Photo circa 1965
i had a few false starts in becoming a musician.
my first lessons were on clarinet – not by choice, but because my older brother had played it
and we owned one. i was in fifth grade. the music class was held in a school bus that drove
to the different schools. when it arrived in the parking lot whoever took an instrument went
out to the bus for their class.
the music teacher’s name was mr. luck. he didn’t seem to enjoy music or children. i dreaded
going to the bus; not only was it unpleasant, but i had to miss recess to go. i loved recess.
there was nothing more fun than playing kickball, tetherball, four square.
missing recess was punishment.
i didn’t last very long in his class. i don’t remember the specifics, but i remember it being kind
of a big deal to drop out.
the next year i took a guitar class through the city of davis recreation department. when the
class ended i stopped playing. a few years after that i picked up the drums for a while then
lost interest. then, the summer after high school, i started playing drums again and got into a
band. i stuck with drums for about eight years.
in my mid twenties i got interested in songwriting, so i learned guitar and started singing.
i was a horrible singer at first. no natural ability at all. it took a long time to get any good.