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Have you ever thought, "I want
to be a rock star?" This morning I answered a question
on our bulletin board concerning this subject and thought,
"What a great topic."
| Question: Did you always
have the ambition of becoming a professional guitar
player? When you graduated from high school did
you plan on going to college or did you know that
this is what you would be doing forever? |
Okay, the question wasn't exactly about
being a rock star but I believe that's what the real
fantasy is. You don't want to just play guitar do you?
You want to be a rock star! Admit it.
Still delusional after all of these
years
Even when I was a little kid I had my rock n' roll fantasies.
I always thought that I would be rich and famous. When
I was in the third grade I took a magic marker and wrote
on the bathroom wall "See Doug, get his autograph."
How funny is that? I still don't know why I expected
that anyone would want my autograph but there you have
it. Obviously, I've always been delusional. The kicker
to this story is, there were only two Doug's in the
school. I never confessed to creating the bathroom graffiti
(until now). The other Doug wasn't too happy about that.
I can still remember him looking at me and saying, "Well,
I know that I didn't do it." Nobody got punished
for the incident because there was never a confession.
Even now the criminal shows no sign of remorse.
Initially I pictured
myself as a vocalist. I didn't attempt to play guitar
until I was about twelve or thirteen. By that time I
had played a little piano, clarinet, and oboe. That's
right kids, heavy metal oboe.
Still dreaming through high school
Cut to my high school years. When I was 17 I worked
about twenty hours a week at a grocery store. Almost
all of my money was spent on my Z-28 Camaro. At this
point I was more interested in having the coolest car
on campus than being in the coolest band. Even so, I
still had a fantasy to play in a local band. It didn't
look like that was going to happen because I still couldn't
even play barre chords. Then, I became friends with
the best local guitarist in town and got him a job working
at the grocery store with me. He taught me some stuff
then I started taking lessons from a good local instructor.
Finally, I became the master of barre chords.
Not quite off to college
I quit working at the store about the time I started
going to the local community college. I sold my Z-28
and used the money to buy a Les Paul and a Fender amp.
At that point I began playing in my first local band
and got a taste of local success. That lasted for about
two years. By then I was hooked and determined to become
a professional musician. I
want to be a rock star - continued
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