Austin will likely be the youngest concert-goer at a Joe Bonamassa concert tonight. At 4 years of age, Austin can sing about 7 of Joe’s most popular songs imperfectly (who amongst hasn’t butchered the lyrics of songs we love only to find out the artist was saying something else altogether?), but the tune is always right. He has emulated Joe’s style for half of his life, so when seats were available in the front row of the balcony, offering him an unobstructed (and affordable) glimpse of his favorite musician, we couldn’t resist.
Why Joe? Austin chose him, not us. Never exposed to children’s music, he has been “rocking out” to Daddy’s music since he was only a month old. A VERY fussy child who always needed to be held, I would bounce with him in my arms for hours every day, in rhythm, while watching assorted concert DVDs. For 4 years, he has been exposed to everything from Dream Theater to Stevie Ray Vaughn, Symphony X to Bruce Springsteen and Evergrey to David Gilmour. And while he will often ask to listen to “big music” (think Heavy Metal), Joe has always been his favorite.
Later this year, his pre-school classmates will be going to shows of their own, The Wiggles, perhaps. And when the kids are talking about their respective concerts, I can already hear my boy now, “The Wiggles? Did they play John Henry?”