Jay Scotland's rock journey to P.E.I.

Cloudy skies, hot sun and heavy rain will have to wait, Jay Scotland has a few tracks to drop on Island listeners first.

CBC P.E.I.'s meteorologist Jay Scotland officially begins on Monday and he stopped by Mainstreet P.E.I. segment Spin Time to give Island listeners his own quick history through song.

"Honestly, this is the hardest assignment I've had so far in my first week at CBC P.E.I.," he joked.

Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal

Way before he was a meteorologist, he was once a want-to-be drummer boy and moon walker.

"Mom ran a home business — that meant when I wasn't at my aunt Nora's, I was at home and I spent, for better or for worse, a lot of time watching Much Music."

That also meant Scotland spent some time watching his uncle Jim Scotland, the drummer for Glass Tiger for a stint, and he'd try and follow along with the music.

"I remember watching Much Music for hours and I would take all my mom's Tupperware bowls and I'd line them up with wooden spoons and play along to all these songs like a drum kit."

But it wasn't just the music for him, it was the videos too.

His first pick on Spin Time comes from the "king of Much Music and MTV generation": Michael Jackson.

"One of my favourite videos had to be Smooth Criminal because of the dance move where he leans and defies gravity — I remember trying to do that, falling over and bumping my head on the coffee table a million times."

Nirvana, The Man Who Sold the World

For his next pick, Scotland leaned towards the rock genre, though he doesn't play it out loud much anymore in fear that his kids pick up some of the lyrics.

"I like a lot of hard rock, I like a lot of punk rock, I like a lot of metal — but I can't listen to it anymore at home or in the car because the language is a little salty."

That said, he hasn't forgotten about how much Nirvana and the Seattle sound meant to him.

"One of the most influential bands in my life would have to be Nirvana," Scotland said.

"Nirvana was almost our Beetles, in a way."

The 90s grunge band opened up classic rock and punk to him. He remembers listening to Iggy and the Stooges, Ramones, Sex Pistols and "all of these Gen X cool punk bands that came out of the New York and London scene."

Bands like Nirvana really stripped down their music to just a few chords and made it very simple, he added. There wasn't a lot of production involved in making their records it was "just a raw sound really appealed to me."

Blue Rodeo, Lost Together

Blue Rodeo's Lost Together has special significance for Scotland, and his wife Kate.

"I was never a huge country fan, but then this one song spoke to me enough that it ended up being the first dance of our wedding ... when we were married in 2009," he said.

Because of Scotland's broadcasting career, the couple spent a lot of time moving around Ontario.

Even when they settled in Whitby, just outside of Toronto, Scotland had to commute an hour-and-a-half every morning and every night to get to and from work everyday.

"This move [to P.E.I.] was all about more time with family — even though we're even further away from our Nana and Grandad and Grandma and Grandpa, for the kids, which is very sad, this move is all about having more time with our family."

Now, he can be home "to give my kids a kiss goodnight and to spend more time with my wife."

"No matter where we live, at least we're together. I think the song Lost Together by Blue Rodeo really sums that up."

"If we're lost, hey, at least we're lost together — and I couldn't be happier that, well, we're lost ... but we've found our way to such a beautiful and great spot."

- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | How to view Monday's solar eclipse with your own DIY project

- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | P.E.I. NDP leader calling for better meals, more physical activity in schools