Windmill Library creates space for music fans to share their love

I’m obsessed with music. No, really. It’s kind of unhealthy, this obsession.

If you took an inventory, in fact, I’m confident that you’d find that I spend what seems like every waking hour immersed in it, and that’s whether I’m making it, listening to it, analyzing it or talking about it. Otherwise, on any given day, you can find me whiling away countless hours in front of a screen somewhere dialing up old “Behind the Music” episodes on YouTube, absorbing some music documentary on Netflix, or curled up with a biography.

From the sound of it, Kevin Bowman’s a lot like me, and that’s more or less what inspired him to launch a monthly music club at Windmill Library a few years ago. “I started the club just because I’m a reader,” the adult services assistant explains. “I love to read, but I don’t read a lot of stuff that might be typically discussed in a typical club. I’m not a big fiction guy. I’m more drawn to nonfiction. But music is really what I love. I just love, love, love music, and I always have.”

The club — which meets at the library (7060 W. Windmill Lane) at 4 p.m. on the third Sunday of every month — is exactly what it sounds like, Bowman says.

“The way that I describe it to people that have never gone is that it’s kind of like a book club, except we talk about music,” he says. “And that can be a different artist, genre, specific album, a theme, and it’s a really open discussion over whatever the chosen theme is that month.”

It took awhile for the music club to get going. The turnout for the first meeting was considerably smaller than it is these days, with just Bowman’s wife and mother on hand to discuss “Revolver” by the Beatles, he recalls.

Soon, though, as word got out through social media and from fliers hung up at the library and around town at places such as Zia Records, folks like me started showing up, and the discussions since then have been lively.

Shortly after David Bowie died, Windmill’s music club centered on his body of work, and the next meeting, which is slated for May 15, will focus on the music of Prince, who of course passed away just a few weeks ago at his home in suburban Minneapolis. While “Purple Rain,” the movie and the album, served as the subject of a previous installment of the music club, this time around, it will be dedicated to an overview of his music.

“It’s a lot of fun just to hear different opinions,” says Bowman, sharing what he loves most about the sessions. “Sometimes music hits (others’ ears) a different way than it hits yours and you hear some other interpretation of it, and it will kind of make you think, or you might disagree with it. … There’s just so much context and subtext and historical perspective.

“You kind of just have to see where the discussion takes you. This last one we were talking about the Ramones. The 40th anniversary of their debut album was last week, and we were talking about the Ramones, and that led to a discussion of a Ramones cover album that the Chili Peppers were on, and people started talking about the Chili Peppers for a couple of minutes, and that’s totally OK. It’s all tied in.”

Bowman says he puts quite a bit of preparation into the proceedings. He tries to pick the theme for the next installment as close as possible to the previous month’s gathering, so that music club members have a chance to familiarize themselves with the music or subject. “I really try to over-prepare,” he says. “Even though it’s just an hour program at the end of the day, I still want to have enough to talk about.”

So far, the club has featured dozens of albums, including titles such as “London Calling” by the Clash, Bowie’s ’70s output, “Debut & Post” by Bjork, “Highway 61 Revisited” by Bob Dylan, “OK Computer” by Radiohead, “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis, “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder, “Purple Rain” by Prince, “Horses” by Patti Smith, “Revolver” by the Beatles and the Ramones’ self-titled debut from 1976.

“I try to be as wide-ranging as possible, to kind of throw everything out there and appeal to people who have different tastes,” Bowman says. “I also try to choose things that are represented in our catalog. So it’s basically something that if you haven’t heard it, you can ideally go to the library, request a CD, check it out and listen to it.”

In addition to specific recordings, Bowman says, he’s also explored specific themes, from 2015’s best albums to sad songs to women in punk, in addition to an expansive musical overview of artists such as James Brown, Billie Holiday, the Smiths and Nirvana.

Helming the library’s music club has been a rewarding experience for Bowman.

“Every different topic I’ve covered, I’ve learned something that made me kind of go, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know that,’ whether it’s trivial things or whatever,” Bowman says. “What you also learn is how personal music is for people and how they connect with it. Early last year, we did ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ by Stevie Wonder. I had a really good turnout for that one, and I think part of it was because it was an album that so many people had connected with on an emotional level early on in their lives.

“I kept hearing, ‘This was an album that was just there in the house. We just had this album when I was kid. It was like having the Bible there or something. It was a mainstay, and it’s what I came up with,’ ” Bowman adds. “Those kinds of things that you find out when you’re talking to people about music — what it means to them, kind of their experiences tied in with it — I think those make for the best music club experiences, for me, is just to hear people’s personal insights and stories and experiences.”

BLOCK ROCKIN’ BEATS

Mark May 14 on your calendar: That’s when the Dillinger is set to host the fifth edition of its annual block party in Boulder City.

The free all-ages event starts at 3:45 p.m. and features a bunch of solid acts, including the Junkyard Dogs, Same Sex Mary, the Scoundrels, the Phil Friendly Trio from Los Angeles, Hidden Levels, the American Weather, Bargain DJ Collective and Sandy Nelson.

The proceeds from a raffle will benefit the Shane Patton Scholarship Foundation, a nonprofit organization geared toward setting up local students with scholarships. In addition to the music, there will be a few contests at the block party to see who can eat the most hot dogs and drink the most beer, along with food trucks, vendors and a cash-only bar outside.

Dave Herrera’s column, Viva Live Vegas, now runs every Wednesday. Contact him at dherrera@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @rjmusicdh