A regular blogger for Get Barenaked, Amy shares some thoughts on BNL, friends and change. Take it away, Amy…

Time changes many things. And interestingly enough, a few things don’t change.

Among the changes over the past 19 years: Graduated college; moved five times; met the man I would eventually marry; he put a ring on it (married!); added a dog to the family; rescued another one; had a couple of kids, and oh the cars…on my fourth one in 19 years. And I may have a few more grey hairs than I did 19 years ago, but heck, that means I’m living life!

You know what hasn’t changed in that 19 years? My love for the band Barenaked Ladies. The band’s music has grown with me.

From Rock Spectacle, when I first heard the band, to the most current release BNL Rocks Red Rocks (I was at that concert!), the band’s music has been a soundtrack of my life.

Songs that have made me cry (like “Another Heartbreak,” holy cats, it must have been written for me!), made me laugh (Four Seconds…try listening to a 3-year-old try to sing along with Tyler to Mississippi), and made me dance and sing along at 30 concerts (but who’s counting here!) As I continue to live life, and develop more grey hairs, I have brought my husband along for the ride, and now our 9-year-old son tells people he has been to five BNL concerts (including at Red Rocks…RED ROCKS!)

So back to the changes over the past 19 years: The way fellow BNL fans can connect. Thanks to the power that is social media, I have had a chance to chat with, and get to know, other fans who love Barenaked Ladies as much as I do. 19 years ago, if someone had asked me that I would end up at a Barenaked Ladies concert with 10 friends I didn’t know yet, from all over North America, I would have laughed (and then tried to find my Walkman to go for a run. Side note: My mind would have been blown by the possibility of having my phone act as my music player as well, but here we are iPhone).

In June 2016, 10 other fellow fans and I, having chatted, connected, shared stories, memories and life together the past two years, had a chance to all be together for the first time at a BNL concert. There were past concerts where we got close with 5-8 of us, but all 11 at the same time? It was an amazing and epic experience to share with all of them.

While we didn’t all sit right next to each other, we were close enough where I could see them all smiling, dancing, and having the times of their lives. I looked around at DTE Energy Music Theater in Michigan that warm June night and thought to myself, ‘My favorite band, and the power of social media, brought the Ladies Ladies together. How can I ever say thank you?’

Through the years, Barenaked Ladies concerts have become so much more than the music itself. They have become a place to make memories with my family, make memories (and malarkey!) with the amazing friends I have gotten to know, and a chance to escape the present day for a moment. Because, let’s be honest folks, life is hard sometimes.

As the BNL song “Ordinary goes”… “A melody can make up your mind…” The band’s melodies have helped me make up my mind to continue to see them in concert; sing and dance along loudly (sorry fans behind me at shows…OK, maybe not sorry); make awesome memories with my family (RED ROCKS!) and make amazing friends along the way.

Thanks that was fun…can’t wait for the next memory-making BNL concert.

Thanks Amy! Follow Amy on Twitter

Do you have a BNL story to share? Email your blog and pics to liam@getbarenaked.net!

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