August 24th, 1978 was a big day for JohnnyO: future rock star. Even though it was almost 30 years ago it seems like yesterday. In the light of 30 years, it is so simple and pure, yet at the time I didn’t see it coming.

Travel back with me to the summer of 1978. I was working as a camp counselor at Camp Calumet Lutheran in West Ossipee, NH. Camp Calumet was and still is a vibrant, organic community that includes sports, boating, swimming, Lutheran theology and lots of music. I looked up to certain camp musicians as “players”. Guys like Troy B, Bill W and the great Ricky A, were players who could put it on the line. These guys led camp music whenever needed and could belt out songs like they were Loggins and Messina. Ricky Astor was one of the first guitarists I met who could play serious lead guitar. If the others were Loggins and Messina, Ricky was Eddie Van Halen. He could rip some great solos and add background which made average songs something fresh and exciting. I longed to be a part of that group. But, they didn’t notice me and all they knew about me was that I could strum chords with a group of other musicians.

I had seen guys like Troy and Bill put on quite a show one night at a coffeehouse. It was a Lutheran Youth gathering called Simple Gifts on the U Mass campus in Amherst Mass. The last night of the gathering, there were two events, a dance in the main hall and a coffeehouse in a back room. Although I was actively chasing a girl named Gretchen at the dance, I was drawn to the coffeehouse. It was a darkened room, with tables and lamps set up. Troy and Bill and others were running through a repertoire of folk-rock songs. Really, it was like the original MTV unplugged. (And you though MTV invented unplugged). I distinctly remember at the time thinking I would like to get up and play in front of others, but I wasn’t ready yet. I had not reached my “Why not me” stage.

Back at camp, at the end of each summer season, the camp staff puts on a show. At Calumet, the annual Staff Show is a big deal. There is a big opening and a finale with lots of skits and singers in between. I decided to test the waters and signed up to play one song. I planned to sing an original tune called “Rock and Roll Circle”.