Two Brothers (a playlist)
My brother Chris Cunningham and I are typical siblings in that we don't see each other nearly enough. We rarely talk at all. It's not that we don't love and care for each other it's more a matter of how life be life-ing. Chris has an active life and multiple jobs and I'm a borderline shut-in with a kid, two dogs, and three projects I'm trying to get out of my head everyday.
But there is always a tie thant binds.
My brother and I grew up in a very musical home. None of us in the house played an instrument or sang. But music rang from the stereo in the living room constantly. Chris and I were raised in a time when music was a communal experience. Headphones were a luxury and if you had them as a kid you certainly couldn't spend your whole day with them on your ears.
Chris and I were exposed to everything from Poverati to Nina Simone. Willy Nelson to the O'Jays. All of this while Hip-Hope was being incubated outside of our Bronx home (SoundView StandUp).
Over the last few months Chris and I have reconnected through that love of music. We began sharing songs and albums in a Spotify chat.
We began sharing our favorite jazz, folk, soul and R&B tracks. Most of them from small artists. The excitement to share and here eachother's picks has been a reconnection grounded in our childhoods. Each shared song is an opportunity for a shared experience mixed with a bit of competition and nostogia. It's as close as we will get to sitting in our parents living room rifling though the stacks of records, tapes, CD's, and Reel to Reels.
Now we share this evergreen, ever expanding playlist with you because the best part of this whole endevor is the sharing.
