Stories, songs, observations and other weird wanderings about a band whose music has soundtracked every shifting frequency of my own life. Here is part one of a two-episode run on the path of Pearl Jam fandom, from teenage obsession through seasoned adoration.

This is one PJ fan's blueprint to falling in love. Discovering musical passion. Catching a tambourine. Finding my heartsong. Traveling thousands of miles for shows, many times over, for three hours of heart-soaring release, catharsis and rejuvenation. For almost three decades I’ve looked to Pearl Jam's music as a life barometer, a horizon line by which to fix my eyes and set my course over the high seas of life.

This is part one of the story of that path.