There are rare moments in life when an event changes your future. One for me was when by chance I saw a newspaper ad looking for "musicians with construction experience wanted to build a recording studio".
In 1979, I had been playing in bar bands for several years, but even though I was living in the Bay Area, a music mecca at the time, and had been in a a couple of promising groups I hadn't reached the level of success I had hoped for, and, frankly, I was getting burned out-too many nights in smoky bars.
When my latest band broke up, I was at a low point. I thought I wanted to "go solo", but I didn't have the resources to put together my own act and was working as a dishwasher to pay rent. Then I saw the ad in the classifieds. One of my "day gigs" had been as a carpenter's helper and I had learned some skills. I had also played with tape recorders for years, but at that point hadn't worked in a professional studio.
This was to be an experience that would last three years and completely change the course of my career in two main areas. First, I became an expert in recording studio building techniques and sharpened my carpentry skills, something that would be valuable to me later, but more importantly I learned the basics of studio recording. which was to became my primary occupation. Although I put performing aside I was able to make my first recordings in the newly completed studio. It was a beautiful facility that is still in business and I will forever marvel at my good fortune to have been part of the team that built it.
I recorded 10 songs there which were to become my first record. It was called "The Dolphin and the Rose", with cover art on that theme. It was not released, mainly due to my complete lack of understanding of the "business" part of the "music business...a long story for another time. Nevertheless, I still have the tracks, transferred to digital from the long gone tape, and still enjoy listening now and then to my earlier self.
What's really interesting to me is that at that point I really hadn't settled on a personal style, and the individual recordings reflect several influences; Beatles, Jackson Brown, Doobies, folk rock, Steely Dan, r&b, and even country. The one I've included here is called "Standing In One Place", which is one I still perform. I'm going to do an updated recording soon. I'm curious to see what I'd do different now.
I can hear that developing artist in my most recent album, "Loveland". This record still wanders around in what I call "genre fluid" styles, but is certainly more focused. The big difference is that back then I was unconsciously reflecting all my influences rather than deliberately choosing a personal style. I had only written a handful of songs at that point and was just beginning to master that craft, something that continues to this day.
What this really brings home though, is the concept of fate. The definition is "a power beyond human control that is believed to determine events".
The "beyond human control" is the part that really gets me. The fact is we only have one path to follow in a universe of infinite possibility. How any one person's experience unfolds is the result of how their path winds through this infinite wilderness and though we may believe we know our way, the truth is that it is truly, "beyond human control".
I'm not prone to nostalgia, particularly about my career though it's been an amazing journey, but I can only guess at what would have happened had I missed that ad. It's not an exaggeration to say that the universe opened up for me at that moment and ever since has led me to this one.
