@jrick92  That was a lot of fun to watch. The little kid on the fiddle was fantastic! 

Someday I'd love to be able to play in a jam circle like that. By the time this Covid junk is over I think I'll be proficient enough maybe to play in one. 😀 

@shysue I love to watch the kids and the family groups play. We have the working ranch cowboys rodeo every year and there are always some good family groups playing. 

Can you imagine their home life?!  When I play, they complain and criticize me. Whatever stage I was they made it difficult for me me. Mind you now, I was a music major, voice and education, for my first bachelors degree!!  I want to go live in with a music family. 

Growing up I didn't live in a music family, either. In fact, my older sister would beat me up if I tried to practice my clarinet when my parents weren't home. She was 6 years older than me so she did a lot of damage, too. 

The only one in the family who was musical was my step-grandmother, and she was the one who gave me a guitar for Xmas. Unfortunately she lived far away from us so I didn't get many chances to play guitars with her. ☹ 

I had two older brothers who were forced to take piano lessons and hated it so they didn't even try with me. I probably would not have done any better. I had a friend across the street from me with a guitar and he made a career out of it. He played with Celine Dion when he grew up. He wanted me to get a bass guitar when we were 10 or 11 but I knew that wasn't happening. It only took me about 45 more years to even think about getting a guitar.

Writing this reply made me curious so I decided to check on my friend and I found this.

https://markbakermusicaz.com/?page_id=346

My brother was brutal on his best day. I suffered countless beatings, brutal beatings from my ‘brother.’  He was abusive to me every day of my life and when he got married he abused them until the day he died. Horrible person. He cut my flute in half! One time my flute just disappeared never to return. My mom blamed me. I swear they were in on it together. It got so bad the band director made time for me to use a school instrument and a practice room. I got a job at 14. Bought myself a piccolo and kept it at my friends house. My mom beat me when she found out I spent my own money. Said I owed her that money. When I graduated high school I bought a piano with the money I got. My brother was married and out by then. My mom worked evening shifts so I could play it until midnight. I never understood any of it. I majored in music for 4 years! Got a BA in music education!! My neighbor family all were exceptional musicians and still, to this day, have huge sing a longs in a local restaurant weekly. Once, I got away from my family I was distracted struggling to survive without help from anyone. My kids had some exposure to music lessons but dropped away from that for their own interests. Here I sit, 65,  still singing (if you have to call it something), still trying. I’ll never get very good but I’ll have fun pretending. 

@jrick92 That's interesting. I checked out the link and read about your friend Mark Baker. According to his website he lives in Sun City, AZ, about 15-20 miles west of where we're at. 

It's a wonderful thing when you can make a living doing something you love. 🙂 

@jerseychicadee Wow, sorry to hear your brother was so mean to you. Jeez. And your mom, too. ☹  

To this day my sister denies that she ever beat me up. I don't know if she doesn't remember or she just doesn't want to admit it. Sometimes she will say, "If I did then you deserved it." I never bring it up anymore. We are very different people and she's the sister I sold my Yamaha guitar to cheap because she said she wanted to learn how to play. That was 7 years ago and she still can only play 3 or 4 chords. 

The last time we played guitars together was Christmas 2019, and she got angry because she couldn't keep up with us. We were playing simple 2 and 3 chord songs very slowly, but she was struggling with the chord transitions because she never practices. She said it wasn't fair because I've been playing longer than her. What a big baby, LOL. She's had 7 years to practice learning chords and get better at playing, but then gets mad at me because she didn't. She always wants to blame others for her shortcomings, and she's always been this way. Sigh. 

@shysue  That's cool! I had lost contact with Mark and his family in about the seventh grade and always wondered if he and his brother Kevin had continued playing. Then about 5 or six years ago I happened to connect with his sister on facebook and she told me that Mark had been doing real well with his music. They are a super nice family.

His website says he gives lessons, but they're ukulele lessons. Think I'm going to stick with guitar for now though. 😀 

Ukulele was fun and much easier than guitar. I still can’t play a song well enough on guitar to ever think of playing in front of other’s. Ukulele I’m just bellerin’ and a hollerin’. 

@shysue  Singing, playing guitar, singing + playing ukulele, teaching,  these are all separate skills. For teaching I would go to Devin, no doubt. To listen to someone singing and playing the ukulele I would probably go listen to Mark. Just sayin.

@jerseychicadee And now I know who to talk to about some bellerin' and hollerin' lessons.