It’s tough sledding when you are really different from every other kid in your second grade class. And your school. And your whole city.

Jeff Balek, our drummer and the namesake of our family band “Caution! Blind Driver” was REALLY different, being totally blind. It’s not that the kids were mean, or didn’t like him. They just had no idea what to do with him. He did his best to fit in, but frankly he got left out a lot.

Until . . .

Jeff’s grade school had their big annual Talent Show. 

From the time he was tiny Jeff loved music and grew up in a house full of it. I knew he would want to play music, and with my band background I had plenty of musical toys for him to experiment with. First I tried him on piano, because, hey, you see plenty of blind guys playing pianos. Nope. He could pick it up really easily, but just wasn’t interested.

Next I stood him behind my bass guitar, upright in a stand, to see if that was it. Nope.  Regular guitar was out of the question.  His hands were just too small.

Then I saw a neighbor’s ad for a beat-up old set of Ludwig drums, and bought them on the cheap. I sat Jeff down on the drums, showed him how to kick on the down-beat, left hand and foot on the off-beat, and right hand double on the four. Bingo! He took off like a duck to water and was instantly playing drums. I don’t mean making noise, I mean playing drums.

I have always felt that drummers are born, not made. We (drums were my first instrument, too) are just wired for syncopation. My guess is about half of us can sit down and play rudimentary drums immediately. The other half will never be able to do it. Those who can keep time and do the basics with both feet and hands can become as good as ambition, time, and opportunities will allow.

Anyway, back to the talent show.

All of the boys and girls in Jeff’s grade school recognized Jeff, the little red-haired blind kid.  He was pretty hard to miss, tapping down the hall with his white cane, or punching words into his talking computer (more on that another time). But they didn’t really know him or consider him a friend.

Jeff had been playing drums with the stereo in our basement for a few months, and the talent show seemed like the right opportunity for his big debut.  So I dragged his old drum set out to the grade school, set up a stereo behind him blasting his favorite song, “The Heart of Rock and Roll” by Huey Lewis, and the rest is history.

 

Suddenly, Jeff had friends!  The blind kid had gained the respect of his peers.  He was cool!  His new buddies wanted to come to his house for a sleep-over, and maybe get to bang on his drums and play pop-a-shot basketball and stuff.  He caught the attention of the band teachers around the school district, and as a fourth grader (with a brand new set of Pearls) he was invited to join the junior high band for a concert.

Before long Jeff was playing festivals and corporate gigs in Kansas with me and his sister.  He was the driving force for his high school pep and jazz bands, and then drummed with a number of musicians in Montana while in college.  And now it’s great to have the family band back together, rockin’ in the Carolinas.

What a difference a three minute rock song can make in one’s life.

Tom Balek – Caution! Blind Driver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff Balek – drummer for Caution! Blind Driver