Monday, December 15, 2008

Dec. 15, 2008 - Roy Rogers


My Influences:

Roy Rogers
piper, carpenter, mentor ...

I spent the years after my enlistment with the USMC and before I moved to Austin, Texas studying a terribly strange instrument: the uilleann pipes. I can't say what exactly moved me to commit so much of those years to such an odd calling. It did happen, though.
I was fairly amped up about Irish music in general when I arrived home in south eastern Pennsylvania. I had been playing tin whistles, biting off small chunks of the vast repertoire. The pipes kept demanding some sort of presence in my life, though. By the will of some freakish, practical joke of nature, I managed to turn up a practice set from a local dealer of bagpipes (mostly Scottish Highland pipes -- the pipes you are probably envisioning presently) and spent a week trying to figure out how make noise with it. (Sorry, Dad and Teresa!)
I also turned up two names of folks who played and taught the instrument. The one who returned my call was a man named Roy Rogers.

Roy and I met a few days later in his living room for a lesson. Roy's greeting was warm and very hearty. He invited me into his living room that prominently featured a wall converted to a bookshelf storing hundreds of books and a large number of vinyl and CD recordings.
I felt welcome immediately though, I was nervous about my first formal experience ever on such a perplexing device. The lesson began with a hearty joke at the instrument's expense (as well as the expense of the damned fools who study and play it), continued with a few hearty laughs, and ended with best wishes for good luck and, at least, a dubious grip on sanity for the days to follow.
Lessons with Roy continued as routinely as either of schedules and my progress permitted. With each lesson, I learned a little more about the instrument, the reeds, the culture (the pipering culture), the music, and, from time to time, the music's history. This information wasn't just spoon-fed to me for the purpose of future regurgitation; it was presented from a wise piper, educated human, and competent teacher in a clean and honorable way (of course, in a light-hearted manner) to be digested by an open and able student for sustaining, interpretation, and advancement of the art. (This is what we should refer to as "traditional" --- in ANY AND EVERY genre!)
Roy exemplifies traditional art forms. He was my very first "teacher" that stood in my consciousness as such an example: he was a mentor.

Lessons passed and with each, Roy and I became more friends than anything else. (Though, to this day, I still consider him one of the strongest mentors in my life.) He continued to pass along the art of pipering but he shared with me his great friendship so genuinely warm and caring, as well as the wisdom he developed through his lifetime of observant and fully realized experience.
What's more? He did it without ever coming across as a superior or treating me as a junior. Roy has always treated me as an equal - not just on the musicianer level but on the human experience level.
It's truly great to feel like you aren't the only student in the lesson; we're all always students and should always be learning!

Years have gone by in a heartbeat. Roy and I still keep in touch fairly regularly despite the 1700+ miles that separate our homes. It seems that our friendship remains warm as well as educational and uplifting.
Life is good!

Thank you, Roy! Thanks for the guidance and the camaraderie!
I look forward to many, many more years of great friendship.

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
Winston Churchill

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About Me

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Austin, Texas, United States
Music has been, at the very least, a truly notable part of most of my life. It was guitar in the late '80s through the '90s, playing the punk rock and death metal until the uilleann pipes came along to show me Irish music. Somewhere in the midst of the pipering madness, I decided to pick up a string bass. Next thing I knew, I was in Austin, TX studying traditional jazz and playing string bass full-time. Music has been good to me and continues to show me the good things in life. With this blog, I hope to share some of those good things (more than likely, I'll probably share some rants, too). I hope you get something from it, even if it's just a good laugh (with me or at me: your choice).