I bought my 13 year old son a guitar for Christmas, it’s a butterscotch blonde Fender Affinity Telecaster. He loves it and so do I. I give him as many tips and tricks as I can and encourage him to discover more on his own. Every time I hear him play, he gets better.

I played drums with some old band mates awhile back and had my drums set up in the cafe area of the condo with silence pads on them. I decided once when he was over to have an impromptu jam session with him. We decided to play a Brendan Benson song we had learned a few weeks previous. Once we kicked in, I was afraid he might get lost in the tempo or not know how to play with a drummer. I was prepared to give him a “lesson”.  Not a chance, he picked right up, fell into the pocket and we jammed for another couple hours, trying new songs and just jamming to blues riffs and such.

When Mitch was just a baby, I tried to have music on alot. When I held him, I’d play music and dance softly to the rhythm in simple movements and beats he could feel. Even when he was in utero, I sang the same song to him “you are my sunshine” at the same time of the day as much as I could. I remember once looking at his perfect little face and thinking; “I hope you find the same peace and refuge in music that I have.” It’s looking as though he has.

So far we’ve written 3 songs together. He has a knack for chord progressions and I have the rare opportunity to write melody lines and lyrics to someone else’s music, and how wonderful that it’s his music. Then I get behind the drums and we jam it out, writing bridges, arrangements and refining the song together.

One time after a particular magical jam session he says, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing music”. I wanted to agree with him, but I knew that this was just the beginning.