The Real RocknRolla'

There are high points in life, and then there are “looking down from the space shuttle” moments. Saturday night was better than both of those.

My whole life I have pursued the dream of being a rockstar. And by “pursued the dream” I mean pursuing dreaming more than pursuing learning to play an actual instrument. Like so many other slacker musicians before me, I have hinged my hopes of stardom on things just working out.

This Saturday that more or less happened. One of my many “talents” that don’t really involve talent is playing the Jew’s Harp (also known as the Jaw Harp or the Mouth Harp). Since this particular instrument involves about as much skill as a kazoo I didn’t really need to do the work that many other rock stars put in to achieve their success. While it’s true that isn’t what many people view as a “classical instrument” it now has its place in the pantheon of totally sexcellent rock & roll tools of musical awesomeness.

My friend CJ Casciotta works for a website called conversantlife.com and specifically works for a segment called undiscovered in which they feature new artists. This Saturday was their first concert and CJ opened for two other acts. CJ did a great job but pretty much the height of awesomeness was reached when he called me up to play “Bear Necessities” from the Jungle Book.

Now, some musicians prefer to practice before they go on stage. Almost all of them would like to know what they are playing before they go on stage. But that isn’t really part of being a rockstar without actually doing any work. What is however, is learning to be untalented and unpracticed but still have people like you anyways, much like Fergie and nearly every country singer in the last 20 years.

Fortunately I was uncharacteristically well-dressed that particular evening, the lighting was dim, and alcohol was being served; a recipe for the making of a future pop icon. Hopefully next time I'll have some groupies (other than the Chimes editorial staff).