People gifted at expressing themselves through music are sometimes wonderful to meet in person, sometimes intense, sometimes shy, and often eager to connect and share. Have you met a musician of local, regional, or even wider-audience reknown? What were . . .

People gifted at expressing themselves through music are sometimes wonderful to meet in person, sometimes intense, sometimes shy, and often eager to connect and share. Have you met a musician of local, regional, or even wider-audience reknown? What were your impressions? Did it make you a bigger fan? Turn you off? Share your stories of meeting musicians!

Artists are often honored or recognized posthumously, lionized if they get to 'idol' status, left to starve for their art if they fail to find an appreciative audience, or otherwise marginalized.

I believe artists are often misunderstood because of our inclination to label and compartmentalize them. This is especially true of musicians, because music can become background or wallpaper to our daily lives.

Lots of us wake up to music, hear it pureed in elevators, shopping malls, workplaces, or on hold, and collect it on CDs, downloads, iPods, and various other formats -- and through it all we stop thinking of the music in terms of who created it, who wrote the lyrics, who put the soul and heart into what we're hearing. Musicians seem "other" from us somehow, and are part of They -- as in "They say it's not bluegrass if there's drums."

Musicians, to create lasting work, often turn out to be people who love to connect and share. They turn their life experiences and observations into the music they create, giving back a snapshot in song or sound.

Have you had the chance to meet a musician in some time or place? At a festival? A concert? A local coffeehouse? Do you know someone who expresses and creates in music? Did you discover a friend and come to value their music as a result? Did you become disillusioned but thus a little more realistic and wiser?

All experiences, good or bad, are lessons -- let's keep it positive; rather than focus on quirks and offenses, let's share some stories about musicians we've met and how they positively impacted our lives, intentionally or otherwise.