For the last 6 months or so, Trinity and I have been working really hard at saving money (sadly, in order to pay off credit cards...), so I have been coming up with all kinds of ways to get my new music kicks without spending lots of money on iTunes. Here are some of the things I have discovered:

Pandora Radio - on this site you choose a band or a song that you like, and then the website creates a radio station with similar music. As each song plays you can check whether you like it or not to make the station more in tune to your tastes. You can skip songs if you dislike them, and there are no commercials! This has been getting a lot of play in my office lately.

Kansas City Public Library - of course, the library doesn't have the instant results of anything on the internet, but there are so many albums there to browse and check out. I have also found myself checking out a lot of music that I would not have been sure enough about to buy, so I can expand my interests and try some different bands and styles. The down side: due dates...

All Songs Considered - this NPR show features great music and with the wonders of podcasts you can download the shows and listen to them anytime. I particularly like their Live Concerts podcast.

Finally, a new source of good music that I am going to start checking out is KC Cafe Radio. We learned about this internet radio station last night when we reconnected with our old friends Mick & Debbie Byrd. You might remember Mick from our wedding - he played the music during the wedding, and was the headliner at our reception/concert afterwords. Mick was in KC playing at the Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill last night so we went and had a great time hearing some classic Mick and some new songs. He even pulled out "Greater than Pearls" in honor of Trinity and me. It was a fun night and I look forward to seeing Mick & Debbie again soon.