Just Dad

I know that this subject has been brought up by many other people, but it's still funny when it happens to you. I'm talking about the "Just Dad" rule, which states:

No matter how famous or notable you are, to your kids you will always be "Just Dad."

(There is, of course, the "Just Mom" equivalent to this rule, but hey, we're talking about me here. Go write your own blog.)

After I received the proof copy of my book in the mail, I showed it to my kids. My daughter communicated her overflowing level of excitement by saying: "That's nice. What's for lunch?"

Then, later, after an article about the book came out in the local paper, I showed it to them. They both looked at it for a second and then walked away without comment, returning to whatever it was they were engaged in previously.

Believe me, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Discovering Bands

I just found out today about a band called B'z. These guys have been around since 1988 and apparently have sold over 80 million albums in Japan. Why have I not heard about them until now?

Sometimes you discover bands in the most random of ways. My friend learned about B'z from the Gibson guitar website and passed the info on to me. That same friend found what became one of my favorite bands, In This Moment, by reading a guitar magazine in a test center waiting room.

The director of a video by one of my old bands heard us over the piped-in music in a Los Angeles hotel restaurant.

You just never know where you might dig up some new (or new to you, anyway) music that changes your life, or at least adds to it in some small way.