Julian, 11 years old, plays AC/DC's Thunderstruck at Talent Show

Julian is a bassist, but he started out playing guitar when he was 6. He was all set to play Cliff's part in Metallica's Orion at the talent show, but decided to play guitar at the last second. His guitar teacher, Donnie T. from Brindley's, was teaching him Thunderstruck at the time, and Julian really wanted to try to play it live. His brother plays only the guitar, so Julian wanted to get the chance to do a guitar solo on stage. I thought it was brave of him to go up there when he was still learning the song.

He didn't know what to do when the audience cheered too soon (on the part of the solo that he had just learned a couple of days before), but his music teacher, Ms. G, just gave him the sign to rock on when he looked over to her! She's actually the person who got both of my boys into music. Because of Ms. G, who just retired as one of Chandler's best teachers ever, Julian now plays bass, guitar, piano, and drums. And that's not even counting our German recorders, the didgeridoos, or all of the other crazy instruments that I have in my house! Thanks, Ms. G!

Julian also picked this song as a tribute to his uncle's dog Bella, who had just died that month. His uncle once played Thunderstruck while he showed his kids how his dogs could jump through hoops way up in the air. The music really got the kids excited to see some great jumps. And sure enough, the first dog looked like a hybrid between Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan. It was truly a magnificent jump through that hoop!

And then came Bella. She seemed to prepare for what would certainly be a spectacular jump. I had never seen a dog get low for a jump before. It was surreal. The kids shook with excitement as they imagined Bella soaring through the air to the crescendo of Thunderstruck. It was going to be something to see! But when Bella got to the hoop, she suddenly stopped, refusing to take another step. My brother then dropped the hoop to ground level, allowing her to walk through it. It turned out that Bella couldn't jump at all! She wouldn't even jump one inch. The hoop had to be touching the ground. My brother was just messing around. He was born that way, just like Julian. Those two kids are always clowning around.

Both of my brothers clown around a lot, but there is something about clowns and music. Both of my brothers really inspired my kids to get into music. It's great to have brothers like that!