Ok I quit

[Greg_L]

I went to one of my city's big huge GCs last night near closing time. I pretty much always bash the shit out of the drums they have set up at any given Guitar Center. I've been asked to leave a few stores a few times. Anyway, at this particular store, the drum room had two kits set up. Nothing special, a Gretsch and maybe a Yamaha something or other. And in this room were two black kids who seemingly did not have any adult supervision present. They were like maybe 11-13 years old. Probably brothers or something. They were each sitting at the two kits and throwing drum riffs at each other - like a drummer version of H-O-R-S-E. They were pretty good. They obviously had some drum line training or were in their school's marching band. Fast hands and rudiments and all that shit. So my old white ass is sitting in there listening and they start getting mad at each other. I don't know why, one of them cheated or something. The older kid storms off. So the younger one is clearly bummed out and he tells me "he always does that". I'm like "always does what?" He tells me the other one gets mad and leaves their little brotherly jam session. I told him the other one's jealous because he's not as good. And then I told him I'd jam with him, but we gotta do it loud because that's how I play. He's scared. He doesn't want to get in trouble. I told him I'll take all of the heat - I'm an old white guy, they can't fuck with me - and for him to just rip all over the basic beat I'm gonna lay down. So I sit at the empty kit and just start pounding out some mid tempo Bonham-like thunder beat and that kid went off. Holy shit he was like a little black Buddy Rich. That little fucker was getting down. He didn't want to be too loud so I played so fucking loudly that he had no choice. So this went on for like ten straight minutes and that kid just ripped the whole time. A crowd had gathered outside the room watching us through the glass and the store was closing so we ended it and I slapped him some skin and I left. Forget just simply being much older than this kid, I've been playing longer than twice his age, and he's a billion times better than me. If this poor kid doesn't get sucked into an inner city life of inescapable crime and poverty, you'll probably hear him as a session drummer one day. So that happened and I suck at drums and have apparently sucked for a very long time.

tl/dr version - STFU and read it.

[JD01]

That is awesome! And not how I expected the story to turn out.

[vomitHatSteve]

Nice!

If he doesn't get sucked into a life of crime and poverty or go deaf by 15 jamming with old guys.

[Lt. Bob]

nice story old guy!

[Tadpui]

Nice

[WhiskeyJack]

Hopefully the experience was a positive one for him. And maybe if he keeps hanging out in GC's instead of less desirable places he will develop more relationships inside those walls that will see to it that talent gets where it needs to go. Cool story Gregorio.

Sidenote: I have been witness to Greg drumming in guitar centers and it is pretty fucking gnarly. 10/10 can confirm the loud thunderous bit. Kick drum like a friggin artillery cannon.

[Greg_L]

Lol what I lack in skill I make up for with raw power. If you can't play good, play very loud.

[Lt. Bob]

lol ..... I'll pop in with my usual, "Greg's full of crap when he says he can't play ..... he's pretty badass"

And that kid just does some shit you don't .... that's all.
I doubt very seriously he can do what you do either.

But it does sound like he's gonna be good ..... did you get his name?

[Greg_L]

lol ..... I'll pop in with my usual, "Greg's full of crap when he says he can't play ..... he's pretty badass"

And that kid just does some shit you don't .... that's all.
I doubt very seriously he can do what you do either.

But it does sound like he's gonna be good ..... did you get his name?

Lol. No, I didn't even really talk to him besides what I described. I don't want to be the creepy old guy befriending an unaccompanied black kid at a music store right before they close.

[musicturtle]

That is awesome. Good story.

[rayc]

Good story - an experience the kid was unlikely to have and now has given him a little more self esteem.
Goodonya Greg.

[Ausrock]

A great story, one that has "almost" changed my impression of you .

Maybe, just maybe, that kid could do well from getting to know you and you could do well from mentoring him..........just a thought.

[Greg_L]

A great story, one that has "almost" changed my impression of you .

Just leaving any kind of impression is good enough for me. Stick with your gut.

Maybe, just maybe, that kid could do well from getting to know you and you could do well from mentoring him..........just a thought.

Maybe he could mentor me.

[Ausrock]

A great story, one that has "almost" changed my impression of you .

Just leaving any kind of impression is good enough for me. Stick with your gut.

Maybe, just maybe, that kid could do well from getting to know you and you could do well from mentoring him..........just a thought.

Maybe he could mentor me.

My gut had finally told me that you are a "cool dude", it's taken some time for me to get there. You kinda make me think of a saying my late mother had........"being blunt to the point of rudeness", you say it how you see it, you don't tend to sugar coat things. I've realised I like and respect that.

Re my second comment.........I'll give you a second take on that.........' Maybe, just maybe, that kid could do well from getting to know you and could do well from being mentored by you.........just a thought...........it might just keep him from making some shit choices in the future.

[Greg_L]

My gut had finally told me that you are a "cool dude", it's taken some time for me to get there. You kinda make me think of a saying my late mother had........"being blunt to the point of rudeness", you say it how you see it, you don't tend to sugar coat things. I've realised I like and respect that.

Well thanks. A common theme throughout my entire life has been that people really fucking hate me at first, then they get to know me and they like me, and then if they're around me long enough they gradually start to hate me again.

Re my second comment.........I'll give you a second take on that.........' Maybe, just maybe, that kid could do well from getting to know you and could do well from being mentored by you.........just a thought...........it might just keep him from making some shit choices in the future.

Maybe. It's too late now, I'll probably never see him again. This is a very big city. I kind of think that maybe he's already on a good path because he was hanging out in a music store instead of a 7-11 parking lot or playing video games. He's obviously had some musical training, so someone somewhere is providing some guidance and structure to his life. They're giving him something to focus on. Maybe that will keep him from becoming another inner-city statistic. The lure of the streets is real though. In my estimation, he's not quite yet at the age where peer pressure can take over.

Musically I can offer him nothing. He's already technically a better drummer than I am. And I didn't get the impression that he wants to provide the backbeat for Les Pauls plugged into Marshall stacks. This kid was a funky jazzy drummer. He'd be great with pop or R&B....or even hip-hop. There are a lot more real drummers showing up in live rap music. And not only because he's black, but yeah, he's black. Black kids don't listen to Led Zeppelin. He's gonna play black people music and probably be very good at it. That's not a world I live in so I couldn't help in that regard.

[Lt. Bob]

My gut had finally told me that you are a "cool dude", it's taken some time for me to get there. You kinda make me think of a saying my late mother had........"being blunt to the point of rudeness", you say it how you see it, you don't tend to sugar coat things. I've realised I like and respect that.

I've turned into a major fan of greg ... and trust me ... NO one had more issues with him than me at one time.
But greg is crazy talented and an awesome giving human being.

I suspect he doesn't really care for me singing his praises .... it runs counter to the whole 'rock out with your cock out and I might kill you if I'm in the mood' vibe he likes to project but he quietly does good works and is absolutely one of the people I'd dearly love to hang with sometime. (EZ is another one but he lives in far away )

If I ever had a genuine need I think he'd hop in his truck and drive to Florida to help me ..... murdering hookers along the way of course,

[Greg_L]

I've turned into a major fan of greg ... and trust me ... NO one had more issues with him than me at one time.
But greg is crazy talented and an awesome giving human being.

I suspect he doesn't really care for me singing his praises .... it runs counter to the whole 'rock out with your cock out and I might kill you if I'm in the mood' vibe he likes to project but he quietly does good works and is absolutely one of the people I'd dearly love to hang with sometime. (EZ is another one but he lives in far away )

If I ever had a genuine need I think he'd hop in his truck and drive to Florida to help me ..... murdering hookers along the way of course,

Thanks Boob! But listen, I don't indiscriminately "murder" hookers anymore. What I do is simply belittle them until they get so angry that they attack me, and then I kill them in self defense. I've found a loophole.

[Ausrock]

Hey Lt., I think you're right about Greg, he's just a big softy tryin' to come across as a tuff dude

Guy's, just to "paint a picture" for y'all......I'm 68 yrs old and been playing guitar since I was 12, these days I'm battling a bit of osteo and tendonitis in my left wrist which is making it a bit difficult, I've rarely played "professionally" as I didn't get into it for that scene, I just always loved the sound of the instrument but my old man almost stomped the passion out of me when I was still a kid and learning and I still carry the "scares" of that.

[rayc]

Scares and scars both. My old man thought learning an instrument was a good idea - for him - something he tried & failed to do after I left home & bought him a guitar. Funnily, & typically of him, the guitar I bought him wasn't good enough for him so he spent more money on a better one & still failed to learn a single chord. Not me, I had to buy an instrument on lay-by in 74 - it took almost the entire year to pay the AUS$75 or so it cost & then I wasn't allowed to play it or have it in sight when he got home from work via the pub Mon - Fri, just the sports field and pub Sat & the club Sunday. Typical 60s/70s father.

[Ausrock]

Ray, I totally get it!!! There's bit's here that Greg and Lt., may relate to and I'm sorry if this get's a bit "deep" but writing this ultimately clarified some things for me and taking it public now seems "right"......a bit of positive therapy

My parents loved music, my dad once said he'd wanted to play sax but he never elaborated. My mother's mum bought a Beale piano in the late 20's, mum's eldest sister ended up being a good pianist, mum didn't. That piano must be close to 100 years old and sits downstairs in our "studio".

A couple of years before dad died I found out that his uncle who had been a professional sax player had committed suicide during the depression because he couldn't support his family, when I mentioned it dad virtually "lost it" with me, I'd seen him get pissed off with me during my teens but I'd never seen a reaction like this.

I remember in around '58 (I was 8 yrs old) watching a group playing at the entrance to the Bellevue Hotel in Tuncurry (it's where dad came from), there was sax, guitar, a basic drum kit and a little electric organ, I was entranced and immediately told my parents I wanted to play guitar. A couple of years later they gave me a second hand ukulele, it was pineapple shaped with a pineapple decal.....a few years ago I found out it was a genuine Hawaiian Kamaka uke, I've still got it but it is poor shape. Two years on I got a second hand guitar for Christmas and I was finally happy.

The problems started when dad couldn't accept that music styles were changing and it got to the point that I couldn't practice when he was around or else I locked myself away and just hoped he didn't hear me, he didn't stop me going out playing with others, it was just playing in the house that was the problem.

I eventually came to the conclusion that the death of his uncle stopped dad learning the sax and left him with ongoing issues regarding the possibility that I may ultimately want to go "pro".

Sorry for the long "deep and meaningful" but it seemed as good a time as any to let this out.