Not trying to somber this up as it's good memories for me. My late son Andrew was never going to be a ball player like I was in school. He'd have happily sat at the computer or done nothing most days when he was in Middle School. I finally forced the issue and said he had to do something and we agreed, him grudgingly on the guitar. We then looked for lessons and a not real expensive electric guitar and he ended up with a Squire Strat.
Well he got really lucky and had a great teacher, and the more he learned the more he loved it and by the time he was in high school he'd gotten pretty good. He'd also figured out that show up with an electric guitar and folks pay attention, including the girls if you can play.
It also kept us talking through the typical Dad knows nothing ages of 14-18 as we could always talk music and guitars. As with everything I want to know the history so we learned about the old blues players the background on the electric guitar. He at first was a Jimmy Page fanatic so it had to be a Les Paul. That was out of the price range but there was an Epiphone Les Paul that we could manage to the Squire got traded in with a few more bucks for that.
That worked for a bit, but Muddy Waters took hold with his Red Telecaster. Then he found out that Jimmy Page started with a Tele along with folks like James Burton and Albert Lee and the Telecaster went front and center. Again it was to scrape up the money and trade in the Epiphone for the holy grail, which was an American made Fender Telecaster.
Oh how he loved that guitar and oh how he could make it sing. There were times wher he'd drift off while playing and what he could do with it was magic. Yeah I know I was his Dad, but folks who heard him knew it too.
His playing inspired a friend of his little sister to learn. He idolized Drew and his guitar playing. When Andy and Chris died in 2005 the Guitar sat in it's case in Drew's room, probably my most prized possession of his. At my daughter's wedding this summer I asked that friend of Christina's to play Drew's Tele at the wedding and he did a masterful job including some impromtu Blues at the bride's father's request. It's the only time that Tele has been played since Drew died.
Drew and his Tele in his graduation picture from 2001.
