What's with this 'music thing"?

Where did I get my musical passion from?  The short answer:
It is my salvation that was sent to me to spare me the twisted antics of my family while I was growing up.  (The creative adult is the child that survived!)

The long answer:

The Albert / Willis family that were the ministers of the Hannibal Pentecostal Church in Hannibal, MO have  been the most influential people in my entire musical life.  They are the sole responsibility for the reason that I have 18 keyboard instruments in my home, and since my birth (no exaggeration!), I have tried to mold my playing style to match Phillip Willis '!


I have seen this family play music several time a week since I was 2 weeks old, until I was 11 yrs old. Then.... My family dragged me from Hannibal to Quincy, and I was confronted with that poor, lowly Hammond L-100 (with no Leslie!), instead of the Hammond C2 with a Leslie 122 that I grew up listening to!


Until I was 11 years old, I had never been to another church in my life, other than the First United Pentecostal Church of Hannibal, MO.  I had never even walked through the doors of another church, much less attend a service there.  I had never heard of ANY other type of organ than that 'fabulous, mystery box that was full of power' that sat in front of me, my entire life.  I had never heard of Allen, Thomas, Baldwin, Moller, Wurlitzer, etc, and I couldn't even imagine another type of machine, especially a pipe organ! I didn't see my first pipe organ until I was 17 years old.


Through competitions, and their musical accomplishments, in general, I had one of the best seats in the **country** until I was 11 years old.  I didn't know that not everybody in the world was not regularly having the same experience as myself.  


When I moved from Hannibal to Quincy, I was glad that I moved to a bigger city (!!), but I will never be able to convey to you the shock, horror, and ultimate dismay when I saw the 'band' at the UPC in Quincy!  I didn't know a spinet organ existed!  The only piano that I had ever seen in a church was the black grand piano in Hannibal.  They also had an upright bass, 4 accordion players, a couple guitar players, at least one banjo, a trumpet player, a trombone player, and someone usually played a tambourine.  Those folk made a huge, joyful noise, and they did so with pizzazz and much spirit.  Then...oh, then.... We moved to Quincy, where everything was squelched under the thumb of Charles / Shirley Mitchell.  I cried, and I cried often.  Not because I was emotionally touched, but because I was musically deprived!  I had tasted the best, and at the time, I didn't know it was the best.  




I now know I had the best THEN, and I will never take it for granted NOW!  :)

- Michael