I've always wanted to be in a band. I always wanted to be a rock star. Who didn't? When you were a kid you'd play air guitar along with the radio or music videos, sing into a wooden spoon or bang on a collection of pots and pans in the kitchen like you were in the middle of a showstopping drum solo. But for most of us it was a fantasy. It was something that you goofed around with and you never expected it to get serious. But some of us were pretty serious. My brother Timmy made music his life and he lived and breathed it every single day. It was rare that you didn't see him with a guitar in hand, writing lyrics into a notebook or practicing his craft for anyone who would listen or at a local bar. He wanted to make it a career and he didn't care how. He put as much time into the music side of things (writing, performing and practicing) as he did the technical side. He had the talent but realized how hard it would be to break into the business as a solo artist or as a band so he learned all about recording and producing music as a way to get his foot in the door somehow and some way. He was on the verge of figuring it all out when he died at the age of 24. I could talk forever about how amazing he was as a musician on his own time, but the purpose of this article is what he did for other people. They could tell their story, but this is my blog. So I'm going to tell mine.
I don't know when exactly June's Blanket was formed. I don't know why we even formed a band. We shared a love for music and enough talent to form a competent duo even if he was 75% of the talent and I filled in the other 25% to make us complete. I was mostly a singer and I picked up the harmonica so that I had something to do in between the words. We wrote several original songs but excelled at doing covers of songs that we really loved. Since Timmy and I were so close and from similar backgrounds, we could read each other and our voices were so in tune that when we harmonized, it was flawlessly beautiful. He was confident in his guitar playing (but not confident in his voice) and I was confident in my voice (but not confident in my guitar or harmonica playing). I know it sounds corny and a little weird, but we complimented each other and worked together to form a complete sound. We had something really special but we rarely shared it with others. Sure, we were a hit at family parties and at the Afterglow campfire but we never got around to realizing our full potential.
We had one real show, and that was at the St. Catherine's Auction in 2010. My Mom asked us to provide the music for this church event and everyone we knew was pretty much there. She thought that we were going to hook up a CD player and some speakers and pick out a playlist but we decided to surprise her and everyone there. The theme of the night was Magic and we put together a set list of songs about or containing the word magic in some form or variation. Some of the songs that we learned were "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band, "This Magic Moment" by Jay and the Americans, "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf and "Magic Dance" by David Bowie (my personal favorite because it's from the movie Labyrinth. We practiced for several days and I was pretty nervous to get up in front of crowd that wasn't family and sing. I've been singing in choirs and for fun for most of my life, but I'm not a natural performer despite my easy going attitude and personality. So I was really nervous to go up there and be the center of attention. And you know what made me feel better? Well, besides the booze - it was Timmy. He was so amazing at adapting to other people's styles and making them sound better. When I would go too fast or sing out of key, Timmy would speed up, slow down or even change keys with me to make sure that I didn't sound out of place. He had no problem taking a back seat and allowing me to get all of the credit, even if I didn't truly deserve it. He made sound like a real musician. He made me a rock star. Don't believe me? Click the play button below to hear us play "Magic Dance" by David Bowie.
That's all wonderful, but the real reason I am writing here is to show you a little video of sorts that I put together for the last song that we recorded called "Merry Merry Man". This was recorded in March of 2011, a mere month or so before Timmy would leave us. Had I known this was the last work of art that we would create, I might have done something better to ensure that it was a masterpiece. But instead we created this song that is very reminiscent of "Master of the House" from the play/musical Les Misérables. I'd apologize for plagiarizing such a notable work of art, but what we came up with was pure genius. Sorry for the bad audio quality, but I recorded this on my phone. It's better than nothing, for if I didn't record it on my phone, I wouldn't have a record of one of the last times that Timmy and I pretended to be a real band. But what I didn't know at the time is that we were a real band. Who says that you need to be famous or put out albums to be considered legit?
Some time later I took the song and I set it to some pictures of some of our best times together and other moments that fit in with the lyrics that we put together. I must point out that Timmy sat down at the piano at Mom's house and just started playing this song and I just came up with some lyrics off the top of my head. After I started singing the song Timmy just continued it and we rolled with it. And so I was a Merry Man. And Timmy was a Merry Man. And we like to drink and drink and drink all day.
June's Blanket was a big part of my life. If I'm fortunate enough to get all old and gray, I will look back upon those times with Timmy as some of the best days of my life. I have no doubt that I will make plenty of new memories over the years and I may even be lucky enough to have a wife and kids to form a family of my own. Life may be good again someday and I might be able to get to a place where I am happy. But I will miss Timmy. Always. And I will miss all of the good times that we had. I will miss being in a band and entertaining the crowd. I will miss his laugh and how he made me a better person. It's been 3 years since I last saw him and life hasn't gotten any easier. I doubt that it ever will. But I just want you to know that I wasn't always so sad, depressed and cynical. I used to be in a band. I used to be a rock star. And there was this kid named Timmy who made it all happen. He was the real rock star. He was the heart and soul of this band. He was the glue who held it all together. And now I'm just a solo act trying to make it on my own but I'm failing to adjust to life on the long and lonesome road. It's a tough life out there but I must keep trying. I'm just doing it for me. I'm doing it for Timmy. Because of that June's Blanket must live on. If it all ends now, then what was the point of all of it?
- pookon -
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