"Closing the Circle" (June 2010)

Musings on mentoring, and wondering if I have done my part to keep the circle unbroken.

I’ve been fortunate throughout my life to have more than a dozen friends 10 to 15 years older than me, and to once in a while have enough sense to listen to them. When I was about 14 I met Pete Haselbacher, whom I too rarely visit in the hills of northern Vermont. Pete played guitar in my dad’s band for about a decade, and over those years he spent time sharing the details of his amazing guitar technique, and turning me onto acoustic music and progressive fusion that I wouldn’t have likely heard otherwise.

I owe Pete a lot, for it would be hard to find another person who had as much influence on my guitar style. My ears still could pick him out of a lineup hearing 10 notes or less, and I still couldn’t begin to imitate his sound.

I had a chance these last couple weeks to work with another old friend, photographer Dennis Diehl. Dennis and I had met by chance traveling cross-country exploring national parks back in 92, and after realizing we lived in the same county, stayed in touch and grew to be good friends. His photography graced my first 2 CDs, but for whatever reason, he and his cameras had grown apart in the ensuing years. Newly retired and armed now with a digital camera that satisfies his quality demands, he is back in photography with a vengeance, capturing landscape vistas and intimately detailed closeups of the natural world with his old gusto and talent.

Thanks to our friendship, Dennis has gotten quite adept at capturing musicians in the low light of the stage. When we filmed our concert last week, in essence both a career retrospective and a turning point into the future, his presence was like a security blanket there through all the stress of setting up to do something I’d never done before, and all the technical gremlins that came with it. (Enjoy a handful of Dennis's shots from the concert here and from rehearsal and soundcheck here.)

Once all the excitement and chaos of the filming and the weekend’s inaugural tour with the band wound down, I found myself reflecting on mentors. I’ve had many and I so value those older and occasionally wise voices in my head, particularly when I am trying to figure something new out. It made me wonder – have I been a mentor in that same way? Or am I so busy continuing to need mentoring my own self that I am neglecting my own responsibility to keep the circle?

Part of it is surely circumstance. The majority of my mentors are but a half generation older than me, but most of the younger people I come in contact with are children of friends, a full generation removed. And while I cherish my role in their lives, it is by nature a different relationship with an age gap of 25-35 years. Role model sure, but friend and mentor in a different way. I certainly do encourage talented younger musicians, and particularly my guitar students of course, but that is different too. 

I just found it odd that when I started pondering the question and doing some inventory these past few days, I found a dearth of friends 10-15 years younger than me. Perhaps I have always been the eager student and the reluctant teacher. Perhaps societal changes since my childhood are part of it too – though it rarely occurs to my mind, the instant and sensationalized media culture that we live with certainly makes us all more cautious. Maybe the 30-something set has always had other sources of information and learning that are different from what I grew up with.

I am a product of my musical environment, a culture where such mentoring is often a big part of the circle. I simply incorporate those types of friends and teachers into my circle with respect and reverence that has lasted my whole life.

Whatever it is, at least now I am aware of it. I take my responsibility to “pay it forward” pretty seriously, to return the encouragement and wisdom that was and still is shared freely with me. I am grateful that so many of my friends and mentors found me worth the effort, even when I was much more of an unfinished work! They continue to influence me today, and still take my calls.

So thanks my friends. For all you have helped me to learn, and to see, and to do.