The Widetrack Chronicles 18: Zach's first show

The Widetrack Chronicles 
18: Zach's First Show

 

As you may or may not have heard by now, on March 24, 2017, I celebrated my birthday by playing Widetrack's first house concert... Hosted by and at the home of my good friend and Widetrack lead guitarist, Brian Burleson, the show was a smashing success... We had a nice group of attendees for whom we previewed 9 of the 12 songs from our soon-to-be released new album, 'Widetrack III'... 

As if this wasn't already enough to be crazy-thrilled about, the night also marked the debut of my son, Zach Tippin, as bassist for Widetrack... It was also his very first time ever playing in a band before a live audience... 

To say that this was my best birthday ever would be the understatement of the century...

But let me back up here a bit...

It still amazes me to think that Zach came to me only 3 months ago, saying that he wanted to start playing bass... I wasn't sure how serious he was about it, but then he offered to pay for half... So, his mother and I paid for the other half as his birthday present...

From the moment he brought it home, the thing barely left his hands... And the progress he went on to make in just a few short weeks was nothing short of amazing... 

I was really blown away... Each week, he would show me the newest bass lines he'd learned from bands like Rush, Yes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, etc... I really couldn't believe it..

Oh, and did I mention that he also learned most of the Widetrack repertoire? 

This unforeseen development really got my wheels turning: "Wow, he can already play our songs... Hmm... I wonder... Is it in the realm of possibility that he could join the band as bassist?" 

I began exploring the scenario in my mind... 

"Am I crazy?" 

"Is this just wishful thinking?" 

"He's not even 13 yet..." 

"He just started playing the bass..." 

"He's never even been in a band before..." 

And yet... 

Something told me that he can do this... 

"How cool would that be?", I thought... "Playing in a band with my son!"

I talked it over with Brian and we decided to see how playing a gig with Zach would go... Something low-pressure, with just a few friends and such... I suggested a house concert... Brian suggested doing it at his place... It was on...

This was to be Zach's debut gig, and I was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of sharing the experience with him... We began rehearsing like crazy, 2-4 times a week... 

Meanwhile, I started putting the word out about what we were up to... I was curious how people were going to react to the idea of him joining the band... But everyone was incredibly supportive... I received a heart-warming amount of positive messages of encouragement and well-wishes to Zach on his first gig...

It all touched me deeply - not just as a father, but also as fellow band member, because by the time the day of the show arrived, the three of us had already decided that he was going to be in the band... 

We were a bit concerned with having to use my pre-recorded drum tracks, being that we are still making the final determination as to who our drummer will be (we have a couple people we are looking at who are really good, so it shouldn't be long now)... But by the night of our final dress rehearsal, everything seemed to be working pretty well...



Then the big night came...

Being that we were going to be playing mostly songs from the new album, I thought it might be a good idea to start off with a short solo acoustic set of songs from the first two albums...

The acoustic set went really well... I opened with a solo rendition of 'Violet', then my friend, Rylee Dingman joined me for 'Star-crossed', playing violin and singing back-up...


Then, my friend Renee Sanger came up and sang back-up on 'The Promise' and 'The Shrine'...

They both sounded fantastic (as always!)...


The plan was to broadcast the entire event on Facebook Live, but unfortunately, we had some connection issues and the video failed...

I did manage to get the first song of the opening solo acoustic set, though:



Then it was time for the band to play... I was feeling so good about things... I just knew he was going to nail it... 

And, wow, did he ever... :)

The reaction was unanimous: Zach did wonderfully... I was so proud of him... He really enjoyed himself, too...

Of course there were the typical minor mistakes that come with most any show, but overall, one couldn't have asked for more... 

Like I said: Best. Birthday. EVER. 

Our plan now is to record him playing the bass parts for the album in place of the ones I've already done... This should put 'Widetrack III' out by mid-summer, at which time we will be playing everywhere and anywhere there are people who want to come see us... 

From there, we will see what the future brings... Logistically speaking, there are certain limitations with where we can play, having a teenager in the band, but we will deal with all that as it comes... There is still a lot we can do, and we've got some really exciting ideas (more on that to come)... 

I must say, I am feeling a new level of inspiration in my own musicianship… He’s reminding me of why I began playing all those years ago… The pure excitement and sense of accomplishment in reaching ever-new plateaus of technical skill… The wonder and discovery of each new song, and each new band these songs introduced me to… The sense of finding my place in the world as a musician, and bringing my ideas to life...

More than ever, this is what I want to be doing with my all-too-brief time here on this planet... And now I get to do it with my son...

How far we can take this is anybody's guess, but for now...

Onward!




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Ron@WidetrackMusic.com 

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