Fourth of July Parade
Things can change fast around here. The phone rang yesterday and an old friend called. Steve Anderson, the band director at Central Lake College, gave me a jingle and wanted to know if I wanted to play drums in the Fourth of July parade on Sunday in Brainerd.
I hadn't heard from Steve in seven or eight years. We worked together a lot in the late '90s, including several seasons with the Geritol Frolics (including a trip to Las Vegas), several years of community jazz band and multiple community theater projects. He went on sabbatical from teaching in (I think) 1999, so we lost touch and I stopped playing drums at the college. But he must have kept my number on his speed dial.
When he called yesterday he was looking for someone to drum with the Central Lakes College community band float. I figured if he was calling me on June 29th looking for a drummer on July 4th, he must be pretty desperate and I was probably his last hope... especially considering I hadn't heard from him in years... so I said okay.
Besides, Ava might think it's cool to see her dear ol' dad in a parade. Neil is too young yet, but Ava might dig it.
The problem is I play drums once a year for about 20 minutes at Farm Fest. I used to play all the time, but I am not nearly as good as I used to be I suck now. The second problem is I don't remember the last time I sight read music. I told Steve I had doubts, but he said not to worry about it; I would have no problem faking it and I could pull it off without a rehearsal. Geez, I guess he has faith in me - wish I had some in myself!
So I am now "working" the Fourth of July, even though it will all be over in about three hours. Who knows, it might even be fun -- either that, or I'll embarrass myself!
I hadn't heard from Steve in seven or eight years. We worked together a lot in the late '90s, including several seasons with the Geritol Frolics (including a trip to Las Vegas), several years of community jazz band and multiple community theater projects. He went on sabbatical from teaching in (I think) 1999, so we lost touch and I stopped playing drums at the college. But he must have kept my number on his speed dial.
When he called yesterday he was looking for someone to drum with the Central Lakes College community band float. I figured if he was calling me on June 29th looking for a drummer on July 4th, he must be pretty desperate and I was probably his last hope... especially considering I hadn't heard from him in years... so I said okay.
Besides, Ava might think it's cool to see her dear ol' dad in a parade. Neil is too young yet, but Ava might dig it.
The problem is I play drums once a year for about 20 minutes at Farm Fest. I used to play all the time, but
So I am now "working" the Fourth of July, even though it will all be over in about three hours. Who knows, it might even be fun -- either that, or I'll embarrass myself!
