🎧 Two Old Cats Like Us • When Something is Good Why Does it Change
So I’ve written several times about how I started playing guitar in 1988, but officially, it started a little bit before that. It was around ’83, probably. I was like 9 years old.
My friend DJ had a drum set and an electric guitar, and that summer we thought we were rockstars. He brought the beats, and I came up with the riffs and lyrics. We wrote our own songs back then. 😄
Those days are long gone. DJ is a pilot today for Delta Airlines, and me? I’m flying high too. 🎸 🥁 🛬
Here’s a great duet with Ray Charles and Hank from around that same time and When Something Is Good, Why Does It Change?
Hope yall have a great weekend, and thanks for listening.
I believe “I Was Wrong” was the first song I ever heard from Social Distortion—probably around ’96 when it first came out. It was also the first song by them I ever learned on guitar.
I liked the song right away, but I didn’t really get into these guys until the early 2oO0s. Looking back, I wish I’d discovered them sooner.
So here you go… here’s two more for you.
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🖤 I Was Wrong 💿 White Light, White Heat, White Trash 1996
🖤 Don’t Drag Me Down 💿 White Light, White Heat, White Trash 1996
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I’ve also included a video from Joe Sib. He’s a comedian and former punk rock frontman who’s a great storyteller. In it, he tells the crazy story of one night at a Social Distortion show—a night that involved a car crash and other crazy stuff… with Mike Ness actually coming to his aid and helped his friend get into the show. It’s a great story… you should check it out.
I started playing guitar in November of 1988. I was 14. I had no intention of learning, but after the tragic death of my best friend, a guitar found its way to me one night and somehow made a way for me—a way to face things.
Music has always been the heart of me.
But a handful of years ago, I arrived at a place inside where it just didn’t matter anymore. Life was hitting me hard. I lost the fire. The desire for it. So I stopped playing completely for over three years and honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever play again.
Then recently, something started bubbling up in me. I could feel it coming back, strong.
So about three or four months ago, I picked it back up, and I honestly feel like that kid again. Maybe even more than before.
Since then, I’ve been playing most every day for a few hours, conditioning my fingers and getting my calluses back. A few people close to me have been asking me to record and share some songs with them, so that’s what I’ve been doing.
I started recording in my room but eventually moved to the bathroom because the acoustics are much better. It’s nothing fancy—just me, my guitar, and a simple app on my phone called Lexis Audio Editor.
As the recordings started piling up, I decided to make it a series. A few people here on WordPress had also been asking me to share, so here we are.
Honestly, these posts are nothing more than me sitting around doing what I normally do. They just happen to be captured this time.
Also, many of these are recorded late at night while others are sleeping. So I try to play and sing loud enough to make it decent without waking the dead. 😁
Hey yall… I was thinking. I’ve got so many recordings from the past few months, and I’m adding to them almost nightly. So for now, I think I’ll do two posts a week. If it gets to be too much, I’ll stop haha.
What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had…?
I’ve done a lot… I love a lot.
Sports… fishing… music… writing… working out pretty religiously these days… and I’ve always loved driving… oh… I’m a people and animal whisperer too…
I drove 18-wheelers all across the U.S. for 17 years… professionally. Spent time training student drivers with FedEx Ground… that part stayed with me… something about watching it click.
Same thing with teaching guitar and music back in the day… there’s something about passing things on.
But if we’re talking secret skills…
I can juggle.
Learned it as a teenager from a guy at a pool hall… with billiard balls.
And this one’s a little ridiculous but true…
I can throw grapes so high they disappear… wait… track them back down out of the sky… and catch them in my mouth.
Oh… and I can juggle grapes and eat them at the same time…
Yeah… I know… lol…
Nothing special… just a fun way to feed your face.
Not today though… too much other stuff to juggle…
˙uoıʇɔǝlɟuı ɥʇıʍ ƃuıs I sɐ ƃuol oS …ʎɐs I ʇɐɥʍ ɹǝʇʇɐɯ ʇ,usǝop ʇI
Heart of Loia `'.,°~ 