Rock and Roll Children: Parenting Done Right!

The (Metal) Kids Are Alright  

Everyone knows that the 80's metal children grew up with a level of intelligence that fans of other genres just simply didn't have. Its because the music made by iconic bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Savatage, Megadeth, Metallica, and countless others was simply put, intelligent. Especially those kids who became musicians themselves. Metal fans don't just listen to their music. They absorb and ingest it, analyze it, and dissect it. They break every single little riff down individually, and know the most simple high hat ting as much as they know the lyrics and guitar solos. And, they know every single note of the guitar solos too. This intense studying of the music later turned into brains that are extremely attentive and sensitive to detail. 

So, what are these attentive brains doing to make me say that this is parenting done right? Its simple. They are exposing their kids to the same music that they grew up with. The result? Smart kids who know the difference between great music, and the over saturated commercial garbage that their classmates and adult drones are listening to on the radio. They have inducted their kids into a family that will be there for life. Metal is more than music. Its a lifestyle, and they (like us) will always have a home at a metal concert. Raising them on metal isn't easy either. You might have a spouse that doesn't like metal, and that can be a difficult hurdle, especially if the parents are no longer together, and share custody of the child.

I have several stories about metal kids that I've encountered over the years, including a story about how I'm doing my part to raise a metal kid. We'll start with last night. I am in Portland, Oregon, and Judas Priest played a concert here. It took an act of the Metal Gods to get me to that concert, but you can read about that in my review here.

I was waiting in the line to get a beer, when I saw a father, age 40, and his daughter who looked about 9 or 10. She was dressed in black, and had a J and a P on each cheek. The father was proud to be taking his princess to her first metal concert. Judas Priest. Not bad, huh? He was beaming with pride, and we started talking about raising kids with metal. He said that his wife was leary about the girl going, to which he told her that there was nothing to worry about. The father told me that his daughter played guitar...an Ibanez, no less, and could play all the notes in Breaking the Law, among others. She even knew who Nita Strauss is, and is a fan. I enjoyed meeting them, and I wish I could hear what she thought of the concert. 

Guys, if you see this, please let me know
what she thought of the concert. She
was awesome!

Next, I'm going to tell you about a couple instances with my youngest daughter, who is 8 years old. The first concert she ever went to was a local band at a July 4th festival in South Carolina. She was still very little, and I spent the majority of the evening with her on my shoulders. There was a classic rock cover band playing onstage, but we were trying to stay away from them because my now ex wife was worried about the volume. (It wasn't that loud) But, she kept making it very known that she wanted to go closer. We did, and she was rocking on my shoulders, and loving every moment of it. A local newspaper took our picture, and it made it in the paper.

A few years later, we took her to a festival in Fayetteville, NC where Warrant was playing. Same thing, even down to the reporter taking our picture. Not sure if that one made it in the paper though.

My daughter,  Warrant,
And me

I've taken her to several concerts, mostly locals including my hometown heroes, Dead Serios, and Geezer, and a teen girl rock band called Good Luck Audrey. She loves all three of these bands. But, my the most special one to me was Dead Serios. I got to join them onstage to sing a part in their hit, No More Pipe For Potato Head. I didn't tell her that I was going to be doing this, so when I got called up to the stage, she had no idea. She was just sitting there in awe because she had heard me talk about how I used to be in bands before she was born, but she had never seen me perform. One guy told me that she looked at him, pointed at me, and yelled "That's my DAD!" Proud papa moment, for sure. But, another proud papa moment happened at that show as well. Guitarist, Doug Gibson, a local guitar virtuoso also had his own son join the band onstage to play guitar as a guest in their cover of Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes. I talked to him, and he told me that his favorite guitarist growing up was his dad. He's one of my favorites too.

My daughter with Dead Serios

The last one I'm going to talk about happened at a Stryper concert in 2005, in Charlotte, NC. There were lots of teenagers there. I asked one of them why he was there. He told me that his dad listened to Stryper, and he grew up with them. He told me that he was learning to play metal guitar, and he just had to hear Soldiers Under Command live. 

Parenting. You're doing it right!
If you have pics of you and your metal kids,  email them to me at willtelltale@gmail.com subject line Metal Kids. If I get enough of them,  I'll make a folder on this blog for them.  I'm also thinking about doing a radio show on that topic once we bring the show back.

#MetalKids
#ParentingYoureDoingItRight