back in high school somehow I joined up with a number of very interesting people
a number of these people were super creative and high achieving
high acheiving in unconventional ways
me... I have always be a C minus slacker
c minus slacker in all ways
but... somehow I managed to surround myself with some shinning stars
one of these highly creative individuals was lawrence mcdonald
lawrence was and is a free thinker
an artist with only one thing more expansive than his creativity... his work ethic
lawrence was high achieving in most everything that he desired
a chess player in the game of life
a talented skateboarder
a skilled mountain biker
and of course... a guitar genius
but...
much of what made lawrence so strong as a musician was those who he surrounded himself with
the band bells of had many incarnations and involved a long list of revolving players
the drama of that band often rivaled the madness on melrose place
there were various people who floated in and out
like a dysfunctional high school relationship between young lovers
breaking up and getting back together again
but...
when I think of bells of I usually think of one standard trio
lawrence, nate, and bass
nate being fernando carr also known as frito
and bass being ian michaels
sure there were other talented members that contributed
but I think that this trio may have jammed together the longest
the three together played a funky jazz groove that flowed
nate could hit the skins as hard as he skated... but he often chose to be as smooth on the drums as he was in the air
and bass... well... there is a reason they call him bass
he was a talented bass player that could hang with lawrence
which often seemed like a challenge not entirely dissimilar to the fiddle dual in the devil went down to georgia
as lawrence was often as competitive as creative
just as he challenged others to keep up with him on the bike
lawrence challenged musicians to keep up with him on stage
those were crazy wacky times
there were clashes of egos
there was the drama of romance
there was the complaint of money
in the end I think it was more about ego
it appeared that lawrence felt that he was the band and other members were just a replaceable supporting cast
in the end I am not sure that nate and bass were ever replaced
sure bells of continued on
but I am not sure if it was ever the same
then again... I do not know what I am talking about
in recent years lawrence rejoined with his old friend tom alnutt
they had played together in one of the earliest incarnations of bells of
and then existed as one of the most recent
not sure who is in the mix now that tom has relocated to the west
lawrence is still a good friend
and his music is still strong in my rotation
of his music I think I like his earliest most simple works
all the tracks of Eleven Eleven play one of those rare records that feels like a greatest hits album
like Carol King's Tapestry or Guns and Roses' Appetite for Destruction
there are other songs off other records that meet my favor
but nothing suits my tastes quite like the tracks off 11:11 even if many of these songs are pre Nate and pre Bass
lawrence still makes music
lawrence still skates
lawrence still draws, paints, sculpts, and plays chess
that is
when lawrence is not tilling the field and planting crops on his organic farm
not sure if lawrence still rides a mountain bike
but I am sure if we went riding
he would be out ahead making me chase him
oh... lawrence plays soccer and does many other things
this was not so much supposed to be list of the games lawrence plays
but more a response to a comment on a previous post about jason farrell
more so the not yet mentioned other members of bells of... ian and fernando
I mean bass and nate
to me nate is frito or maybe another alternate nickanem I can not currently recall
jason farrell was a member of one of the early incarnations of bells of
also another battle of egos
a battle that displayed itself with guitars and skateboards
but not right now
both lawrence and jason are still jamming hard at both music and skateboarding in the present day
a number of these people were super creative and high achieving
high acheiving in unconventional ways
me... I have always be a C minus slacker
c minus slacker in all ways
but... somehow I managed to surround myself with some shinning stars
one of these highly creative individuals was lawrence mcdonald
lawrence was and is a free thinker
an artist with only one thing more expansive than his creativity... his work ethic
lawrence was high achieving in most everything that he desired
a chess player in the game of life
a talented skateboarder
a skilled mountain biker
and of course... a guitar genius
but...
much of what made lawrence so strong as a musician was those who he surrounded himself with
the band bells of had many incarnations and involved a long list of revolving players
the drama of that band often rivaled the madness on melrose place
there were various people who floated in and out
like a dysfunctional high school relationship between young lovers
breaking up and getting back together again
but...
when I think of bells of I usually think of one standard trio
lawrence, nate, and bass
nate being fernando carr also known as frito
and bass being ian michaels
sure there were other talented members that contributed
but I think that this trio may have jammed together the longest
the three together played a funky jazz groove that flowed
nate could hit the skins as hard as he skated... but he often chose to be as smooth on the drums as he was in the air
and bass... well... there is a reason they call him bass
he was a talented bass player that could hang with lawrence
which often seemed like a challenge not entirely dissimilar to the fiddle dual in the devil went down to georgia
as lawrence was often as competitive as creative
just as he challenged others to keep up with him on the bike
lawrence challenged musicians to keep up with him on stage
those were crazy wacky times
there were clashes of egos
there was the drama of romance
there was the complaint of money
in the end I think it was more about ego
it appeared that lawrence felt that he was the band and other members were just a replaceable supporting cast
in the end I am not sure that nate and bass were ever replaced
sure bells of continued on
but I am not sure if it was ever the same
then again... I do not know what I am talking about
in recent years lawrence rejoined with his old friend tom alnutt
they had played together in one of the earliest incarnations of bells of
and then existed as one of the most recent
not sure who is in the mix now that tom has relocated to the west
lawrence is still a good friend
and his music is still strong in my rotation
of his music I think I like his earliest most simple works
all the tracks of Eleven Eleven play one of those rare records that feels like a greatest hits album
like Carol King's Tapestry or Guns and Roses' Appetite for Destruction
there are other songs off other records that meet my favor
but nothing suits my tastes quite like the tracks off 11:11 even if many of these songs are pre Nate and pre Bass
lawrence still makes music
lawrence still skates
lawrence still draws, paints, sculpts, and plays chess
that is
when lawrence is not tilling the field and planting crops on his organic farm
not sure if lawrence still rides a mountain bike
but I am sure if we went riding
he would be out ahead making me chase him
oh... lawrence plays soccer and does many other things
this was not so much supposed to be list of the games lawrence plays
but more a response to a comment on a previous post about jason farrell
more so the not yet mentioned other members of bells of... ian and fernando
I mean bass and nate
to me nate is frito or maybe another alternate nickanem I can not currently recall
jason farrell was a member of one of the early incarnations of bells of
also another battle of egos
a battle that displayed itself with guitars and skateboards
but not right now
both lawrence and jason are still jamming hard at both music and skateboarding in the present day