I was 13 and listening to my favorite band, Judas Priest, and playing air guitar in front of my full-length mirror. I was thinking about the physics of the guitar, and about how making the string shorter raised the pitch, when it occurred to me that I would like to learn to do that, myself. Play the guitar. For real.
So I called out to my parents, over the din of "Heading Out to the Highway."
"MOM! DAD! I WANT A GUITAR!!!"
They took it in stride, thinking it was just "a thing." But I persisted. So, that year, for my birthday, they got me a cheap Strat knockoff at a local flea market and started me on lessons.
Flash forward to 6 years later. I had quit my lessons because I hated the way they were structured and I hated practicing what they were teaching me. Therefore, I was still struggling with becoming any good at the instrument. But I still loved it. Loved the sound and loved the idea of being a great player.
At college, I had gotten into the underground music of the time.
Halloween, 1989: Went to go see fIREHOSE, with some local band called Uncle Tupelo as the opener.
UT hit the stage and knocked me on my ass. Bought their first album the day it came out and realized that... I didn't want to be a great guitar player anymore. The SONGS were what it was all about.
So, I set out to start writing my own tunes.
And... that is where I still am. Writing my own tunes. (Although I have become a better guitar player, at least.)
And, if you are still reading... that is the story of Todd and his journey to becoming a songwriter.
