I am a restless creative who likes to dabble in many creative endeavors. My first creative love was music. I have loved music for as long as I can remember. But I was particularly fascinated by the sound of the guitar. I began pestering my parents for a guitar around age ten. On my 12th birthday, I got my first guitar. A cheap-o no-brand guitar that was quickly replaced once my parents saw I was serious about learning to play.
My first guitar. On my 12th birthday.
That fateful event began a 50-year love story that is still ongoing. Along the way, I also learned bass and keyboards. I have played in several bands over the years, at church, and at camps. I have done some studio recording, wrote and recorded a jazz album [ My Kind Of Jazz .] And I began teaching guitar (and bass) as my primary source of income after my airline job of 20 years was contracted out in 2006. I earn far less, but I am much happier. So are my knees, and back. 🙂
Me warming up in the studio in the early 80s.
I currently play in a large cover band [Peak City Sound] with multiple singers and a five-piece horn section. We have a diverse group of members from their 20s to their 70s. It is a lot of fun.
And I play in an acoustic trio [ American Garage ] that does covers and originals. We are fairly new and I just set up a TikTok band page yesterday with one original song (that I wrote.) I was clueless about TikTok until two months ago. We have done three live streams on TikTok. Last night’s live stream got 35.9K total views from all over the world. Which is mind-blowing for me.
I play for fun now. So I choose to play in bands that only do fun gigs and don’t worry too much about money.
Still at it almost 50 years later.
I am curious if any of you are musicians also?
If you play an instrument or sing, you are a musician. You don’t have to be a professional. What is your instrument(s)? Do you perform? Did you use to? Do you have a favorite musical genre?
Do You Make Music?
