Playing in a Rock n Roll band at 54
It’s Thursday Evening around 6:15pm. I have to get this article out but practice is at 7:00pm.
I play in a rock n roll band. We only do originals and to tell you the truth we sound pretty good. Our music is different than others you may have heard. Yet familiar. I think it comes from a place where music was still central in our lives. As a young man I would stay outside the record store overnight just to get the latest album. Me and my friends would go back to my house and play it over and over again. The concerts and subsequent parties were all part of growing up. Back then we lived face to face. If you acted badly somebody might just punch you in the nose. But that was rock n roll to us, we lived it.
Here in a few minutes, I’m gonna drive a short distance to a small farm outside of town. It’s a great place to practice. You can turn up the volume and nobody complains. It’s been one hell of an experience. I can’t really tell you all of those moments we have had creating this body of music. I lived with them, It changed me.
I’ve played music my entire life. When I was a boy, my mom taught piano and played the organ at a nightclub on the beach. My home was filled with music and also tragedy. My father died when I was 10 years old, of M.S. he was a good man. My Mom had seven children to finish raising on her own, no small task. Music is what paid the bills. Ironically here I am now at 54 playing in a rock and roll band. I thought I would share this experience with you. It is a journey, it is what life is about.
At 50, life changed for me. The big “D” came in and caught me by surprise. I was playing music my entire life but just for my family and as a hobby. I could always escape into my music and find a break from the real world. I had five boys to raise and could never risk my career on something like a musical career. I need something solid so I installed camera systems mainly. It was hard hot work but paid the bills. I was able to provide for my family everything they needed. I am very proud to have been a father and a husband. I never let them down ever again.
Life is funny sometimes. You know a door closes and a window opens. In this case my window is on the third floor. I had decided it was time for me to live my life. I had given everything including my dreams to raise my family. I don’t regret anything, do not get the wrong Idea, it just simply came time for me to live again. To live for myself.I can tell you it was a scary time for me. So I jumped through the window into something new. A forgotten dream.
At the same time somebody else was looking to live a dream they had all their life. Somebody like me. I responded to an ad online for a Drummer who was looking for a guitarist to form a band. It was the first and only ad I found. I emailed this person and they responded that same day. After a few emails we worked out a time to meet and do a jam session to see if we clicked. If you ever heard somebody having an out of the body experience you could understand how I felt on the way over there to meet them. I was really doing this. Making a very big step out of my comfort zone. I had never played in a band and quite frankly didn’t think I would be able to play well enough.
I drove to the drummers house and pulled in the driveway. I put the car in reverse, Paused and then threw it in park. It’s time to find out if I have what it takes to do this. Now bare in mind I have written and recorded over 40 songs on my own in my home studio, but this was different. This was for real. Chris came out and met me. Here was this guy like me, my age, long hair, long beard, rock n roll in his veins. A quick tour and I found myself setting up the gear and getting ready to play. We walked out on the back porch and enjoyed some local flowers, It was around 4:20 in the afternoon.
At that point there was no turning back. I flicked the switch on the amp and nodded to Chris. I was ready. There are moments in life that seem to stay clear in your mind. I am greatful time has not erased that moment for me. I don’t know if other bands experienced this like we did that day. It was like we had been playing the same songs on our own, and now it all just came together. We rocked on a level that would make you swear we had played together for years. It was the most amazing experience I had ever had. At a time in my life that I needed something so bad to give me meaning again. This was it, I was home.
We have been playing for over a year now. We have a band Called Witchkill, a name inspired by change through happenstance. We have songs posted online, She’s from outer space, Father Father, Walk in the garden and Daybreak are a few titles. Recently a major recording label reviewed Daybreak and wants to possibly promote it. We are beside ourselves in both anticipation and fear. What have we done? At the time I wrote this we are going into a studio to record it. If you hear it on the radio you’ll know we made it. If not, don’t worry, there is something we gained so much more important than money or fame. We found who we really are. Rockers to the end.
If you found this article interesting, please have a read on other similar article here.