Blast From The Past

Here we have Terry Kingen on the guitar Joel Bisset on the kit and I am on the djembe 

Joel Bisset laying down the steady beat!

I was just in Seattle and met up with a group of guys I have not seen for 30 years. I went to Elementary, Junior High, and High school with these gentlemen. As kids we played music together. We would spend hours in my parents’ basement playing Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and who ever else was on the charts at that time. Guy Johnson was and is today one of the most talented and skilled rock guitar players on the planet. Terry Kingon is a masterful wizard on the guitar masterfully maneuvering his way through any style of music from rockabilly to Frank Zappa! Clearly, Terry is the most musically educated and diverse of the gang. Joel Bissett is one of those guys who is the embodiment of kindness and a true gentleman. He was always ready to help those of us who were up on stage, always picking up tips on playing the drums and guitar. He was never in the spotlight back then but he has become a fine drummer and excellent man on the guitar. And of course I cannot help but mention Paul Dragoo, Paul and I did not meet till High School but became close friends, as we played in bands together during that time in my life. It was through Paul’s continued connection with the other three men that ultimately lead to our reunion.

 
Reconnecting to these men is one of the greatest joys I have experienced in a very long time. Our hair is a little grayer; we all have a bit of age on our bellies. But jamming with these guys made my heart sing. After all these years, we have each held music as our love and passion. I had the opportunity to be on stage with two of them. Joel and Terry. Joel was on the drum kit and Terry was man handling a pink paisley Telecaster. And I was bringing the HealingDrum to a bar in Renton Washington! 

It was such a joy to play with these guys Terry and I could not do anything but SMILE