I am playing my favorite guitar that I own, a 1960 Les Paul Jr. 

A little context, I’m playing with a group of guys for fun. 

When my daughter was about eleven, she decided she wanted to play the drums.  Her mother and I (we are divorced) were a little surprised, but supportive.  We are both music fans.  Her mother found a local studio run by a forty-something and three twenty-somethings.  All are performing musicians.  The three twenty-somethings are in the same band.   

I regularly took her to lessons, and I would use the time to work or read while I waited in the front of the studio.  After several months, it occurred to me that I could use the time to take lessons as well.  As a kid, I had taken guitar lessons, but that was the extent of my musical training.   

Which inspired me to signed up for guitar lessons with Josh, a twenty-something guitar instructor.   

The individual lessons evolved into becoming part of a band with other older students, which proved to be great fun.   

For guitar players, they know that each guitar can have its own quirks and unique sound for a variety of reasons.  As a result, you may see a professional guitar player change guitars several times throughout a performance. 

I am partial to blues and rock and roll, although I listen to a wide variety of music. 

The Les Paul Jr. does a great job with blues and rock and roll.  “Rumble,” by Link Wray, was an early (1958) example of amplified and distorted rock and roll and is a favorite song of mine.  Muddy Waters songs of this period such as “Hoochie Coochie Man,” are also favorites.  A distortion pedal and a good amplifier give the natural sound of the Les Paul Jr. a little help.   

A couple of years ago, the Rolling Stones had a museum tour called “Exhibitionism.” The displays reflected on the history of the band, dating to their start in 1962.  It even included a replica of the small apartment three members lived in at that time, complete with a sink of dirty dishes. 

I saw it in Nashville, and I was intrigued to see that Keith Richards owns a Les Paul Jr. identical to the one I am playing in the photograph, and it was displayed.  

-SM