My gigging life
 
My blog or My novellete?
 
 Star Spangled Planet Of the Apes  I just have to tell this story. Traditionally, at the start of the Grandville High School football game, the marching band thundered their way to the end zone near the American flag and stood in neat rows facing the field, the drum section rooted in the center. The snare drums rolled and the read more...​  This Rant Is Overdue  Marching band season started in August with band camp and ended in tandem with the last home field football game. It was also the most fun I had during my last three years in high school. My sophomore year I slung a marching field drum across my shoulder along with several other, more experienced read more...​  Marching Orders and Band Camp  During the end of my freshman year at Grandville High School I was invited to join the marching band for the next season. Being a drummer in the concert band, I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to strap on a snare drum and march at football games, Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades, and read more...​  Cosmic Songs Of the 70s  As a band, we all agreed that the songs we learned and performed were going to be as much like the original recording as possible. Of course, at our ages our individual musical prowess and faculties probably left more than a little to be desired. But we tried to play music well beyond our read more...​  Wedding Receptions - Now We’re Real Pros. Playing for wedding receptions in the 1970s was also a part of the Cosmic experience. We liked to believe it was different than playing for high school students, but inevitably ended up being about the same. The only thing we did different was to add a few polkas and more ballads. We also kept the read more...​  The Early Gigs - High School Dances  Most of my first gig experiences were at high school dances and wedding receptions with the Cosmic band. Remember when weddings had live music? Usually the engagements were booked by Scott Scheerhorn, who dealt with the school’s dance, homecoming, or prom committees. An adult student advisor was read more...​  The Cosmic Makeup  The Cosmic band rehearsals had now moved to the basement of Scott Scheerhorn’s house where we intensely learned how to play new songs and our instruments, at least until 10 o’clock, the curfew set by his parents. This would have have been in 1974 and I remember it as a very exciting and read more...​  Under the Influence This page is dedicated to the musicians and the music they made that influenced me heavily during the most important change a boy can go through... puberty. The slideshow above is a triumvirate of English bands whose music I knew backwards and forwards, including every lyric. read more...​  The Band Room, Music Stores and a Farfisa During my freshman year of 1973/74 I was playing percussion in the concert band led by Bob Brower. Grandville’s bands were known throughout west Michigan as the best around and this reputation went back many years, even before my Mom led the marching band as a majorette. I won’t share those dates read more...​  A Cosmic Alignment  Now that I had started rehearsing with my first long term band, I found I had a lot to learn. First, I couldn’t expect to be heard over all the amplified instruments when I pounded on Mrs. Scheerhorn’s living room spinet piano. I was going to need an electronic keyboard and amplifier. Second, I read more...​ 44F2D689-BD62-4229-901F-7ECAE6150951.html44F2D689-BD62-4229-901F-7ECAE6150951.htmlEACD96AD-36E9-4656-900A-10BB84B7138E.htmlEACD96AD-36E9-4656-900A-10BB84B7138E.htmlE23BA913-AA9C-44D8-B60B-FD5F5DDA4BFD.htmlE23BA913-AA9C-44D8-B60B-FD5F5DDA4BFD.html9C4801D3-7DC0-41D4-8077-B5798BD0722B.html9C4801D3-7DC0-41D4-8077-B5798BD0722B.htmlFBE65E6E-0F32-4B17-938F-E7549CD44E8E.html8E77F790-C04D-4B79-B896-7D6A6D150CFD.html8E77F790-C04D-4B79-B896-7D6A6D150CFD.html296EF270-366F-49FB-884D-63E35417F83E.html296EF270-366F-49FB-884D-63E35417F83E.htmlEBCEC3D0-10D1-4E9D-A1FA-71DED96E7EDA.html3B8C0C59-51EB-4BA3-AAD9-A903D08743A1.htmlEFEA5449-8509-4A1E-BE77-ABE68ADE3B22.htmlEFEA5449-8509-4A1E-BE77-ABE68ADE3B22.htmlshapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_3shapeimage_3_link_5shapeimage_3_link_7shapeimage_3_link_8shapeimage_3_link_10shapeimage_3_link_12shapeimage_3_link_13shapeimage_3_link_14shapeimage_3_link_16
Whenever friends get together and talk about the good old days, inevitably someone gets the idea that it all would make a good book, memoir, movie or sitcom.  One of my friends suggested a blog to share with other friends, family and other musicians.  So here it is from the beginning. But, in blog style, so you must navigate backwards in time...  use the archive to get there.