4th Grade, each student starting band lessons
We each talk with the conductor about what instrument we wished to play I really really knew the drums were what I wanted to play
however, one day I saw a 6th grader walking onto the schoolyard with his trombone case
The image of him carrying that oblong instrument looked really really cool
"Uh, maybe trombone" was my response to the conductor
"Wonderful" she said, informing me that her husband and her son also played the trombone as well as another really smart high schooler who was going to the Air Force Academy next year, all of whom I had seen play for Xmas at our church once a year
A few years later the conductor tells all of us in band that she was looking for some new drummers, and any student who wanted to switch the instruments they were learning should have a talk with her
Cool! Even though I was first chair of the trombone section, I still felt that initial urge to learn and play the drums.
No, she didn't encourage it for me since I was already doing well at the trombone, and was the first chair lead in fact. Darn. Oh well.
My family moved to Houston, Texas from Colorado 2 years later, and I continued to play with the band down there, but the best chair I got up to was 5th chair. 1 year later we moved to Iowa, and the best chair I got to was 3rd chair. 3 years later we moved back down to Texas, and by then I had quit playing the trombone in band the previous year. I was so upset with trying to keep up with new bands and conductors, I even got into a "fight" with the conductor in Iowa's son because he was trying to get me to go to choir practice one morning. I didn't want anything to do with music anymore. I won our "fight", acutually we wrestled in the front yard of my neighbor's house. He was trying to force me to go to the high school and try-out.
I had gone down to Texas one month earlier than my family, I wanted to be on the football team, which included starting full practices at the end of the summer. I wanted to be a part of the team of macho tough football heroes.
Years later, right after college, my college roommate and some other friends were looking for someone to be the lead singer in their upstart party cover band. No, I was done with music. But somehow I ended up getting involved anyway, thinking that it wouldn't last anyway, and I could make a point that starting a band wasn't going to work.
7 years later, my college roommate and I had been working together in that band, making several changes with the other musicians who played with us, the songs we played, where we played, how often. Of course, that childish boredom in me started to creep in again. Again I was tired of the numerous changes in band-members, and it eventually became a mutual understanding between my old college roommate and I that it was time for him to make a change with his lead-singer.
He also said he was tired of having to continually convince me that this band was a good thing to be doing, being self-employed and playing music. It wasn't perfect all the time as far as our tastes went, but he as the leader had a good network of clubs and parties to be booked regularly and a good steady cash flow had been established. I was not happy, I was bored, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to be behind the cameras on some film or TV show. My girlfriend at the time was determined to come to NYC at this time, and she encouraged me to go with her so I could give my dreams of what I wanted to do a shot. I then worked as a film camera assistant, film electric and grip, numerous production assistant jobs.
One day I got a job with a music studio that provided live band gear for big TV shows and concerts. I never thought about how telling this job was for me, it was just a job at the time. It was nice to go and deliver all of this gear to all of these well-known productions, but it was also gear for live music performances. Huh. Can't seem to get away from music can I.
Since then, I had become a member of a choir and a smaller folk-style singing group. Just had two rehearsals this past week, a Sunday morning performance yesterday, today am going to pick up one of my guitars I loaned to a friend who was one of the numerous band members that played with my college roommate and I, and just went to a benefit concert last week in The Village. What I think I don't wish for ...
