We all just want to be big rock stars
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We’ll all stay skinny ’cause we just won’t eat
Hey, Hey I wanna be a Rock Star
Yep, from about the time I turned seventeen until I was about twenty-two this was the life I wanted. I’d always sang mind you, but I think it was Jon Bon Jovi that put me over the edge. I loved him. Wanted to be (with!) him! I fell in love with the beauty of long haired rock gods and I wanted in. I didn’t want to be the groupie, I wanted to be the Rock Star!
And I did it. Told my parents I was not going to University and was going on the road and singing for my supper. Lucky for me they understood and just let me go. So, I spent two years on the road travelling all over Canada, fronting an all girl rock and roll band. We had fun. Like a lot of fun, and in between singing six nights a week, and sometimes seven we wrote some songs and lived the life.
But trying to make it in music is hard. There are thousands of singers and bands doing the same thing and a lot of it is timing.
Turns out I didn’t like starving so much and after two years packed it in. What I did discover, was the fact that I love not only to perform, but I love to create. Words move me, whether they’re in music or on the page. I’d always loved reading and the next step was logically to write. Which I did. I just had to take a little detour with husband, kids, dog and so on.
But, I got there eventually. I think now, that I was always meant to be a writer and would have found my way down that path at some point. Like I said, timing. The fact that I actually sold is just icing on the cake.
Made me wonder what path other writers took on their way to publication. Did they always know? Or did they find their way there randomly. What other talents do the many authors I’ve gotten to know over the past year have? What cool facts are they hiding in their closet?
Anyone want to share?
As for me, I’m still a Rock Star in my own little corner of the world! The picture up top is a sneek peek of our last gig! Check out the name of the bar! And um, it’s not what you think! It’s to do with Harley’s!
March 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Somebody once said you can sing like a Crow and that I am your Rock. Or something like that! Oh what do they know anyways, right? Those of us who know the real you have seen you in lights, read about you in the fine print and played with you on fields surrounded by diamonds coloured with pink. And even though it seems like a long way to the top, it’s your Journey that reminds us all to never stop believen’in what we can do!
March 11th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Hammer! Fancy seeing you here! I love all the hidden meanings in your post, you witty man! I won’t stop beleiving, won’t never surrender even though I may be Wanted dead or alive. I will always write, even if it means I’m only Livin’ on a prayer, and hopefully I won’t have too many wild nights along the way, the kind that require some Hair of the Dog!
March 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
What a great post, and a great picture! It’s amazing what roads life leads us down. I was actually planning on becoming a marriage counselor when I was younger. I still think about going back to school from time to time, and I probably will when my boys get bigger, but I’m glad I’ve had this time off. It’s allowed me the time to give writing a shot.
March 11th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hey Phllyis!
Marriage counselor, eh? Now that would be an interesting career. I’m sure you’d hear all sorts of things. Glad you’re able to be with your kiddies and write!
March 11th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Hey Jules! Great post, one to which I completely relate. My first love was (is) music, even just a bit more than writing. Until I was 14 or so, singing was my life. It was tough realizing I’d probably never sing in a sold-out show, but it helped to know my personality wasn’t really cut out for living on the road. Since that dream ended, writing has been my new dream. But I still love music, and nothing gets me raring to write like a good song! It’s all about the words, I agree.
Glad you’re making all your dreams come true!
March 11th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Hey Cari! I find it interesting how integrated music and writing seem to be. So cool you sing as well! I love it…we play maybe once a month but it’s a blast!
March 11th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
You look like a Rock Star Jules!! Rock on sistah! Rock hard!
March 12th, 2009 at 5:38 am
LOL Vivi, and yeah I do try on occasion! Too bad I won’t be rockin’ out with you girls in Florida! Anyone know where RT is gonna be next year?
March 12th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Very cool. How many people can brag they’ve had both life as a rock star AND author? (ok, nikki sixx, but that doesn’t really count - hee)
March 12th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Oh Wylie, Nikki is like, total hot bad boy! Love him. Did you read the Heroin Diaries? I’ve read it twice. The cd rocks too!
Thanks for stopping by, and really, being on stage is cool, but man I can’t wait until my book actually hits. There’s something weird about thinking, that the words you’re writing will be read by people you’ve never met before! (Let’s just hope they likey!)
March 12th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Hey Jules - Great story! You really look like you are having a blast up there on stage.
Never had the desire to be in a band myself, but I was a groupie when my husband was a lead singer in a band in college. Ah, memories. 
March 12th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Um, yeah Suzanne…what the H is it about singers? They scoop up groupies like a bear after honey, even if they’re aren’t (gasp) Jon bon Jovi clones either!
March 12th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Hey Jules!
Nice pic, there must have been a great photographer in the crowd. You are so talented and envied by many.
It was a great night & an awesome blog.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
haha, yeah great photographer! Cute too! Thanks for stopping by Jen, and yes, it was a great night!