I gots to play with Todd again

In 1978, I heard Kiss Alive II. I was nothing but a babe at the time, but the sonic bombast of the album forever changed my life.

In 1982-1983, Todd was playing guitar, and blew my mind. From that point on I vowed to share a stage with him.

While I was waiting for that dream to happen, I had hooked with Dan Saltel in a band we would call Salty Bear. It was this garage-y thing that I was quite proud of. But it was nothing quite approaching the technical ability of what Todd was doing with his band MiToMa. I mean, hell, they were playing Rush and Van Halen. Dan and I were getting better as musicians with a lot of hard work, but Todd was Todd.

Todd was shredding. I was writing.

Salty Bear was pure songwriting. What we were missing in musical ability we made up with in sheer integrity and experimentation. We might not have had the chops to play along with these technical bands, but we were crafting some different rock and roll. I will be honest, I don't think I will ever be able to write anything like that again. It was different and freeing and cool. As a team, Dan let me try anything I took a fancy for. In turn he came up with some really crazy ideas, weird chord progressions and timings. I don't think the Salty Bear sound will ever be replicated.

Because Dan and I gave each other the ultimate freedom in writing, I progressed unhindered as a songwriter. Instead of getting stuck writing songs in the same format, I was able to adapt to different types of music. This also pushed my drumming in different directions as I worked in funk, reggae, hard rock, bluegrass and others styles into our rock songs.

So Todd became a guitar god and I really learned how to write songs. In a way, it was a great thing we didn't play together. We each developed into the players we would become. Todd sat in on 3 or 4 jams with Salty Bear, and Todd and I had 2 to 3 songwriting sessions together. But really, the McGinity brothers had not become a thing yet.

Finally, it was dad that brought us together. Dad had recruited Todd into this band he had started with Bayne Robertson. Now, it was pretty common knowledge in the family of Todd's prowess on the guitar. He had played live a number of times for all to see. I was an unknown, with Salty Bear never getting past playing out of the basement. Of course, dad knew I played drums. He had bought me my first kit after all. My in with Dad's band was that their drummer spent a fair amount of time in the theatre and was not always available. I was brought in to play drums. Somehow that ended up not being permanent as Richard Brasher was in the wings, so I may have only sat in for a session or two. The band needed a singer. So I became the singer instead.

The Classic Embers classic lineup was born. The name was derived on the initials M - B - R (for McGinitys, Bayne, and Richard) as in MBR, or Ember. I felt like I was barely in the band and would last until they learned that I was not really a singer. I was playing with THE Todd McGinity, after all. My vocals were not going to cut it. I had spent all of my time working on getting my drum chops up. Singing was an afterthought.

I had remembered that Todd really progressed as a guitar player because he put in the time. He would play from the moment he came home from school with little breaks for supper and homework until he went to bed. I think he may have fallen asleep with the guitar even a number of times. If I was to keep up I would do the same.

Not willing to waste the opportunity to play with my brother,I had to be good enough to play with Todd. I took singing lessons, and began practicing at every opportunity. I put in 15-20 hours a week.

Finally, we booked our first real gig. The Classic Embers played a sold out show. The audience was amazing. Everything about the show was out of a dream. It was surreal. And to my left stood Todd. I kept wanting to face that side of the stage, just to watch him play. I was able to reign it in enough, thankfully.

I had achieved my dream. I had played with the mighty FastFretFingers.

The coolest thing? Doing it many more times over 5 years. And then we did it again in Dome.

Last weekend we did again. This time it was for a surprise birthday party we had planned for him. I had his gear lined and ready for him so he could plug and play. The chemistry was still there. I can't wait to do this again. And again. And again.