How it all started....

I get asked how it all started. Excellent question. I believe that we have had at least one experience where we hear a song and you will always remember that moment. No matter how old you get, you will always know exactly where you were, what you were doing, and how you felt when you heard it.

I was a typically child growing up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Playing outside in the rain and mud was just a normal thing if you lived anywhere near Puget Sound. I was 10 years old when I was playing in the back yard of my best friends house when I heard something that just hit me. I heard a sound that I had never heard before, A strong rhythmic sound that I would later learn was the bass and the driving sound of Metal/Pop Metal. As I was trying to focus on the bass, a wall of sound hit me, and hit me hard. That wall was the rest of the band kicking in and they came in with a vengeance. I left my friend, Peter, there in the back yard and I wandered up to his older brother’s room where he and some friend were in his room listing to what would become my first ever album that I purchased. I sat in the door way to the brother’s room, as I was not allowed in the room, listing to the music and wondered what was with the weird light and funny posters on the wall. My first experience with a black light and black light posters. There was also a unique smell coming from the room. That moment forever changed my life. I moved from Puff the magic Dragon to Bachman Turner Overdrive’s album Not Fragile and never looked back.

To this day, when I smell pine trees and that warm salt air, I have BTO playing in my head.

Not Fragile, the third studio album from BTO released in August of 1974 was the gateway album to Rock n Roll. The opening track, Not Fragile, with it’s heave bass line thanks to CF Turner was just fantastic. Of course this is the album that brought us the best stutter in Rock history, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, a joke about Randy Bachman’s brother. I adopted the song, Rock is My Life, and This is My Song as my mantra. This was long before I knew what a “mantra” was or why I needed one. I still have that album today and play it on semi-regular bases. I also learned about “Rabbit Holes” and whey they would become my major part of my life.

So, why was BTO so important for me? It was 1974 and Disco was in full swing and only gaining speed. If you went to the local roller skating rink, went bowling, or even a Seattle Super Sonic game, you heard Disco. All I wanted was Rock n Roll. BTO took me to places I could never have imagined. The Kinks, Who, Guess Who, Doobie Brothers, and so much more. Once I stated down this path, my farther, who played the Cornet introduced me to Latin Jazz. this just expanded my musical taste and showed me how different genres could overlap. This lead me to craving more music and styles.

Also, living in the Seattle area, one could help but listen to Jimi Hendrix and Heart. I unfortunately missed Hendrix. But, I have been fortunate enough to see Heart more times than I can count. Ann Wilson is better live than any recording. Nancy Wilson is a totally underrated guitar play in my onion. Nancy is also a superb singer as well.

Up next, Scorpions, Lonesome Crow.

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