YONDER BREAKS

Two years ago I took a job working the ramp for an airline, which is a pretty physical, 'blue collar' job. I had done the job in Charleston several years prior on a very part-time basis, but this go-around it was more involved and at a bigger station in the big city. Immediately, it became clear to me that the people I was working with had come from a very different background than I had, which was, and still is, very eye opening. On my most recent shift I had a particularly interesting conversation with three other guys, all a bit younger than me and each in various stages of life. We were talking about high school and what it was like with school, teachers and girls, and the contrast between their lives and mine was so stark it was worth noting, and gleaming a little life lesson from. Wing walking, 2016 I wrote in the last post that I grew up in the South, in the mid-sized city of Charleston, SC. I told them I had spent most of my childhood in the suburbs. They interpreted ...

I'm lucky to have grown up in Charleston, SC, with its rich history and vibrant music scene. I attribute a lot of my sound to the country/western music my Grandfather played while driving around to shop for cars he'd never buy, after hefty meals at the buffet we frequented enough to become regulars. I found out I liked bluegrass music while eating at a middle-of-nowhere barbecue joint with a no-name bluegrass band playing in the corner, even though I knew very little about the genre at the time. But all that southern influence was about more than just the music, and when I turned 25, it hit me in a whole new way... Just two kids in love! (Photo by David Strauss) You see, people in the South get married pretty early. I knew lots of kids that graduated college and before they started work, they started a new life as married couple. I even knew some youngsters who got married in  college. There's nothing wrong with any of it, but when I ended up in the big city of Los Angel...