My most famous (well, after Barry Zito and Third Eye Blind) student…Bruce Hampton.
In April 1981 I was conducting compositions of mine written for the nine act play “I Remember Mama, Dada” written by Del Hamilton, at 7 Stages Theatre, on Euclid Avenue, in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia.
The Stage Manager, Faye Allen, said to me, “There is a guy performing after the play tonight that you might like”.
During the seventh act, my avant-garde quintet was directed to take the metal folding chairs that they were sitting on and smash them against the bare, painted walls.
At that very moment of the performance an intense, business-casual jacket dressed , but with beat up shoes, corpulent man entered the rear stage door carrying an old Fender Showman cabinet, in one hand….He was strong.
It was an electric moment: The Prince of Southern Musical Darkness meets the King of Weird…and we were instant friends.
Below...Bruce in his glory days
It started with good old Southern Hospitality. My wife liked to cook and Bruce liked to eat.
Bruce got me interested in watching baseball which he like to gamble on.
Then, very slowly, it moved to me playing and Bruce singing, in my home.
Then it sprawled into me teaching Bruce. This was a huge change. Not for me, but for Bruce.
As Gary Carrico said “ Bruce had better musical instincts than anyone I have ever met”.
It’s true. So, Bruce didn’t trust other people over his own judgement. Why should he, when his was demonstrably better.
But he trusted me. So, we began with straight Bluegrass, then Blues, then slide mandolin, then Jazz, and then his forte, Avant-garde.
Bruce was the only guy broker than me. So, he wanted to give back some. He was a scratch golfer so he gave me some clubs and taught me to play.
Then it started . We took our act "The Aberdeen Fresco Adjusters" on the road for 16 months
Playing with Bruce, who was a professional comic, I heard a sound I had never heard when I performed before.… People laughing.
Our promo cover letter that we sent out to agents
Our best song that we wrote together...Lucky Street
Our second best song Baseball Tickets
Breaking up
Splitting up the property
Bruce Hampton died on May 1, 2017, during a performance at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta Georgia, for his 70th Birthday. Bruce collapsed on stage. Everyone thought it was his "Performance Art".
Bruce died as he had lived...with the joke being on us.