Concerts
Retreats
Story Telling
His Life
| I started singing as soon as I could talk. My dad was a musician and was always |
| playing one instrument or another. I sang in the boy’s choir in school and, at |
| age 12, started playing the guitar. I would sing around campfires with my Boy |
| Scout buddies. Not much has changed in 50 years. I am still singing around the |
| campfire. |
| Music has always been my therapy. Writing songs helped me through some |
| hard times, like getting drafted and being sent to Germany. I wrote to get |
| through that. I was not cut out for that lifestyle. Never did like war and still |
| don’t.
|
| I lived in Hawaii for a couple of years writing songs and eventually moved back |
| to Wisconsin. I began rendezvousing, sitting around the fire playing tunes. A |
| friend asked me to record some of my music on his boom box so he could listen |
| to them during the winter.
|
| One day I ran into a great fiddler, Clyde Thompson. With him, in a basement |
| studio, I did my first recording, Blackhawk Rendezvous. I had to order 300 |
| cassettes and I thought, man, they will probably line my coffin with these. They |
| were gone in two weeks and folks wanted more. Here I began my recording |
| career, writing an album a year. I had a band for several years. We did some |
| TV, some concerts, etc. The recordings kept selling. I have about 14 now. Did |
| some videos and sold out of them too. I guess I should get some more made |
| but have never been too strong on the business end of things.
|
| Time went on, I hit 40 and my brains fell out. Went through a tough divorce |
| after better than 20 years of marriage. God Bless that woman. I have never |
| been the easiest person to get along with. It ended up being my best-worst |
| experience. It gave me a chance to spend time alone. Having been married at |
| 19
with kids to follow, all I knew was how to keep all the plates spinning.
|
| I headed out west and went into the mountains of Colorado. I spent three |
| winters there, pretty much by myself. Had a small cabin at about 7500 feet, no |
| neighbors. The driveway was a mile and a half long just to get to the mail. |
| What an awesome time of my life. I was reading great books on spirituality. |
| Meditating was life. Read a line in a book, “Your life is a direct result of the |
| choices you make”. After going through a divorce you usually want to blame |
| everyone but yourself. When that truth hit me, I said I am learning to make |
| better choices and ain’t leaving till I do. So I started living a more conscious life. |
| My music changed again. It had a message to it that was for the greater good |
| of all. Not about
me anymore.
|
| I started getting letters, babies were being born to my flute music and it was |
| being played in hospital burn wards. A lady came up to me one day and said |
| her husband loved my music and as he was dying of cancer and leaving his |
| body, he wanted to have my Journey of the Spirit recording on. That was the |
| last thing he heard as he left.
|
| Yes, my life has been blessed beyond my wildest dreams. I have two great |
| daughters, two beautiful step daughters, a wonderful tolerant wife, wonderful |
| families, I am still playing music and people are still listening to it. People have |
| been so kind. I have sold over 50,000 recordings and I am not that great. I |
| just love my life and what I am doing. Anytime I get to play for folks whether |
| it’s ten or thousands, I am honored they would take time out of their life to share |
| their energy with me.
|
| “Each one reach one, each one teach one.” We are all teachers and we are all |
| students. The definition of wisdom is applied knowledge. We all know what we |
| need to know but we have to put it into practice on a daily basis to become wise. |
| We all know we have to take care of our mother earth, so do it. We all know we |
| need to stop fighting and love one another, so do it. There is only one path to |
| take. It is the path of light and love. Bingo. We are all brothers and sisters. |
| No one gets out alive, no one’s perfect. It’s a journey of the spirit. Remember |
| this, “We are not human beings having spiritual experiences; we are spiritual |
| beings having human experiences. So if you mess up, get over it. Move on, go |
| and grow.
|
| Life’s a trip, enjoy the ride. God
Bless, Blackhawk
|
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