As all of my readers know, Pat and I are highschool sweethearts. (awwwww, ain't that sweet) It's been quite an experience, one that I wouldn't trade for the world. With that comes all the memories that him and I have together.
We are connected at the hip, it's really just that simple. I think, he speaks what I'm thinking. He thinks, I do what he's thinking, we finish eachothers sentences, almost as if we are one in the same. Of course there have been those really rocky times in our lives together, we hate eachother, we scream at eachother, and the other one is always the one at fault, and we turn into people that neither of us recognize for a brief period of time. Strangers, weird how that happens.
Pat was in many bands in his younger days. The 'rock star' and really good at it. I did fall head over heels when he first played some screaming solos for me. Over the years, the bands that he would move on to got increasingly better. Battle of the Bands was a big deal for awhile but their band never did win. Carousel was the name of one in particular. Boz being the drummer, Pat the lead guitar, and others whom I won't mention since I don't see them that much these days. The singer in the band, weeeell, he could've used some work. He was a RATT impersonator and loved Poison. He was quite the lady's man and a poser. I have some pretty great pictures of this guy with his long hair and the RATT bandana wrapped around his head and yes, make-up. Ahhh, the 80's, make-up and the big hair.
Throughout the years, Pat wanted to become a singer/songwriter. I wasn't always as supportive of that decision because that meant putting down the electric guitar for the acoustic and I just hated that idea. He attended The Guitar Center in Minneapolis and graduated. Out came this guitar player that I didn't even recognize. He was melodic, smooth, full of music theory and had some really tasty licks but at the same time, that 'crunch' that he once had was gone, poof, just like that. He was an actual musician.
His tastes started to change, his style was much different and he definately was on his way to doing what he had wanted to do. I was never going to stop that progression. While he worked on writing and singing, he still dabbled in the band scene. Krystal Klear became a pretty big rock band in the area. They played bars, talent shows and had a pretty good following. Studio time was occuring but man, if there is one thing about a band that I absolutely hated it was the arguments. The egos at work and the stress. I don't miss that in the least. Krystal Klear broke up after about a year. There were many other issues with members that played a role in this, personal things that were getting a little out of control.
After this stint, along came the Bluex/European tour opportunity. Another that ended probably worse than any other. If one can imagine the stress felt in playing bars, talent shows and inflated egos, imagine the stress involved in a change in culture, large crowds, parties after the gigs, and groupies. Things really heated up in France. Everyone was so out of their element there and so enamoured with the attention that reality hit like a semi. Not a pretty sight really.
The band scene became almost a thing of the past for a long time after Bluex. Pat started to do a solo act at coffee houses. He had had enough of the hooey that is involved with a band and with his strong personality well, I thought that perhaps this was a good idea. Not to mention that both him and I were so extremely disappointed with the whole Bluex nightmare that we had very sour tastes in our mouths. Shortly after beginning his own thing he met another musician. He did a duet with this guy for awhile, recorded some but again, that fizzled out because Pat had a taste of being busy with gigs, the amount of practice it took, the amount of writing and brainstorming it took and as with most musicians, the other guy wanted a bigger piece of the pie. Pat did not.
This occurred again with yet another guy who is extremely talented in all areas, sound/mixing, drums, singing, guitar, bass, you name it the guy could play it. Harmonica, man could that guy play harmonica. Again Pat and this guy began performing at coffee houses. The most curious thing about this particular guy is he had never once played for a live crowd and I will never forget their first performance at a small coffee house for a very small crowd. I thought the guy was going to pass out. But he didn't and he acquired quite a taste for performing.
Eventually with this guy, a band was formed and they were together for quite a long time, up until about 2 years ago. There's a website actually that has some of their music on it. Click here to hear some clips of their music:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=85128
There's a photo there on the right, Pat's in the middle with his usual 'Gophers' hat on. Pat and Kris are the two singing and playing the guitar. They harmonized really well and were an amazing act to listen to.
But anyway, this band broke up as well, the other singer moved away. Things started to fall apart shortly before this because all of the guys in this band are pretty well established in life, need to keep full time day jobs to support their families and that nagging itch to play out and become famous was more than what Pat wanted from the band. He had made that very clear long before this band was even a band, he just wanted to play for the enjoyment of it, not for the task. All said they understood but once a following was established, some of the other members got a little weird...they wanted more time to rehearse, to play out more. Memories of France soon surfaced with Pat and the nightmare of what was to become and Pat lost the desire to play at all. Sad too because after all was said and done, I have grown very, very fond of his singing, song-writing, and acoustic ways.
I haven't written about France lately. But this story is somewhat of a lead-in to La Maison Du Stress. The house of Bluex and what occurred in those few months that we were there. Disturbing, so totally typical yet so completely aggravating that even thinking about it is making me angry.
Stay tuned for more to come....
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