How I got started in music & the military
This is the story of how I got started in music and then the military. I started at a very young age playing accordion along with my older sister at an accordion school in Silverton, OH. They were fairly common back then – group lessons and just the basics. We both had small rented accordions. My sister Beth lost interest, but I stayed with it and finally my folks had to get me a full size accordion. I stayed with it for a couple of years after that. Mom would have me pull it out and perform anytime someone visited the house. My big number was 76 Trombones. When I lost interest, my brother Fred and I both wanted to play drums so my father craftily found someone in Kentucky who wanted to trade a set of drums for the accordion. We both got pretty good on the drums. I started taking lessons from a guy who taught at Lloyd Hazelbaker's Music in Oakley. I was his best student, learning both the rudiments and set playing. We used the Joe Morello book called "Around the Drums...
