Monday, February 27, 2017

I birthed a rock star


On Friday, Rhett Miller, lead singer of my favorite band, the Old 97’s, and undoubtedly one of the good guys, held a Reddit AMA. I asked him what he knows now that he wishes he knew when he started in the music business over 25 years ago. His answer included this gem:
The important thing is that THE WORLD NEEDS MUSIC. And there will always be folks (like your sweet daughter) who will make that music!
Saturday night, my sweet daughter made that music, and then some.

Norah (age 10)

Norah’s band, the Major Minors (aka the School of Rock Cleveland Jr. Headliners — the top musicians grades eight and under from the three local Schools of Rock) took the stage at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of Cleveland’s 21st annual High School Rock Off Finals. They closed the night while the judges tabulated the results of the 12 high school bands that played before them, and played to what I estimate (based on the Rock Hall’s capacity and the event’s sold-out status) was a crowd of 2,000. They slayed.



It was, without a doubt, my proudest moment as a dad. It wasn’t that my daughter owned the stage like the rock star is she (see above). Or that she wandered through the crowd post-performance to high fives and adulation. Or that I overheard one guy say to another, “Goddamn, that girl with the glasses is the best f…n singer I’ve seen all night.” (I thought so too, but I’m a tad biased). It was seeing her achieve her goal. She works so hard at her music, just so that she can get up on the stage and entertain others. To witness her hard work pay off on the biggest stage she’s ever played, and in such spectacular fashion, well, it brought tears to my eyes standing in the Rock Hall’s atrium.

Now more than ever, the world needs music. At this moment in history, there is not a lot on which we all agree. For one night, however, everyone at the Rock Hall agreed that Norah and her bandmates kicked some serious ass. And I couldn’t be prouder of her.

Tomorrow, back to employment law, with a story about a company sued because of a supervisor’s excessive hugging. I’m going to take today, however, and bask in Norah’s accomplishment, and just enjoy rock ’n’ roll.