The Music Bug Continued Again

So, as I was saying, I wrote music when I was a teenager, but it wasn't the greatest.  But that is when we find the way we're supposed to go, the direction, find what we want to get out of life, music, people, etc.  So, I continued to play music in Church, playing piano for the worship team in Whittier, California.  Then eventually leading the band there for the college group at the same church, playing acoustic guitar.  All the while, I was writing music and trying to find out what kind of music I really wanted to be a part of.  So, along with leading the church band, I was asked to be a part of a band made up of friends there at the church that would eventually, with practice, play some regional youth conferences, and have some fun.  So, my first official band was called Full Service.  We actually dressed up in Dickies light blue button down short sleeve shirts, and dark blue Dickies work pants, both available at Wal-Mart.  We all dressed up in these uniforms like gas station attendants who would run out and fill up your tank, or check your oil, and played music for church kids here and there in the State of California.  Cheesy?! Yes.  Fun?! Yes, very.  Also, an interesting band, we had a singer, bass player, drummer, guitarist, myself on keyboards, a trumpet player, and a sax player.  So we were like No Doubt meets John Mayer (because of our singer's lyric and melodic influence) meets The Killers.  Weird mix, but we had fun.  There are no pics that I know available of this incarnation of musicians, nor are there any recordings except for the rehearsal tape (yes, cassette tape, kids, you can ask your parents what that is) that I have in my posession.  I did about three or four gigs with Full Service, and decided it wasn't for me.  I was at the same time working on my own music with my then girlfriend, now ex-wife.  We were doing an Out of the Grey, Lady Antebellum type thing for the christian world.  I was writing music to put an album together to start touring churches.  My style then was very acoustic guitar based, like Patty Griffin, only not as good.  I was still growing as a musician, but always consistent was the emotion that was expressed in my music.  That has never changed, nor will, because without feeling, what's the point?  So,  I and my now ex-wife continued to write music as we pursued a relationship with one another.  After getting married, she felt like settling down and wasn't feeling the music thing anymore, only after we played just a few gigs.  I was discouraged, but still spent much time writing and wondering where this music would lead me or COULD lead me.  So, one day, I got a call from a good friend, Juan Talavera.  Without Juan Talavera, the last ten years of my life wouldn't have been as amazing as they have been, and you can find out what made the last decade an incredible journey for me, that has led to my new journey.  To be continued.

The Music Bug

10 years ago, I was married, working a day job, and practicing about three times a week in a band that I had joined. I had always written music and had once written music with my wife, who now was wanting to settle down and just live the ordinary. I still had the need for music, because music has been the only thing that has ever moved me so, that I have never grown tired of it. You know when you're a kid, and you have hobbies, well, mine were wrestling, you know, WWF (now WWE), G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Collecting Baseball Cards, Collecting Comic Books, etc. Well, all of those things faded, but ever since I was a little boy, music has been something that has never let go. I remember my parents had an 8-track player, which is like the grandfather to a C.D., and the only 8-tracks I remember having were, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, and The Annie Soundtrack. Not a great selection, however, one of the first memories of music I have is jumping on the bed at about age 8, (which seems like a million years ago) to The Bee Gees, Tragedy. So, whenever my Mom took me to church and sat in the front row, I was so excited to stand for praise service and watch the drummer do what he did. Then I would go home and listen to the radio all day, just waiting to hear that one song that hit me, like Stand by R.E.M., or Goin' Back to Cali by L.L. Cool J. Its weird looking back thinking about the music that shapes us, well me anyway. In my teenage years, after watching the drummer and going home and literally playing drumsticks on a practice pad, and never having a drumset, I learned how to play the drums. Then one day it happened.....I was 14 or 15, and I went to MidWeek service. The drummer, who also worked as a contractor during the day, had dropped a chainsaw on his leg, and couldn't play drums. Someone had told my Youth Pastor that they thought I could fill in. So, that moment, where I stepped in because of an accident was no accident at all. I played with all my heart and didn't play great at all, but I felt the tug of music. After playing drums for awhile, and being teased by my Youth Church Bandmates that I didn't have to memorize any notes, therefore I wasn't a real musician, I looked for an instrument to play that was more melodic, and less rhythmic. I will continue this personal history rant at a later time with the next few years and how my life has moved forward, never letting go of this thing called, The Music Bug.