascinating worlds. If anything, this will be a new experience and an interesting journey for me. I humbly invite you to come along for the ride. Thank you, and welcome!

Musically yours,

ClaraJKent

The Antediluvian Passerby

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