Rock And Roll Road Warrior

I have tried to age gracefully and not complain too much about getting older.  Getting older is not all bad.  I am only a few short years from retirement and I am eager for the day when I no longer have to work full time.  I am generally happy with who I am even if there are still huge areas of unhappiness.  One thing I truly miss, however, is road trips and live music.  I still see the occasional concert but the last road trip I made was in 2010 when I went to Chicago for the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival.  That was quite a day even if it was 100 degrees in the shade.  Much of the 90′s I was often on the road to a couple of favorite venues.  One was the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati and the other is a place I will always call the Deer Creek Music Center despite the current corporate sponsorship and blasphemous name of Verizon Music Center.  In those days I would see the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead on a regular basis.  There were years I would see the Grateful Dead three nights in a row and one year I saw the Allman Brothers band three times in one week in three different states.  I did have a resurgence of activity in the 2000′s when I found some new companions who shared my love of rock and roll.  In the last ten years or so I have seen Buddy Guy, John Fogerty, David Byrne, Derek Trucks, Dickey Betts, the Eagles, Grand Funk Railroad, The Dead, Joe Cocker, Steve Miller Band, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Leftover Salmon, the Stringcheese Incident, Roger Waters, the Rolling Stones, Little Feat, and Paul McCartney.  A few months ago I saw Yes and in a few weeks I am seeing the Moody Blues.  In my lifetime I have seen quite a few of my musical heroes but the last few years have been a little lean.  When I was on the road more often I wrote the following playful description of a Road Warrior.

An aging and nearly extinct creature who spends all available time and resources searching for the lost chord.  These strange and exotic creatures have been known to spend their last dime in pursuit of the chills and emotional satisfaction generated by extended guitar solos, meaningful lyrics, and being with others of their kind.  Often misunderstood, they are gentle creatures who enjoy simple pleasures like sitting in their lawn chairs on a summer night while good vibrations fill the space around them.  They have even been known to take off their shoes and share a blanket.

I know it’s only rock and roll but I like it!