I've had this photograph in my garage since I moved into my home 16+ years ago. I recently photographed the 24 x 36 poster sized behemoth, to preserve it for prosperity. (That's me, on the left, eating the mike stand...yeah, I was in better shape then-LOL)
This was taken on what very well may have been the last time I ever performed (before coming out of retirement this year to perform at my nephew's church).
It was a band "showcase" with about 5 or 6 bands performing. I performed with this, my "metal" cover band, doing numbers from Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden, to name a few. I was 22 years old.
Later in the show, I was fortunate enough to reunite with my bandmates from APEX, the very first serious band I ever belonged to. I strapped on my '68 Fender Telecaster bass and did our "Hendrix" set, finishing with a requested 10 minute version of "Freebird" (the Kensington National Anthem).
It was a day to remember, immortalized in black and white, a testament of my misspent youth-where music wasn't everything, it was the only thing.
I got married the very next summer (my "practice" marriage), and pretty much gave up music for quite a few years. After the divorce, I met Karen and was once again inspired to play...I had found my new muse!
It wasnt until about 4 years ago, though, that I vowed to give my children the gift of music by picking up my guitar and playing it almost daily. I even teamed up with one of my son's friend's dad and formed a duet called NFK (so named for our agreement to never play "Koombayah") We played the campfire circuit while my son was in the cub scouts and have recently taken a short hiatus, as our respective families have gotten busy with scouts, brownies, sports, politics, etc.
But, the guitar sits in the living room, in a corner, just waiting for me to pick it up on a whim and belt out any of the hundreds of songs I know by rote.
Every song, that is, except "Koombayah".
1 comment:
Love the look! Rocking Writemarsh!
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