HAPPY 56

Moments before we started playing!

ANOTHER TRIP around the sun, as they say, and now I'm 56....and, more importantly, it means I'm writing another annual "yesterday was great" piece. Only I really have to say the entire week was great, since we kicked off the celebration on Sunday night at Twisted Cork in Lexington, KY with the "Jam with Dave & Greg" (my buddy & bass player Greg Rhodus has a birthday 2 days before mine) event we do each year.

Lots of new folks hopped up to play as well as my good friends Debra Hurt and Ande Fee. Deb came up and sang "Dreams" by The Cranberries, and then Ande sang the Etta James classic "Sunday Kind of Love" and the old Hank Williams song "Cold Cold Heart". The after-party was quite the adventure, as well!

The week was fabulous, mostly teaching and a few business chats (re: Lexi Music Awards).

My actual birthday was Friday, which started with a quick visit to fix the kids breakfast, then a brutal workout at the gym (60 minutes cardio, 30 minutes resistance work, then bodyweight stuff like pull-ups & dips), ran some errands, and then over to visit the kids for the remainder of the day. Upon arrival, I got video of 2 attempts at one-arm pull-ups....the first a trail run (and my 8 year old dancing in the foreground) and then I did the real thing. Bad form, but got one on each side. Not bad for an old guy - haha! Gonna clean up that form and take it to the next level (goal: 3 reps each arm!).

One-arm pull-ups VIDEO.

My youngest granddaughter, Halloween party!

Then ate a HUGE salad (red cabbage, carrots, avocado with balsamic vinegar and oil dressing with extra pepper) and extremely rare beef seared in pepper and a splash of soy sauce. YUM! Being a Friday, I even had a second meal later in the day, and topped it off with spiced rum and a pizza party with the boys. Then one of my sons, Chris, grabbed me for a pitcher of beer & a few games of pool. The rest of the weekend was fabulous also...got to spend more time with the boys as well as see 3 of the granddaughters at a kids Halloween party!

As I do each year, I'm posting an ODIS picture (that stands for "Old Dudes In Shape") as a challenge to my buddies who also post ODIS. Good accountability and keeps us all motivated!

If you are interested in the stories & photos from past birthdays, you can start hit THIS LINK, which will list them all.

Official ODIS photo for 56!

That's it for now. Gotta get to work prepping lessons, Lexi Music Awards, AMA video series, and my Monday Classic Covers video!

See y'all soon...in person, online, on TV, or wherever we shall meet!

#StayFierce #SkinnyDevil #FierceAF #SDMLguitar #LexiMusicAwards

RIP Eddie Van Halen

The first text & PM came in at 3:40pm today (Tuesday, October 6, 2020). Then my phone blew up....

EVH: One of the greatest EVER.

As I sit here, in between teaching guitar students and sneaking in business calls and trying to just do the gigs and not cancel the remainder of the day, I wonder how many people REALLY grasp the enormity of the impact Eddie has had on the world of guitar. And not just rock guitar, either; but especially rock guitar.

And the enormity of the impact his band, Van Halen, have had on the world of music. And not just rock music, either; but especially rock music. 

And I'm thinking that because I'm trying desperately to write something positive and educational and....of value. Value to everyone from the casual listener to the die-hard fans to the high level guitar shredders. Something useful, as Elon Musk would say.

And I will. And when its done, I'll post it here or, like Michael Jackson and David Bowie and Lemmy and Prince, I'll post it at Skinny Devil Magazine.

But I think I'm not going to write any more right now. I'm just going to go listen to Eddie play......