Aaron.

I have penned a short piece on one fellow band member I thought that I ought to have balance and tell you a little of the other.

For those of you who don’t know, Aaron, guitarist for The Mudheads is actually my son (yes I AM that old).

I had a very fortunate escape in that Aaron’s mother, my lovely wife, wanted her beloved son to follow in her families tradition of being mad about football (that’s soccer for anybody reading this over the pond).

Aaron was ‘encouraged’ to play in various teams as child and dragged along to local matches with one of our two football clubs, Bristol City. However, it soon became apparent that Aaron has inherited his father’s aptitude for the game (two left feet and no sense of direction) and agreed that actually ‘watching’ the game was about as pointless as….well….the most pointless thing there is to watch really (my apologies to anybody who is in fact a fan of ‘the beautiful game’ each to his own I say).

Anyway, at the tender age of 16 Aaron brought joy to his old dad’s heart and a cold chill to his mothers….he picked up a guitar.

From that point on Aaron became obsessed and he was generally caught wandering around the house strumming an old Spanish guitar that my parents had bought me when I was lad.

I tried to teach him a few chords, but I am not known for my patience and for the sake of family harmony and father and son unity Aaron took off on his own.

Aaron and his school mates had their first band and I was encouraged (for that read, ordered by my wife) to go and set up a PA for them at gigs and do the sound for them.

I had a note of nostalgia as to the cacophony Bassbin and I used to make when we were boys. Yet, we were never that loud.

Then. When Aaron was just 17, events conspired to change everything.

I had been persuaded by work mates to get back into performing again, and I managed to get myself a booking with my friend and former guitarist Matt Sims.

Sadly Matt had to pull out of the gig at the last minute due to work commitments and my wife suggested that I take Aaron along instead.

I wasn’t as negative as I had been with the thought of CJ’s audition, after all Aaron was my lad and I wanted to encourage him. However I wasn’t hopeful that he was going to make me look amazing.

We took to the ‘Robin Hood Retreat’ in Bristol armed with two acoustic guitars, a small PA and about 90 minutes of songs that I knew (that Aaron didn’t), un-rehearsed and totally unprepared.

All I can say is “fair play” to Aaron. Despite not having a clue as to what I was doing he kept up, and proved conclusively that he had what it took to be a guitarist.

It also got me back into performing after a break of about 8 years.

We got the bug almost immediately and many acoustic gigs followed and Aaron just kept on getting better and better and better.

He also managed to fight down his natural embarrassment to sing and very soon was happily singing along with me. Many have said that his voice is very similar to mind, which gives us a kind of chorus effect.

He also developed an unhealthy obsession with buying expensive guitars.

I had married young and had been pretty broke before that, so all my guitars had been copies, that was until when I reached 40 and my parents bought me an amazing acoustic guitar (I’ll tell that tale another day).

On the other hand Aaron had by the time he had reached his 20’s procured three Gibsons (including two of the legendary Les Paul electric guitars). A Fender Telecastor (top of the range I might add), a Fender bass guitar, a Takemine Acoustic guitar and a beautiful (and much envied by me) Taylor acoustic.

In order to satisfy this addiction Aaron decided that University wasn’t for him and went to work as an acoustic guitar specialist for a major music equipment retailer.

By the time we had teamed up with CJ he had also started collecting Marshall Amplifiers and has a guitar stack that is taller than he is.

However, bottom line, take away all the expensive instruments, and Aaron is still a mighty fine guitarist and we play well together.

I have often asked him why he doesn’t go off and join another band (as performing in a band with your old man isn’t the coolest thing in the world). His reply is always the same, “are you mad, I get to play regularly and I get paid…..I’m not giving that up”.

For my part it’s a privilege to play in a band with my son. So many fathers struggle to find any common ground with their sons and yet Aaron and I have a massive thing in common and are good friends.

I am not however, his mate….Aaron has loads of mates, he’s a popular guy. He only has one dad though, and I am proud to say….that’s my job.