It's In My Blood

I guess for me it all started when I was about nine years old. At the time I knew very little about my father. I knew he and mom divorced when I was about three years old, and pops had a family in Washington D.C. Mom rarely spoke about my father…and pops never called.

One day I found a cool picture of pops with a beautiful Gibson Les Paul Guitar. I showed mom the picture, and with a smile she said “Oh your dad use to play in a blues band, that’s how we met.” Mom went on to tell me about how he was known as “Rock” and how she and her girlfriends would go see his band play every Friday night. I stared at that picture thinking, “This is in my blood.” I was the son of a musician.

I asked mom for a guitar on my tenth birthday. I had no idea what I was doing with that guitar. I would strum the strings, and press on the frets, but nothing that came out sounded like any music I knew. I quickly became bored with the instrument. I guess that’s what ten year olds do; they get bored and move onto something else. I hope mom didn’t pay too much for that guitar because eventually that guitar became a broken piece of junk.

In the eleventh grade I decided to take another stab at playing guitar. I vowed this time would be different. I would finally get the formal training I didn’t get before. There was one problem, I needed a guitar! Of course mom was not going to spend another dime on a guitar; and I didn’t blame her.

My classmate Dan offered me the use of his old guitar. The only problem with Dan’s guitar was the neck was bent. I graciously accepted the guitar thinking “a little bend in neck ain’t gonna stop me.” Playing that guitar was the most painful experience. The neck bend was so extreme that it was very difficult, and painful to fret the strings. I barely passed the course, and I didn’t touch a guitar for the next twenty three years…but I still carried the dream of playing in my heart.

My daughter wanted a set of drums for Christmas. I was excited when I found a decent, inexpensive set of electronic drums for Chanel. I thought “I could buy a bass guitar and Chanel and I could jam.” Chanel would be learning the drums and I would be learning the bass. Well I purchased a Fender Squire Bass, a cheap amp, and some instruction books.

Chanel probably played the drums for about six months before she became bored and moved onto something more interesting. I understood…that’s what kids do. I, on the other hand, never stopped playing. That was four years ago.

I’ll always play guitar “It’s in my blood.”