This week's Friday Five is another good list of questions:

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?

I think the first concert I chose to go to myself (rather than simply "being there" as in a concert at Six Flags after a day of rides) was for a Christian new wave singer whose name I cannot recall at the moment. She was kind of like Sheena Easton, and I found it strange because the concert was in a sanctuary, but it had the light show and fog of a full rock concert. Hrmph. Now it's going to bug me until I can remember that woman's name.

The first "real" concert that I paid money for was Bob Seger, with--musical father please forgive me--Michael Bolton opening for him. Ai-yi-yi.

Jill says that her first concert was Kansas at Astroworld. It was also her first date. "I went with a guy in a silver Camaro with one of those phoenix-like decals on the hood. The guy was a weasel, but he had a nice car--well, what one thinks of as a nice car when you're in high school."

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?

Strangely enough, given recent analysis from my mp3 collection, Darden Smith, followed closely by Talking Heads. If you had asked me before I did the analysis I would have listed Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and XTC.

Jill says, "Jonatha Brooke, with Darden Smith not being far behind. I really like Jonatha Brooke right now, but my favorites are very fleeting."

Not like mine, although that last word Jill just used there reminds me of my intense affection for Fleetwood Mac (when's that new album out?).

3. What's your favorite song?

A song by James McMurtry called "Talkin' at the Texaco." I have a nasty habit of putting it on every mixed tape and CD I make, sometimes even accidentally, not realizing that I had put it on a CD I had made for someone before. The song, I feel, defines my home town experience, with some wonderful lines like, "What are you up to? We already know/We heard the boys talkin' at the Texaco."

Jill says she doesn't have a favorite right now.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?

The piano. I took lessons when I was in grade school, and learned enough music theory that I understand the principles behind chords, etc. I can "cheat" with almost any sheet music by working off the guitar tabliture. I wish, however, that I could actually play.

Jill says, "The piano." She normally jokes that the only musical instrument she can play is "the radio." "I have the fingers to play the piano," she says, "but not the patience to learn."

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?

I really don't have the kind of interest in personalities that I did when I was younger--maybe it was meeting so many authors who turned out to have feet of clay.

Jill says she can't think of anyone either.