Topic: The One That Got Away

I’ve been musically inclined my whole life, as far back as I can remember. My mom encouraged me to take piano starting at an early age. Around age 10 we got rid of our piano and got an organ so I changed to that. Then came band in grade school. I started playing saxophone in 5th grade. I stopped taking organ lessons because I was basically too lazy to practice both sax and organ. 

Then I slowly became obsessed with rock music. This was in the late 60’s. I remember the initial popularity of the Beatles and I was fascinated with Woodstock. I decided I wanted to be a drummer. So I switched to drums in 9th grade. Again, I stopped playing sax because I was too lazy to practice both sax and drums. 

My parents were strongly pushing me to get an ROTC scholarship. My dad had fantasies of me going to the Air Force Academy and from there to medical school. But I was convinced my future was in music, specifically drums. I spent every possible moment practicing and jamming with other kids and trying to form bands.

I did cave in to my dad and joined ROTC in 10th grade but I was miserable. The Viet Nam war was winding down and the military was quite unpopular at the time. And I had to wear my hair in a buzz cut and wear that fucking uniform every Thursday. I met some very nice people in ROTC but I became extremely depressed and my dad finally agreed to let me drop ROTC and get back in band.

I became the drummer for the school jazz band. I got a lot of experience with them playing out in public. But I continued to fantasize about playing rock music in front of thousands of people.

After high school I went off to study premed at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. Of course I brought my drums with me and I soon found several pickup bands with which to perform. I made only fair grades because I was focused on making music. And I have to confess that I was trying to live what I perceived as the rock lifestyle - i.e., lots of beer and drugs.

I went back home to Kentucky after two years in Dallas. This was a good thing because I don’t think my liver would have survived much longer down there. I resumed premed studies at a local college but continued to play out in rock bands with some old friends.

Finally I talked my parents in to sending me to Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee. They have a very strong Music Business program and my plan was now to become a recording engineer or producer. I should have gotten a clue when, on the very first day of Music Business 101 the professor said to forget about becoming an engineer or producer - there were way too many people wanting to do that and too few jobs. But I persisted because I was convinced that at age 22 I would land a drumming gig with a big time band. After all, my friend Rick (a pianist) got a job playing piano for Neil Young through connections he made at Belmont!

And shortly after moving to Nashville, I landed a drumming gig with a metal band called 2C. We did some covers but mainly original stuff. I thought this band would be my ticket into the big time because our bass player was Dolly Parton’s first cousin and his dad was a very successful music producer who owned Fireside Studios in Nashville. We got a gig at a showcase club called the Exit/In, opening for a band called the Rockets. They were on the charts at the time with a cover of the Fleetwood Mac tune “Oh Well.” 

And that was the closest I ever got to the big time. Soon thereafter my lifestyle choices caught up with me. I was drinking alcoholically and I had to leave that band. And I was forced to recognize that being a good drummer isn’t enough to make a living at the music business - you have to be lucky too. 

I got in to recovery in 1982. I was 25 at the time and playing for an Elvis imitator. Back then one didn’t find younger people at AA meetings. I heard plenty of old-timers grumbling about how they’d wrung more alcohol out of their necktie that I had ever drunk. And I heard guys saying they took their first drink at age 6 and so on. I thought, "I never took a drink when I was 6 but I damn sure could have used one." Anyhow I ignored them because I wanted to never have to be enslaved to alcohol again.

So I started playing with a gospel band. I thought that way I could continue to play music in a safer (for me) environment. Oddly enough, our gospel band went to Nashville and made a record. And I finished school and ultimately through quite a circuitous route I became a doctor. I continued to play heavy metal throughout med school, however. Our band did all originals with titles like”Anal Birth” and “Dead Girls Don’t Say No.” Our bass player wrote those lyrics. He went on to become a psychiatrist.

My career in music got away. But I haven’t had a drink in many, many years - and I never have to worry about anyone offering me a drink at the clinic!