Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:55 am
I was a schooled drummer from the time I was 13. At about 16, the guitar player in the band I was in bought a new guitar and gave me his old one to tinker around on. A few years later I bought an Ibanez Les Paul copy (I wish I still had it). A few years after that, I traded the Ibanez for a Gibson Les Paul Custom. At about age 20, I was the drummer in a semi-pro band with some real good players, one of which was guitar teacher.
Now... Here's where it gets interesting...
I was actively working at being the best drummer I could be, and even though I never really gave it much thought at the time, my Les Paul was always in my hands and went just about everywhere with me.
Okay, blah, blah, blah... Fast forward the clock to age 32...
A friend invites me out to sit in with his band at a local club. This guy has no idea that I play guitar. He thinks that I'm coming there to play drums, but I showed up with my LP and a processor pedal. I ended playing lead for about half the night.
Then it dawned on me... "Man, I really love this instrument and seems to come natural to me". When I say natural, I mean that I was always learning, but not actively trying to get anywhere with it. I didn't even consider myself a guitar player. There was no tension whatsoever.
I think that was the beginning of the end of my life with drums, and from that point forward, I focused all my energy on guitar. In fact, I don't even own a drum kit anymore.
I'm 48 now and there still is not a day that goes by where I don't play for hours. My wife get's a kick out of it, because at the end of the day, we'll be laying in bed with the TV on and I'm subconsciously playing lead riffs on my trusty LP Goldtop over the commercials and stuff.
Ya can't makes this stuff up... :laugh: