Dad Daze: Youngest daughter has found her own drummers to follow

Nature or nurture is a question that’s been asked ad nauseum throughout the ages. The subject was bandied about when discussing the return of concerts and musical taste. My children and I were discussing what recording artists we’re looking forward to experiencing live.

My daughter Jillian, 22, and sons Eddie, 19, and Milo, 16, can’t wait to see Car Seat Headrest again. Milo attended six CSH shows within a nine-month span before the pandemic. The Rolling Stones, Radiohead and Japanese Breakfast are on our can’t-wait-to-catch lists.

And then there’s Jane, 11, who unlike the others, has a more mainstream taste. Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo are her current favorites. There’s nothing wrong with those recording artists. It’s just that Jane embraces another style of music and doesn’t connect with what we enjoy. After listening to Sleater-Kinney’s brilliant 1997 album “Dig Me Out,” Jane was unimpressed. “This is horrible,” Jane said. “It’s just absolutely terrible.”

I was a bit slack-jawed due to Jane’s narrow take on music. I’ve been a bit crestfallen since the reason for Jane’s name is due to the Cowboy Junkie’s gorgeous and perfect version of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane.” The baby of the family’s name was also inspired by how many Jane songs there are floating out there.

There’s the sublime “Jane of the Waking Universe,” by Guided by Voices, the Icicle Works “Understanding Jane,” the Stones’ “Lady Jane” and the unheralded gem “Lazy Line Painter Jane” by Belle and Sebastian. Those songs barely scratch the surface of Jane songs, which approach 100.

So, there is a sonic connection to Jane’s name. Her favorites don’t jibe with my wife, who loves rockabilly, country and alt-rock. So why is Jane an outlier? “I think it’s all because of what she has been exposed to,” Eddie said. “Jane hasn’t been on all of the long car rides that Milo and I have been on with you going to ice hockey and baseball.

“All of the music you played had an impact on us even when you weren’t talking about the music. But you did talk a lot about who wrote the songs, what their background was and what the songs were about. Jane didn’t have that experience.”

I wondered if that was correct since I always felt that your musical taste was primarily innate. There are certain recording artists and styles of music that alter my mood, but I’m not an expert on such matters. So, I checked into the research on the subject and was surprised by what has been discovered.

According to a recent study, our taste in music may have more to do with environment than how our brains are wired. Scientists previously thought that music preference was centered in the brain, but a study of a remote Amazonian society suggests that musical tastes are cultural in origin.

Apparently, preference for consonant sounds, which include the combination of notes in the classic chords of C and G, often heard in pop music varies across nations and is strongest in Western cultures, according to Josh McDermott, assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lead author of the study, which appears in an issue of Nature.

“This indicates that the preference for consonance depends on exposure to types of music, probably those that feature harmony in which some combinations of notes are prioritized over others, ” McDermott said. “If it were ‘hardwired,’ one would not expect such dramatic cultural variation. Everyone would be expected to have a robust preference.”

I’m not going to argue with science, but my belief is that there is a mix of nature and nurture. But, I do believe the more music you’re introduced to, the better. There is no greater mood lifter than music. According to a study, the songs we embrace when we’re ages 18 to 21 remain our favorites.

However, that’s not so for me. I wonder if it has to do with the songs of that day or was it simply due to the fact that I wasn’t quite where I wanted to be at that point. My sweet spot was post-college during the early 1990s. I love going back and indulging in Sonic Youth, P.J. Harvey, Public Enemy, Pavement, Sebadoh and Bjork.

Perhaps I love that era since I started writing about music then and interviewed each of those aforementioned recording artists. I could have had my mail forwarded to concert venues then since I experienced more than triple digits’ worth of shows each year of the 1990s.

Maybe there is something to nurture since I’ve learned to appreciate virtually every genre ranging from jazz, rock and country to hip-hop and classical. But we all have our favorites. I’ve always been an alt-rock guy. The Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves hair metal.

I get it. I lived it. Say what you will about that subgenre. It was a blast. My cousin Bob can’t get enough of country. My former colleague, Eric, is a hip-hop aficionado. My current supervisor, features editor Don Chareunsy, is a die-hard electronic dance music fan.

Why do we have preferences? I guess the answer is that it doesn’t matter as long as you’re immersed in music, which makes a difference in your life. Music can take you to another place. If I need energy, I’ll blast Ministry or Miles Davis. If I need to dial it down, there’s Simon and Garfunkel or Frank Sinatra. If I’m looking for some jangle and humor, there’s the Smiths.

If Dua Lipa is your jam, Jane, rock on! What’s great about the vast sonic landscape is that there is something for everyone. Unless you’re a sociologist, it doesn’t matter why you embraced a recording artist. Just immerse yourself in music. It’s fun, free and healthy.