Happy Birthday Dave Catching: epic snake charmer and lifetime smile wrangler.
The first time I ever played this guitar it was propped up against a kitchenette table that routinely folds up into a bed, you know, the kind that most recreation vehicles have. That was the road, the sunset on THE desert’s seminal rock, eons before anyone put the S – word in front of the rock. That was also a long, long, long time ago. I think I might have been twenty. But who can remember those days.
I hadnt been out to the Rancho in a few years and walking in, it was nice to see that guitar again. It was one of the first things I noticed and instantly triggered that grin that only tends to manifest when you are feeling at home. An old memory, straight back to foundation bricks of the stuff that a lifetime of good vibes and smiling friendship is based upon.
There were some of the regular faces in attendance when I dropped in on Dave and everyone was in high spirits.
This type of scene is almost mandatory around Dave, all these years, through too many states to remember and so many different countries never to forget, where ever this guy planted his feet, in whatever capacity, people were smiling around him and having a good time.
Not a parade. But just a low key, slowly rolled, barrel of smiles.
Ever have any magical people like that in your life?
It’s a motherfucker.
If you are not careful, exposure to really amazing people like this on any kind of regular basis could almost spoil the return to the mediocre masses when the scheduled fun is concluded, a visa expires, a plane is almost missed or when the circus just flat out leaves town.
My trip out was sort of last minute, not exactly one of those where you stand at the ticket counter at the airport and flip a coin, but certainly close enough. Fantastically, Dave was around and we were able to catch up on the few years it had been since we last saw each other.
In addition to us having two of the same names, I remember us also having close birthdays.
Dude, Im going to be FIFTY.
Fuck. I was feeling pretty over torqued with my birthday on the horizon but that just leveled the field. One of my closest friends was having a 50th birthday that week. One of my other closest friends turned 50 this year. And now I was about to have three friends survive the half century mark, providing roger daltrey with a properly raised finger in celebration.
Three good, old school friends in their 50’s. In an instant, desperately lonely, hopelessly single and wandering with purpose in the high desert felt right: Im not quite yet forty. Im not counting however, and with good reason:
I dont know how many old fucks get to say stuff like this, but we’ve talked about it at great length, and I still feel like Im nineteen. Well, I still feel like Im living like Im nineteen.
Maybe we all had this growing old thing all wrong the whole time. Sure, we’re all older, but picking up Dave’s danelectro, we picked up right where we left off, or could remember leaving off.
In the end, we are still a bunch of rock and roll kids. Maybe smarter. Maybe wealthier. Possibly more famous. Definitely more experienced. Absolutely more awesome.
But the same guys. Same heart. Same hand outreached extending the same type of love we always have.
So what is growing old? I’ll say one thing, it sure as fuck is a world of difference between growing up. And thank god none of us ever did that shit. But then again, that’s why our friendships have persisted, its why its all so valuable.
Not too much had changed at the Rancho when you consider how much time can change things. Not too much had changed with us when you consider how life can twist people. One thing I did not know about Mister Dave Catching however, is his expert snake handling ability.
I mean, I had heard the whispers, they followed him everywhere, but when you are in the basement of a club with an opening band roaring above your head, or in that alley between tour buses with generators humming, or in the after hours darkness where nothing is as it seems, sometimes its hard to decipher the message above the din.
But now its clear. See that guy there? He’s a charmer.
Snake charmer, maybe.
The sun was setting, and while we waited for the moonrise, all the stuff that moves in a desert started moving and this critter cruised over to check us out. Clearly, he had not been privy to the whispers and he was swiftly handled. Snakes are pretty, but you dont want them in your house… Luckily there are the occasional snake charmers to deliver you back to the safety of the desert.
The afternoon’s excitement brought the high desert evening cool and some time was spent reminiscing around the rock-ola 460.
Dave’s still driving this amazing Olds.
Car talk brought us back outside so I could get drool on his wheels. Dave offered to let me take it up to the monument for a spin.
Up to the monument. Old school. Old, Old, Old school. Been out here for a long time… I declined. I regret it, but seriously, where do you find people this good?
Soon enough, we had the sunset on our hands and a brief, “awesome to see you” high five which brought on the night.
Little bit of time to reflect on the awesome people in this life. How lucky we are to have shared adventures together and ultimately how much brighter all of our lives are together.
One thing is for certain, Dave has the most brilliantly positive effect on just about everyone. All the friends we share, all the people we’ve met and hung out with together along the way, all the strangers Ive met that are eight degrees removed but have that “oh yeah, you know that guitar player that used to have a restaurant in New Orleans too” discussion with a sparkle in their eye… We’ve all never met a better host, never met a better bringer together of the amazing, never met a better harvester of the eclectic, random and purely perfectly bizarre. The warmest guy, with the biggest heart whom we all, at some point could learn a good lesson from.
Happy birthday Dave. Hope you are having the best one ever.