I grew up in a musical family, the middle child of 5 boys. My mother taught piano, accordion and ballroom dance. My dad was a drummer. My oldest brother played bass and my older brother played drums. When my parents owned a music store, I took about 3 drum lessons as a child, but, not appreciating the importance of building technique, got quickly bored with it. I wanted to play the drums like my dad, not patter around on a rubber pad. I probably would have stuck it out had my dad been the teacher, but he was busy with other stuff. My mom tried teaching me piano, but music escaped me. I just couldn't understand it. I couldn't tell the difference between a quarter and an eighth note. She also tried teaching me accordion. Forget that! Not only was that more challenging than the piano (what's with the bazillion buttons on the right hand?), but the cool factor was pretty much in the cellar. Singing? I was the kid in music class at school that the teacher asked not to sing out loud. I had no ear for music and couldn't hold a tune to save my life. As a teenager in junior high and then high school, I ended up taking up the drums without lessons, and got decent on them for my age and experience. And I didn't have to know a lick of music to beat on the things. Then I took up bass, where my playing was purely mechanical. I learned where to put my fingers and when to put them there, but had no understanding of the musical why. I didn't know what the notes were that I was playing, But I got by. (And my dad bought me a cool bass!) Then in 1972, after a few years of hallucinogens, weed and hash, in my senior year of high school, I became a Christian and everything changed. My song "Don't Tell Me" is a reflection of that change. It was radical and was literally over night. That summer after graduation, 3 other guys needed a 4th roommate to rent a house and asked me to join them, which I did. One of them played the guitar, similar in style to James Taylor. I picked up his guitar one day and thought, "I'm going to learn how to play this thing." Almost immediately, something swept over me. It was like the veil was torn in two and I could suddenly understand music. In the ensuing months I studied Noel Paul Stookey and James Taylor, among other guitarists. And with the help of my roommate, started building a proficiency on the guitar. I bought my own first guitar, a Yamaha, and hardly ever put it down. Eventually I went to a 12-string Alvarez, and have played 12s ever since. I have also in recent years taken up the drums and bass again. Keyboards still escape me. Something about the hand-eye coordination required for the left and right hands to be doing different things. My son has become a master on the keyboards, so I try to work him in when I need a keyboardist, though his schedule can be difficult to work with. And I can honestly say that Jesus changed my life in many ways - music being among the most dramatic. I'm still not the best vocalist; pitch can be an issue. And I could be a better guitarist than I am, had I more consistently devoted myself to the craft. But getting married, supporting a family, and being in the ministry for a couple decades took precedence. But I do what I can, and am relatively happy with the results, though I find that rarely is anything completed. I'm forever finding things I can improve. And I'll probably always be that way.
Next to my God and my family, music is the most important thing in my life. Creating music is the best. Before I gave my life to Christ, my musical ability and understanding was in the tank, although my mother taught piano, accordion and ballroom dance, and my dad was a drummer. A mere months after becoming a Christian, I picked up a roommate's guitar and felt an immediate stirring inside to learn to play it. Suddenly I could understand music and in a couple months was playing guitar and writing songs. That was in the summer of '72. To this day I am amazed and humbled by what comes out of me, as I know this wasn't a natural ability, but a talent planted in me, reserved to be used for the glory of God. I know that can sound spiritually pretentious, but I sincerely don't mean it to be that way. I'm just so thankful that I can create music when I had thought for so long that the ability was not for me.
To share my music with as many as will listen. Drooble is helping a lot in the realization of that dream.
Myself - being the kind of person I would want to see dominant in the world: kind, responsible, honest, humble, gracious, merciful, respectful and honorable. Just listing these attributes reminds me of how much I fail in them. But I can't expect the rest of the world to comply if I can't.
My mother playing Rhapsody in Blue on the piano. She would pull that out every now and then to sharpen her piano chops. I would put down my toys and just listen to the brilliance of the music and her playing it.
Where do I start? As a kid, Beatles, Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane... As a teenager, Jimi Hendrix, CCR, Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf, Beatles, Bonzo Dog Band... After my Christian conversion, Phil Keaggy (with or without Glass Harp), Paul Clark, Noel Paul Stookey, Petra, Daniel Amos, Terry Taylor, Swirling Eddies, 77s...
My faith. God's gracious faithfulness and mercy.
God is real. Jesus Christ is not only real, but gives perspective to life, reducing the confusion. Be nice to each other. Build each other up and don't tear each other down. Marginalize evil to irrelevancy.
Amazed and humbled that they'd want to hear me perform. Invigorated and encouraged by positive responses.
It's a very real struggle to be heard and respected. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the best and most beautiful is often borne out of struggle. But more respect for the artist, especially those that create the art, could be much improved, instead of exploiting the artist, enriching oneself on someone else's creation and craft while the artist struggles and lives in hardship.
Drooble is great! I never thought I could connect with so many other musicians from all over the world from so many different genres, all encouraging and supporting each other!
Not being better than I am at my craft. Not playing keyboards.
Not as much as I would like. The venues usually run too late in the evening for an old guy like me. And there's this thing called "Life" that gets in the way. Looking forward to retirement so I can create and record more, and also get more involved in the local scene.
Persistence and tenacity. And talent. Yes, talent helps. Along with that, objectivity. Listen to yourself critically to improve. Don't convince yourself that you're more talented than you really are. I get so frustrated when watching shows like American Idol when a person screeches off key thinking they're the next idol, while family and friends keep feeding their delusion. Know that family and friends are being nice and aren't often objective, either. Critical and sometimes brutal objectivity is immensely valuable to the musician. Without it, you will not improve, but will keep churning out noise that tortures the ears while thinking you are blessing the world with your greatness.
Lindon McCarty. He plays lead on several of my songs. Unfortunately for me, he's moving to Nashville in July '19. So watch for him. He's great! It's been a profound honor and privilege playing with him in our church band for the past 6 years.