My sister played the flute and was 1st chair all-city her senior year (best high school flute player in Virginia Beach) which inspired me to also to play music. We went to her concerts and stuff all the time and I really enjoyed the experience of it. Between 5th and 6th grade I played cello, viola, alto sax, xylophone/bells, bass drum, and snare drum. 7th grade was the start of junior high and I switched to baritone sax. Together with the trombonist, we were the low end in Intermediate 7th grade band - everyone else played trumpet, alto sax, flute, clarinet and drums. I was chosen for an all city performance and sat next to an electric bass player. I thought it was awesome how he could turn his volume knob down and play/practice while the conductor was trying to work out parts with individuals or groups of players and we were all just sitting there bored. I had also been messing around with my sister's classical guitar and started writing riffs and songs before I ever learned to play some other song.
My brother, by the time I was in 7th grade, was also in high school and was my parent's worst nightmare. He had older friends who played in a punk band and played the local punk clubs. He was sneaking out his window at night to go drink. Worst of all he was playing DRI, 7 Seconds, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, the Dead Kennedys, etc etc etc for his 11 year old brother. I would hang out with him and his friends sometimes, they would build skate ramps and I would try to keep up with their moves. I even went to a Face Reality band practice once, the band where his friend Nelson played - it was awesome. Nelson had a Hondo 2 Les Paul Custom copy with a bolt on neck that he sold to me for $45. For my 12th birthday I got a Crate G20 with a 12" speaker. It was all downhill from there.
. Anyway, sure wish I still had that pup.
