Building your own guitar at age 10 ...

Work hard, Play Guitar Harder

Chapter 1, The Phoenix
"That's Horrible ... definitely not ... ewww!" ... I was trying to think of a good guitar design but nothing good was coming. And I had already drawn ten! Earlier that day I, wanting to make a guitar, had walked into a guitar shop called 'Midwest Guitar'. Once inside, I found the owner named Mike. After hearing me out, Mike handed me a large sheet of paper and said,
"Draw your design."
Draw, I did and EVENTUALLY it appeared after many erasures: 'The Phoenix' and it would be righteous. It would look as if somebody caught the back on fire and when painted red; it would scream, "FLAME!" all over it! I loved it but I could tell Mike was the kind of guy who liked to stay in the box. This was going to be a big stretch for him!

Chapter 2, Drawing Out
I returned to 'Midwest Guitar' the next day when Mike handed me a block of wood the size of the paper he'd given me the day before.
"Now," he said, "We're going to sketch out your paper design on the wood. Let's see what you dr-- ...Whoa!" he said as he stared down in amazement at what I had drawn.
"Oh boy, this might take some time," he muttered.
He was right. All the turns and curves and loop de loops (I'm kidding, of course!) of the flames would be hard to cut out! I started drawing. I got the front down but the flames on the back were kinda' hard. It quickly became apparent to me that it was far easier to draw on paper.
"Uh, Mike I think I need so'e help."
He came over and said, "Well, I'm no good at drawing. You want me to call over the guy that's goin' to paint it?"
"Sure", I said.
He dialed him up and after a few words he hung up and said, "He'll be over in a bit."
"Cool," I said and we waited a bit, drawing out the other components of the guitar.

Chapter 3, He's no painter
The "painter" turned out to be a tattoo artist named Chris (Mike had neglected to tell me how my guitar painter really made his living). I was a little bit doubtful at first but he turned out to be dang good at drawing! He made, in pencil, every line sure and curve perfect with one uniform sweep. When he was finished he announced, "How's that?"
"Great," I muttered, a little bit jealous.
Then he picked up the neck of the soon to be guitar and started playing it!

Chapter 4, Power Tools
"This is going to be one rockin' guitar, man!"
When Chris left, we took the block of wood with Chris' flame design on it downstairs to the basement where Mike kept all of his power tools. As soon as I got a glimpse of that room, my mind told me "hardware store". Jigsaws, belt sanders, air brushes - all the tools one would need to run a woodworking factory. We brought the block of wood over to the ban saw for some "surgery".
Mike started lecturing me about safety and after a while he flipped on the on switch and showed me the different ways of cutting. I watched him for a while and then he turned off the deafeningly loud machine and asked me if I wanted to try. I said "yes" and did the exact same thing that he did. It was actually kind of fun. When we were done cutting, he flipped off the switch and we walked back up the stairs to the shop.

Chapter 5, The Fun Part
"Now," he said, "here's the fun part. You take this (he handed me a piece of sandpaper) and start rubbing it all over the wood until it's smooth, okay?"
"Okay.", I answered.
It seemed like fun at first but after five minutes, my hands felt like they had had arthritis for thirty years! I kept sanding until it was time to go home and when I started to walk out the door for home; Mike stopped me and said, "Hey, hey, hey, you've got some homework!" I sighed as he handed me the sandpaper that he intended for me to continue to use on my guitar’s body at home.

Chapter 6, Homework
I knew I had to sand it and sand some more until it was as smooth as it could be. This added up to being about a full week of "homework". When I thought it was smooth enough, I brought it into Mike; who, after rubbing his hands all over it for about thirty seconds, announced,
"That's good, but it needs to be smoother."
I almost wanted to cry. I sanded it for about three days more, and brought it in to Mike again. "That'll work." he said casually.
That will work? I almost wanted to punch him! He should say "Amazing!" or "Whoa!" at the very least.

Chapter 7, I See Red
The next day, I went across the street to paint my guitar at Chris' tattoo shop. He had already given it a base coat of lollipop red and I was about to witness him airbrush-on the flames. I watched him slowly make out every canary yellow, fruity orange and icy white wisp perfectly as if in dance step with my lady guitar. By the time he was done, I was surprised to learn that he had spent over three hours on her, my "Phoenix". To me, it seemed like three minutes!

Chapter 8, More Than A Feeling
I entered 'Midwest Guitar Shop' the next day, knowing that it would be my last. Mike had my guitar components laid out on one of his many work benches.
"What are we going to do today, Mike", I asked as if I didn't already know.
"Well", Mike said, "We're going to put all the pieces together so that you take home with you a solid guitar."
I approached the table and we started carefully putting on the neck as if every bolt was a child growing up into the grain of society. We then put in the pick-ups among other details and lastly; we strung it. I let out a sigh of relief as I stared down at my custom guitar that had taken shape and form.
"She's beautiful", I said.
Mike agreed. After basking in her beauty for about 30 seconds, Mike said,
"Well, watcha' waitin' for? Go play it!"
I scooped her up and ran over to one of his amps. I plugged her in and flipped the on-switch. I immediately started playing "More than a Feeling" by my favorite Rock Group BOSTON. My guitar let out the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. Tom Scholz, the creative juice behind and throughout BOSTON, would nod in approval, I think. I get that feeling, more than a feeling, whenever a guitar is right for me. And this was the strongest I had ever felt it!
The holidays are here and Gary's going to be doing some benefit shows with December People. "It's all the traditional seasonal songs that everybody knows, but performed in the styles of your favorite rock bands like ZZ Top, U2, Santana, The Who and ... Boston!" The first show this year was a sell out on November 12th at the World Theater on the campus of Cal State, Monterey Bay. Proceeds and canned food was given to the Monterey and San Benito County Food Banks and the Monterey County SPCA.

The next show will be December 11th in The Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Admission is free! Come early for good seats. Show starts at 7PM.

Then back to San Jose on December 17 for a show and video taping at The Sobrato Center for Non-Profits.


The photo on the right shows the 5 band members and 2 Food Bank organizers.




Kimberely, Jeff and Gary performed as "Color Three" at Soldier Field in Chicago on August 23rd, 2011. They performed their own songs at this debut gig for the band.

"The goal of the event in Illinois is to assist veterans and service members with obtaining information about benefits, employment, education, housing and legal services. This one of a kind event also advocates networking between different organizations which improves business to business relations; enhancing the quality of veteran support services, and in turn, helping thousands of veterans."








NEVER LOOKING BACK: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOSTON'S TOMMY DECARLO
By Jeb Wright
Boston vocalist Tommy DeCarlo has had a few years to get his feet back down on earth since going from a regular guy working at Home Depot to singing Boston's greatest hits on the band's 2008 tour. Fairytales do happen and dreams do come true and no one knows that more than DeCarlo, who sent a chance email to Boston offering to sing at Brad Delp's tribute concert and ended up becoming the band's lead singer. During Boston's downtime, DeCarlo produced two singles and released them on the Internet. One song he wrote for his wife and the other he wrote about Brad Delp. In fact, it was the Delp tune that began the process of Tommy's incarnation from home repair guy to rock singer. The tune is titled "A Man He'll Always Be" and Tommy wrote the song only days after Delp's tragic suicide.
Oddly enough, several years prior DeCarlo met Delp after a Boston show in Florida. Neither man knew then the connection that would one day link them together forever.
The interview that follows is an inspiring look into the past, present and future of Tommy DeCarlo.

Jeb: You have two new songs, the first is titled "A Man He'll Always Be" and is a tribute to Brad Delp, written only days after his death. Tell me the story behind writing the song. Tommy: I didn't have any music equipment at the time. I had a microphone and some cheap software that I would do my Boston karaoke on. My parents live down the road and were on vacation so my son, Tommy, and I went over to look after their animals. My mom has a cheap Casio keyboard. I sat down and started playing the Boston classic "A Man I'll Never Be" but I just didn’t feel right about playing it since Brad had just taken his own life and it was really sad.
To me Brad was an awesome man and I had the thought of "A Man He'll Always Be." I played around with a few chords and my son said, "Dad, that is really good. You should really record that." By that time we were done feeding the animals and I said, "Maybe another time. Let's go home. I don't really feel like dragging Grandma's keyboard home." He kept pushing and I said, "I tell you what, you go in the house and load up the keyboard and I will record it." The original recording took me about twenty minutes and then I took the keyboard back to my parent's house as I didn't want my mom to be mad that I took it. I reference a number of Boston songs in the lyrics. I thought it was just a nice thing to do and I just did it because I was a fan. I wanted to share it with other fans and that is how my daughter got involved. She helped me upload it up to MySpace and we also uploaded some of my Boston cover songs. Jeb: So this is how the seed was planted concerning you contacting Tom and Kim Scholz about the tribute show.
Tommy: I heard about the tribute show through the Boston website. I remember thinking how much I wished I could sing at that show. I even went so far as to say that I belonged at that show. I wanted to go just as a fan but I couldn't afford it. I was just a regular guy and I had bills to pay. I remember going home from work one day and that someone had contacted me on MySpace. Her name was Melissa and she had an email address for the band. She told me it was a great song and that I should sent it to Boston. I put it out there and sent it but I was like, "Yeah, sure. Like anyone is ever going to read this email." To make a long story short, a couple of weeks later I got an email from Tom's wife, Kim. She listened to it and thought it was great and she said that Tom wanted to speak to me about performing at the tribute show.
Jeb: Did you fall over?
Tommy: I was excited but at the same time really nervous. I knew I was good at singing in my bedroom when nobody was around but I would have to go out there and sing in front of a bunch of hardcore Boston fans. I returned the email and I got a call from the band's publicist and then I got a call from Tom. We discussed the tribute show and it all went forward from there.
Jeb: Did you let them know you were just singing in the bedroom? It would have been tough not to just let him assume you were in a professional band. Tommy: At the time it really wasn't discussed. It came up after the tribute show. I came home after the show and Tom was calling everyone and thanking them for coming up and participating in the show. Tom said, "After seeing you sing I am going to guess that you are in a cover band down there in Charlotte." I replied to Tom, "I hope you can appreciate honesty but I have never been in a band in my life. The first time I stepped out onstage with Boston was the first time I had ever played with a live band." Tom just started laughing.
About a month later Tom got a hold of all the band members, including me, and said that he might take it out on the road. He told me to keep it under my hat and not tell anyone. I was going to work at Home Depot and on Friday afternoon people were going, "Tommy, what is going on this weekend?" I would say, "Nothing. I am just going to hang around the house." In reality I was getting on a plane and flying to Boston to rehearse with the band. This went on for four or five months. Finally, I had to go in and tell my job that I had to go.
Jeb: Tell me about the first rehearsal you had with the band.
Tommy: I was at the hotel with my wife and my kids and I was a nervous wreck. I was going to be singing songs with people that I used to see on posters and who I idolized as a kid. I got a call at the hotel and they told me that the band was getting ready to rehearse and that he would come and pick me up. I asked if my son could come and he said, "Sure."
We drove across Boston and we came up to this very average looking industrial area. The driver said, "Isn't that something? All these people are driving by and they don’t have any idea that band is right in that building over there." We got out of the car and the band was rehearsing "Don't Look Back." I only had a couple of songs to sing and they had to rehearse songs with other singers. I looked at my son and said, "Can you believe that we are going to walk through those doors and Boston will be onstage playing "Don't Look Back." There were tech people and crew guys all around. I looked up and saw the band playing the song and I was in awe.
Jeb: How fitting that the first song you walked into was "Don't Look Back."
Tommy: Wow, Jeb, you know I had never thought about that. What a good point. I met Tom's wife Kim, who is a super person. She introduced me to Tom and the rest of the band members. They did a few more songs and I sat there nervously waiting. Finally, Tom looked over and said, "Are you ready to sing 'Smokin'?" It was my first song of the day and I cracked a few notes to be honest with you. After the song was over Tom said, "Let's do it again." I was warmed up and I don't think I could have sung it better the second time around. We then sang the song "Party" and Tom came over and gave me a high five. All of the band members were pretty excited about it. There were crew members and family members there and they were giving me some nice compliments.
Michael Sweet sang "More Than A Feeling" at the tribute show and he was on his way over from Cape Cod to rehearse it and he had not arrived yet. Tom said, "Let's do 'More Than A Feeling." Tom said, "Tommy, do you know this song?" I am like, "Do I know it?" Tom told me to fill in for Michael. When Gary started playing the acoustic guitar intro to that song and I actually said, out loud, softly to myself, "I cannot believe this." This was not a karaoke song and it was not a cover band; it was the real deal.
Jeb: I have been able to interview people who meant a lot to me growing up. Sometimes someone comes along where I am in awe of the person. I get nervous and right before the interview I have to swallow hard and just go in. Did you have a moment like that?
Tommy: Leading up to the first Boston show on tour was an experience. I remember having lyrics to songs that I had sang my whole life in front of me. I had them printed up purposely because I didn't want to screw anything up. Finally, one day, it was before our first show, which was in Canada I said, "I don’t need these lyrics. I have been singing these songs my entire life. Let's go do this."
I have listened to a number of those early shows and there is a few times where I can hear nervousness in my voice. Once I got more relaxed then I was okay. I know that I ended the tour stronger than I started it. I learned that you really have to save your voice for the shows. People will actual plan a vacation around the shows. You have to make sure that your voice is in great shape because you don't want to let the fans down. I know I would be bummed if I was in the audience and the signer lost his voice.
Jeb: I have a friend who is a professional singer who told me that he doesn't even like to talk after a show because his voice is loose and talking can actually be hard on your voice.
Tommy: The band sent me to a vocal coach when I was in rehearsals and I learned that one rule is no talking. Everybody on the crew becomes friends with everyone since you are together all the time. They would see me at breakfast and say, "How are you?' Before I could answer they would say, "Don't tell me. I know you have to be silent." I just didn't want to seem stuck up but everyone knew I was just being quite so I could save my voice. Jeb: Do you remember signing your first autograph?
Tommy: I do. I have two good memories of that. One was when we were at rehearsal. For each venue there was merchandise sales so there were a ton of 8x10s that we would all sign. We had to sign these huge stacks and I thought that was kind of cool. The other good memory was at a meet and greet after a show and someone brought a copy of the debut album. They complimented me on the show and asked me to sign it. I looked down and saw Brad Delp's signature on it. I could not believe that was happening. It took me back through the whole experience in the few seconds I looked at Brad's signature. I was really touched. It was amazing and I will never forget that.
Jeb: Did you ever feel wrong signing the early Boston albums?
Tommy: I would not say I felt wrong about it but I did feel a little uncomfortable signing something that I was not a part of. Someone on a fan site said that it wasn't right for me to do that. What was I to do? Am I going to tell someone no? If I do that then the message board will say what a jerk I was for not giving me an autograph.
Jeb: Did you ever meet anyone in the band back in the day?
Tommy: Everyone always said that Brad was the nicest guy in the music business and I got to experience that back in the '90's when I was living in Florida. I went to see the band. After the show I positioned myself where I could see the band members exciting the stage. I yelled out Brad's name and after he walked off the stage and into a backstage area he looked up at me and gave me two thumbs up. I thought that was as good as the concert.
After the show there was this long white limousine and everyone thought the band was coming out. I hung around for over an hour and the crowd thinned down and the driver told me, "Hey, this is for the concert promoters. If you want to get a glimpse at the band then you need to go back where the busses are." I was off to the busses. There were only about three of us standing back there hoping to get a glimpse of the band. All of a sudden a Cadillac pulls up and out walked Brad and Tom. They were maybe forty feet in front of me. I was really excited. Tom got into the car and Brad was coming around to his side of the car and I knew if I didn't say something now then I was going to regret it. I shouted, "Hey Brad, you guys were awesome tonight." He looked over and put his duffle bag on top of the car and walked over to me. We shook hands. I had a CD in my hand that I was going to ask him to sign but I was so jacked up that I forgot to ask him to sign it.
Looking back I really see this as an amazing moment. We both looked at each other never knowing that we would one day have such a connection. I am very thankful that I got to meet him. Now, I am so proud to be able to help keep the music that Tom and Brad created moving forward.
Jeb: You have another song out as well called "I Think I Fell in Love with You."
Tommy: I wrote that song two weeks after the summer tour. Just before the tour started, I didn't even have a keyboard. The Yamaha people heard about my story and they sent me a beautiful keyboard. I never thought I would ever be able to afford something as nice as that let alone get one as a gift. I didn't have time to play with it as the tour was getting ready to start.
When I got home from the tour I had that keyboard waiting for me and I started messing around with it. I put some chords together and I thought about how I met my wife back when we lived in Florida. The story is very simple as we both ended up at the same restaurant one night. We didn't have cell phones back then --- it was about twenty-four years ago. I remember wanting to know her name before she left. I made that the first line of the song. I am sucker for power ballads like "Amanda" so I wrote the song. I sent the track up to Gary Pihl and asked him to add a guitar track. He listened to it and said, "I think you have really got something here." When I sent him the song I liked the song but all it had was a keyboard and a scratch vocal on it. When I got it back I loved the song. Gary added an element to the song that took it from something that sounded cool to something that sounded great. My wife really likes the song and it made her feel good. It makes me feel good to write it and it makes me feel good to share it with other people.
Jeb: Do you really feel it was love at first sight?
Tommy: As corny as it sounds I have to admit that it was. Every relationship has ups and downs but we have been married for twenty-three years and I couldn't be happier. I can't tell you what it has meant to me to share the life I have had with Boston with my wife and kids.
Jeb: How did the travel change things? You were used to coming home from work every day.
Tommy: We are a very close family. When all of this happened it was kind of tough. They all knew I had a great opportunity but I was away and we could only communicate with emails. I was able to get them out to some shows though so that did help. It really didn't change things all that much because we are well grounded people. The biggest bonus is that when I am at home I get to spend a lot of time at home. One tour does not set you up for life but it has allowed us to do a lot of things that we would not have been able to do otherwise.
Jeb: How have you been able to handle people recognizing you?
Tommy: There is some notoriety I have received around town. I don't live for that but I don't shy away from it. If someone says, "Are you that guy from Charlotte who is in Boston?" then I am proud of that. It is not what you think it is, however. Most days I go around town and no one knows who I am. There are not autograph seekers waiting outside of my house.

Jeb: Your story really is a fairytale.
Tommy: It is something that we all were, as a family, able to experience together. I really have to give the credit to Tom and the band as they are as down to earth as you can imagine. Gary would bring a lunch from home at rehearsals; it is not like a wild and crazy time. I am telling you these guys are really that down to earth. I have never had to be anybody that I wasn't which was so wonderful. Not to sound corny but we are still living out that fairytale. Things are quiet and I am as anxious as the fans for the next Boston project to come out.
Jeb: I have talked to Gary and Tom and I know there is a new album being worked on.
Tommy: Tom is working on some new material. I have been fortunate enough to record a little bit on some of that material. Tom does a lot of music on his own. When he has something for me to sing then I am thrilled to get a phone call to go up there and sing. I was up there to do some vocals on one tune and the next day I went back to do a little bit more and I was amazed at how it sounded in just one day. It sounded like Boston and I was a part of it; how cool is that? I don't know how far along Tom is on the new stuff but I excited that at some point in the future there will be an album.
Jeb: You have two songs but do you have plans for an album?
Tommy: I would like to do more of my solo stuff but I will wait and see. Tom has come up with hit after hit after hit and I am lucky to even come up with a song. I just need to sit down and play the keyboard and act on the things I come up with. When you get to certain level --- and I don't consider myself to be a big deal in the music business --- but I would want anything I put out to be up to par with the two songs I have come up with. I don't want to just put something out there to put something out there. If I come up with some good ideas then I will continue to record them.
Jeb: At what point did you realize that you sounded like Brad Delp?
Tommy: I remember back when I was a teenager, I was at a party at somebody's house and some Boston music came on. I started singing and people started looking at me and getting quiet. After the song was over somebody said, "Man, you sound like that guy from Boston." I was probably fifteen years old. To be honest I never went into singing just to sound like Brad. When someone says that then I take it as a great compliment. I don't have a special technique that I do. I don't ever go, "I need to really sound like Brad on this part." When I sing Boston music I just tend to have a tone that is similar to Brad's. I can tell a difference between us. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10 I am a 5 or a 6. I wish I was exactly like him. I just sang those songs the way that I heard them growing up as a kid.

Jeb: Is there a song that Boston does not play live that you would like to take a crack at?
Tommy: I would love to sing "Used to Bad News" off of the Don’t Look Back album. There are a few of them.
Jeb: I would love to see the band play "It's Easy."
Tommy: You're right that is a really, really great song. Brad does some great things on that song. I have been a Boston fan for the better part of my life and I am keeping my fingers crossed that one day I will get to be able to go out and do it all over again.
Jeb: My last one is silly. Kim has given up on my changing because I live in the Midwest and we consider meat the only real food group. But Gary, Tom and Kim are all very health conscious vegetarians so I am wondering if they have gotten you meatless yet?
Tommy: In their presence I am. You've got to respect them for that. I have never been a smoker but if you're around someone who smokes and they know you don't smoke then it is nice of them to respect you and not smoke. It is kind of like that.
Before we end this interview I want to say to your readers that the support I have received from the fans on both the Boston songs, and my solo stuff, is wonderful. I am very thankful to each and every one of them. I feel very blessed.
The show Gary did with the December People on November 13th was SOLD OUT! A lot of food was collected for the canned food drive to benefit the Food Banks of Monterey and San Benito counties and the SPCA! Thanks to everyone who made it to the show for this worthy cause. Here's a photo from a cell phone camera in the audience.

The December People is current members of bands like; Y&T, The Tubes and The Greg Kihn Band who play traditional holiday songs but with a rock and roll attitude. Every show they play is a benefit to local charities.





Here's a photo from the October 16 Denver party with Kimberley Dahme, Denver bassist Kirwan Brown, Gary Pihl, former Boston drummer, Doug Huffman, and Ric Podmore on keys. The occasion was Jeff Greenstein's 40th Birthday Party. A great time was had by all, thanks, Jeff!

Between Rock and a Soft Place
Acoustic Rock Magazine's July 2010 issue presents a guide to the 25 greatest acoustic songs in hard rock, featuring the lightest tunes from the heaviest hitters. By Joe Bosso "More Than a Feeling" comes in at number two, just behind "Stairway to Heaven" at number one.

"Tom Scholz's soaring leads and crunchy, multi-tracked electric guitar rhythms have more than a little to do with "More Than a Feeling" becoming one of classic rock's most enduring anthems. But it is the song's lilting, arpeggiated acoustic intro that puts fans in the mood. Working as something of a one-man band in his basement, Scholz, one of music's first DIY dudes, played all the guitar parts on "Feeling".

A bit of trivia: Noting the similarities between "More Than a Feeling" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Kurt Cobain teased fans at Nirvana's 1992 Reading Festival performance with a few bars of the Boston classic."

BOSTON still alive and well in 2010

Work on another studio album is progressing at an agonizingly slow rate - like that would be news - but it is progressing. While I wouldn't want to give away too much about the album, it will contain both the very recognizable BOSTON sound plus some surprises I think everyone will appreciate - as long as you like Big Band Swing and Rap ... just kidding!

Writing, arranging and recording BOSTON music for hours day after day is frustrating, exhausting, and lonely, yet strangely enticing. My dad used to ask me, "If the song is 4 or 5 minutes long, why doesn't it take 4 or 5 minutes to record it?" The catch is, figuring out what should happen for every second of that 4 or 5 minutes for all the individual tracks on one song, and trying the hundreds of variations on each instrument or vocal takes me typically 4 or 5 months. For every measure of BOSTON music that survives the cut on an album, a week of work ends up in the trash bin.

Meanwhile, the rest of the band members are busy with their own lives and projects, and all have already contributed in some way to the new BOSTON album effort. These are understanding and patient people! Unfortunately I don't expect to have the album finished in time to prepare for a tour this summer, but we are all jonesing to play again.

Much more urgent and serious is Haiti. These poor people were living a wretchedly impoverished life before the earthquake, now it's worse than a Hollywood disaster movie come to life. Those that have survived the initial trauma now are faced with an almost impossible-to-survive situation. Even in this recession, seeing and hearing the stories from Haiti makes you realize how good we have it. Please dig a little deeper and donate as we have, through any of the numerous organizations mobilizing to help.

Let's all try to look out for each other!

Tom Scholz