Me & My Uncle

"The Party's Over"

My nephew Mario (below left), a talented singer/songwriter/guitarist, aspires to stardom in the Country music field. The young man, 25, has written a number of songs that I am persuaded would make their way into the Country music charts if only these were given the same kind of airplay afforded the established names in Country music. The odds of that happening are of course slim indeed. As my brothers are quick to point out, the music field is littered with aspiring artists who, despite being devoted to their trade and relentless in their pursuit of stardom, will nonetheless be met in the by and by with the reality that "Life is what happens to us while we are out making other plans" (John Lennon). In the meantime, the sands of time spill onward for us all. In only a moment we grow old, the catchy songs we wrote during our glory days suddenly sound rather dated and out of season; the tides of life have seemingly swept our dreams away.

How does one ward off the disillusionment that threatens to overwhelm at times such as these?

Well, a good place to start is by subscribing early in life to the reality that God is in control of our lives (William Ernest Henley's pompous assertion [Invictus] notwithstanding) - and grow in the faith that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him ..." (Romans 8:28) Then, too, consider Robert Hasting's observation (The Station): it's not our arrival at any particular station in life that really matters, but, rather, the appreciation of all experiences that come to us along the journey. Finally, knowing that only those things we do along our earthly pilgrimage that echo in eternity really matter cannot fail to put life in proper perspective for any right-thinking person. Then we may say - as Robert Kinkaid said to Francesca Johnson (The Bridges of Madison County): "The old dreams were good dreams. They didn't work out, but I'm glad I had 'em."

I was in a very popular 80s band, Junction, for a number of years. We had a legion of fans, all of whom were convinced we could/would hit "the bigs." That never happened - but I for one had a great time of it as manager/bassist/singer of the band. My dream of "hitting the bigs" was not realized, but I'm glad I dreamed it.

Mario and I have worked in tandem as Me & My Uncle (a label derived from the title of a Grateful Dead song) for five years. For my part, I entered into our musical association with the objective of simply helping the young man find his niche, lay down catchy bass lines for a CD Mario aimed to make of his original songs and help him kick start a music career. We fiddled with the project for some time, but the finished product was never arrived at. Somewhere along the way, Pinocchio's Pizzeria & Lounge (Glenview, IL) put the project on hold. The kid decided he needed "performing experience" and shifted his musical focus from writing/recording to playing "a few " gigs at the joint.

As I warned my nephew from the start, Pinocchio's soon became a Thursday night hangout, a place where friends and family would join the club's small number of regulars on Thursday nights to eat, drink, make merry and to cheer us on now and again. The drinks, which the lovely, ever-smiling Tanya graciously poured in timely fashion for my nephew and I were on the house - and the two if us walked away with $50 spending money in our pockets at the end of each 1 1/2 hour show. While such enticements might prove unavailing to a youthful fifty-nine year old who's been 'round the music barn more than a few times (that would be me!), the same inducements were too strong for the starry-eyed young man to bear. And so it was that Me & My Uncle wound up dropping anchor at Pinocchio's.

Finally, eight months and 36 performances later, the experiment ran its course with Mario acknowledging, at last, that The Party's Over."

Me & My Uncle's swan song at Pinocchio's (8/28) was memorable in every way! In addition to a good number of Pinocchio's patrons being on hand, our friends, family and Esther made it all the more special. The icing on that cake was having my son Emilio (above) on hand to perform his song, Dear Michelle. Emilio finger-picked the tune on guitar the Thursday before; this time he would add his voice to the song - and nail it, he did! Jake Goodman, a young man skilled at playing multiple instruments (Mario brought Jake on board after our second Pinocchio's show) closed out the Me & My Uncle show with an impressive set. Do look Jake up; the "25 year old kid" will not fail to impress.).

Mario was gracious to present "My Uncle" (or, "Tio") with an incredible oil painting-like digital reproduction of a picture (above) made some weeks ago by my brother, Hermes, who also made the other pictures on this post. Great kid! Great times.

But - the party's over.

An old Chinese proverb teaches that "The best way to make your dream come true is to simply - wake up!" While Pinocchio's provided an ego stroke, free drinks and spending money - it also proved to be Mario's albatross in that it caused him to forget that there is much work to be done in the real world if he hopes to have a chance at realizing stardom. There is that CD that is yet begging for to be made. A web site complete with bio, gigging schedules and YouTube-type videos would be a plus. He is in dire need of new songs - not simply as add-ons to his existing repertoire - but to prove to himself that he is still capable of writing; that his talent hasn't dried up. The party's end will provide the kid with ample time to attend to those necessary tasks.

One of the obvious benefits Me & My Uncle provided me with was, in the first place, the golden opportunity to work off fifteen years (!) of rust on my electric bass. I've been rejuvenated to the highest degree where music is concerned. Me & My Uncle's respite will provide me with time as well; time in which to dust off a number of my old, dated originals and record them on CD. That's something I've wanted to do for time out of mind in order to give my children to know that their Old Man had some measure of musical talent which has been passed on to them.

I'm looking forward to the challenge of making something new out of music that was conceived in my mind in the 70s and 80s.

Listen to the warm,

Orlando