Your favorite tea says a lot about you. Almost as much as your favorite band.

Charles and I both love music. He plays guitar in, like, 20 bands and I buy shockingly overpriced gear to listen to the stuff. Which is funny because Charles loves, like, 20 teas and I buy shockingly overpriced gear to drink the stuff from. So music seemed the perfect theme for Series 3.

With three sets of tea under our belts, you know what really rocks our tea pot. But do you know what rocks our mics? I’m going to bare all and share some seriously embarrassing music stories.

I was born in 1971 and grew up listening to The Grateful Dead. I went to at least a dozen shows by the time I was eight years old. I even met Jerry. Briefly, but I met him. Put that in your “for tobacco use only” pipe and smoke it.

By the time I was eight, nothing was bigger in my world than Star Wars, Legos, and KISS. When you are an impressionable kid, the “quality” and “nuance” and “musicianship” of the music is secondary. Those guys were living superheros. My mom took me to see KISS in 1979 at the now-demolished Capital Center in Landover, Maryland. We had floor seats. 30 years later, I took my buddy Paul to see KISS. He was eight at the time. His awe and excitement at that spectacle reminded me of what being a kid is all about. Did you know Gene Simmons is 60 years old? Seriously, the guy still rocks.

Middle school was MTV and more MTV. I had some Police cassettes and all of Adam Ant‘s records. My friends in school loved them some Duran Duran. A guy up the street played me plenty of early Black Sabbath which I thought was incredible. Their album covers were insane. Weird Al showed up around this time and stunned me with his imagination. That guy never went the easy route. Every parody was unexpected and hilarious. Have you heard White and Nerdy?

I missed the new wave, cool punk scene while attending high school in South Carolina. I listened to a ton of stoner rock from the sixties and seventies. Jethro Tull, Heart, Hendrix. Then I went on a heavy metal kick. Anthrax was my band of choice since they sang songs about comic books. My pal Lewis and I got to see Megadeth live. It was so loud I threw up. True story.

During my senior year in high school I did what every nerd does: I discovered Rush. I wore those guys on my sleeve well into college. I’ve been to a stack of shows, even their latest tour. Say what you will about Rush (and I’ve heard it all), those guys are pros. Now my dad is a huge Rush fan (and avid tea drinker, the stronger the better).

Funny side story: I went to a Dead show in DC in 1989 because a girl I had a painful crush on was there. Turns out Charles was there, too, but I didn’t know him. So was my future wife, Kelly. Crazy. Good thing that crush didn’t work out or I’d be lonely and tealess.

The biggest hit of college was hearing Too Much Joy. They were great. Smart-ass lyrics, fun tunes, and obscure enough to make me feel cool knowing about them. I got to catch a couple of their shows between college and grad school. I even met Tim Quirk. He offered to try and sneak me into a 21+ show since I was 20 at the time. What a guy.

Grad school was odd. I missed the popular stuff from the mid-nineties. I dug up Drugstore, Lisa Germano, Dolly Varden, Southern Culture on the Skids, Freakwater, Beck, early Rolling Stones, Mono Men, Roy Orbison, and Pet Shop Boys. Spit take! Pet Shop Boys. Now there’s a duo that knows production values! I got to see Los Lobos play live in a small club. I don’t know how, but I stumbled upon Slobberbone. Probably the name caught my attention. They’ve since morphed into The Drams. Fantastic lyrics and great rock songs. You’ve got to check them out.

Now I listen to all kinds of music. Mostly rock and roll with some pop, alt-country, and rap/hip-hop thrown in for fun. I love finding an old song on iTunes. I love fun songs and sad songs. I’m a huge Dethklok fan now. Fake band fan!

I’m far less insecure about my musical tastes, but I bet that comes with age. Like your taste in tea, your taste in music changes over time.

So now it’s your turn. What are some of your favorite bands? And don’t hold back on the embarrassing ones. I went first.