The Heart of Baldness
NES Series Entry: II
Let me introduce the band
By Just a Bald Guy
I‘m the leader. I play all types of guitar, mostly rhythm, and lead vocals.
Kevin drums. Small kit, solid feel, killer fills.
Justin does lead guitar. Best at acoustic, but stellar leads with tapping and everything.
Mike handles bass. Mostly four string, just sits in the pocket and holds us down.
Mark is keyboards. He typically runs three boards and excels at all of them.
Blaze handles extra vocals and miscellaneous backup coverage.
We’ve been together for about 8 years, and have played probably a few hundred concerts. We get rave reviews. We get along swimmingly. We’ve got many great memories. If only this was reality.
I noticed a while back, reading so many autobiographies, how awesome the bonds of band members can be. Granted for every massive friendly success like Rush (RIP Neil Peart) there is a Van Halen imploding and falling apart. At the end of the day though it seems even then these guys fighting and hating each other still have massively positive memories associated. I’ve always envied this. I’ve craved it.
I have dabbled in groups, playing with guys from time to time since I started playing guitar around 1993. I even recorded a few things, usually on bad 4-track cassette recorders. Most of it was by my friend “Trendy” as he hated to be called, who was much better than I was. It was nice to jam with him. We didn’t really write but I learned a lot.
Fast forward to winter of 1998 and I met a guy named Nathan at college. He played drums, and would bring his kit to the bible chair building on campus at SWT. Long before the White Stripes, we’d set up and rock, just the two of us. I played guitar and sang, and he did drums. It wasn’t great sounding, but it impressed people (especially girls) and let me get a feel for being creative on live music. I came up with arrangements for songs to sound OK with our limited setup. We probably played four or five “shows” for our church friends and it was a blast. I pieced together about eight songs all using G-C-D chords, and also made a medley of several alternate music hits. I learned never underestimate the power of Every Rose Has Its Thorn on women. Still gets love even today.
Moving to grad school in Corpus Christi ended the jamming for a while. I barely played beyond occasionally noodling around in my apartment. It wouldn’t be until arriving in Houston in the summer of 2002 where I’d meet more players. These guys were also at church which meant we had a common ground, but they were older as well (not by too much) and it was a little stiff at times. I was guitars and vocals, Jon was bass and vocals, and Paul was drums. We did a few things here and there but never got beyond jamming. It was hard to get them to really commit at my level, and we mostly redid the same songs over and over without progressing much.
Eventually Jon moved and we met some younger guys, but the personality clash for me was too much. After trying a lot of things and actually getting some good covers (my favorite being a ripping version of Billy Joel’s Pressure where I sang and played bass), I told them I wanted a break. They immediately proceeded as a three piece without me and never played with any of them again.
Around this time I found a reddit post by a fellow named Fred for an open mic at a bar. This was my first time to play like this. I practiced for maybe four hours straight that day (an awesome perk of the stay at home dad role I enjoyed at the time). I drove over at 9pm, and around 10:30 played three songs: Sweet Young Thing by the Monkees, Rodeo by Garth Brooks, and my arrangement of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. An odd assortment, to be sure. Didn’t go over well but I cut my teeth. Later I’d get in the zone and wow them with the theme from Cheers or Billy Joel’s Piano Man, complete with harmonica. Drunk folks love those two. The highlight was playing lead guitar and harmony vocals while Fred played rhythm and his then girlfriend now wife played cajon. I loved it.
Eventually that was too tough to do, and getting a real job meant I needed to be asleep at a decent hour. In 2016 I played a few live shows for the end of the year party with my fellow teachers. I started playing two sets by myself, with one girl singing vocals on some songs. The next year I had her back with a guy she knew playing cajon. Finally the last show we did was a full set with me on guitars, plus a bassist and drummer. That worked well, and I always wanted to get back with them, but it never happened.
There were a few odds and ends during these years. One was an amazing young guy named Luke and the party for his parents. Luke and his friends were in their early 20s and wanted to play a 50s style gig for their parents’ Halloween party. I was brought in as advisor and mentor type and really enjoyed getting to help them flesh out their plan. Those guys were great, and Luke eventually drummed for me on a Christmas show I threw together.
During this time, I formed my own band. I have a name for it, but it’s personal and something I may still use someday, so you don’t get to hear it. Due to the difficulty in attaining real players, I needed people who wouldn’t bail on me. I went to the ol’ mind and came up with my guys.
Kevin is one of my oldest friends. I met him in kindergarten and to this day we still keep in touch. We game regularly on Tuesday nights, with him and my brother. Kevin is an incredibly neat guy who’s been through a lot, and for some reason in my head he’d make a great drummer despite never to my knowledge having played them.
I did actually meet Mark at church, and we love talking music. We email frequently and he drives up to the Houston area to see concerts with me as regularly as February 25 when we took in Ghost and Volbeat. I figured he’d be a good keyboard guy as he’s quiet and calm, and doesn’t emote much unless he’s really laughing at something. Kinda has a Tony Banks from Genesis vibe.
I met Mike in 9th grade and we nerded out about comics and Sega Genesis games. He rocked a sweet mullet and giant 90s puffy high-tops. Eventually he moved and I never saw him again. I’ve never been able to find him online either.
Justin was mega into Alice in Chains when I met him at Victoria College. He was a great guitarist too, especially on acoustic. He could rip leads and we did a few Bon Jovi style unplugged sessions with me singing and him playing rhythm. We jammed a bit, and he once threw a party with trashcan punch made in an ice chest that was so good I don’t remember how the party ended.
I needed a female vocalist, and not knowing any IRL females to use I picked Blaze from the amazing Streets of Rage 2 game on Genesis. She’s hot and exudes confidence, and figured she’d be a blast to play with live.
So that’s the band. To this day, hearing almost any song on the radio I envision my make believe group of musical friends playing with me to a nice sized audience. I don’t ever anticipate getting in band. I never really know when or if I’ll play live again. I haven’t had IRL friends in years. But for now, this works and gives me a neat little break from reality.
Now if you’ll excuse me, we’re due for our second encore and Mark’s counting us in for For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).
