This blog is about music on the run; music I listen to while I jog. It'll be first impresssions. No grades, just whether I like it or not. Heck, a week from now, I might change my mind. I'll also post occasional thoughts, to clear the dust bunnies from my head.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Hearing Memories


My Brother, My Son, And the Beauty Of Bands

Maybe it's a coincidence.
It gives me comfort to think it's not.
My son and my brother started playing bass guitar about the same age.
Both love the instrument.
Just love it to death.
In Ray's case, until death.
It defines them in so many ways.
In return, they give it a vibrant life.
When my son, Brandon, plays, I hear my brother, Ray.

Ray is 2 ½ years younger than me, but his life ended four years ago.
Brandon, is 35 years younger, but recently his life started me thinking about the life lived by Ray.

Brandon plays in a band.
Tons of talent.
Pounds of recognition.
Ounces of success … so far.
That's enough to fuel a young musician.
The possibilities keep a young man in the game.
Love of the music keeps an old man playing.

Ray and another of my brothers, Ricky, played in a band too.
East Wind. A great name. A great band.
When they were Brandon's age, the enthusiasm of possibilities swept them up too.
A whiff of playing on stage is a powerful narcotic.
One fix lasts years at a time.
East Wind aged.
Got children, jobs and wives.
The jobs and wives changed.
The children grew up.

The band played on.

Over time, the energy of what could be, was replaced by the bliss of being with bandmates.
Being a member of East Wind means something.
It has history.
It has texture.
It has depth.
Creating wonderful sounds together.
Doesn't matter if the audience is five or five hundred.
The joy of playing … playing together … is the same.

There was no one more joyful with playing than Ray.

That brings me back to Brandon.

The band Brandon plays in, Great Young Hunters, had a cd release party.
In a place where bigger bands play.
Their name on the marquee.
An article about them in a newspaper.
And it's the most wonderful time for them.

Being a member of Great Young Hunters means something.
It will create a history.
It will find texture.
It will develop depth.
Creating wonderful sounds together.
Doesn't matter if the audience is five or five hundred.
The joy of playing … playing together … is the same.

And right now There is no one more joyful with playing than Brandon.

Ray would be proud.

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