But, as the months have gone on I've really started to enjoy doing this.  We have a core of great young musicians coming up and it's really been a joy to work with them.  We've got a young bassist and guitarist, both fifteen.  The drummer's twelve but he loves playing and he's a gamer.  We've got a couple of youngsters singing with us too who are showing some promise.  Then we kind of fill in with grownups on vocals and keys and rhythim guitar. 

The band's a nice mix of old and young.

Now, I've been playing for a long time - nearly forty years!  It's no exaggeration to say I've been pummeled; suffered the slings and arrows of "The Biz."  But for all that, I've never lost the love.  When it's grooving, I groove.  When the people are bopping to what I'm playing, it's still a thrill.  So, to get these kids rockin' and to see the look of delight on their faces is really a treat for me.   It brings me back to when I was their age and just getting it going for the first time.  It doesn't make me feel young - if anything it makes me feel old! But, their youthful joy is certainly infectious!

I don't have to "big-league" anybody.  I do my thing every day of my life and have nothing to prove.  I don't try to be cool; don't try to be their pal. The kids know I 'm for real and they give me respect.  I have to say, I enjoy working with them quite a bit, but they are an especially good bunch.  For one thing, their parents are making sure they grow up churched!  So, we've got some good raw material to work with. 

Singing His Praises in our church.

Sean, our lead guitarist, favors the "Jazzer" look with a suit jacket and button-down shirt.  He even plays a "Jazz Box" type Ibanez guitar.  Bassist Aaron goes more for the "athletic" look, wearing tight-fitting shirts that show off all the time he spends in the weight room.  He's quiet and reserved, but if you look at his Facebook page you can read that he's a deep thinker.  I'm schooling him on bass and working him into the band until it's time for me to step aside altogether. Twelve-year-old Jake looks like a little guy but he smacks those drums and he's got a lot of heart. He's a little wise guy but you can't help but like him. The girls are just coming on board so I don't really know them yet.   

Jim, our Youth Minister

Month by month we've been slowly working towards "critical mass," getting the group off the ground.  Jim is a fantastic Youth Minister who really connects with the kids but doesn't know much about running a band, so I'm helping him out.  We've got some talented kids in our small congregation and we've been slowly getting them on board.  We've got the Paul the Choir Director on keys who I'm hoping to get more involved with vocal arrangements and we've got Janice, an experienced jingle singer, to anchor the vocal section.  Plus we've got Glenn, a wonderful sound man who makes us sound real good.  So we've got a lot of things going for us.

The congreagation's response has been wonderful.  Every month there seem to be more fannies in the pews.  Just the fact that I've been able to get my very "white bread" church clapping their hands and rocking has in itself made the whole undertaking worthwhile for me. I've been dreaming of doing it for years! At services I declare, "Let's get some joyful praise going on in here this morning!" And we do. 

"Let's get some joyful praise going on in here!"

I went into this thing thinking I was making a sacrifice for the church but, as usual, when you give you get back many fold.  You'd think I'd know that by now since it's happened to me so many times and yet here I am - surprised again!