A Childhood Dream Come True

Music was a huge part of our growing up. We were VERY creative as children. One of our favorite shows was Kids Incorporated. It was a show about kids who form their own band and perform on stage at The Place. We had our own place---anywhere we could set up the vacuum as a microphone and strap on racquetball racquets as guitars. We even called it "playing kids incorporated."

Our first performances were set to old Beach Boys records. Our first CD player opened up a whole new world to us. The Beatles quickly became a favorite, but we could sing to almost any song on any oldies CD. We each took turns singing lead vocals.

These performances evolved into a series of Family Favorites videos of us lip syncing in costume in front of sometimes elaborate backdrops or out on location.

As children, we were all required to take piano lessons. DD and Steele both taught themselves how to play guitar. And Steele can play electrical guitar too. I could never quite master the coordination it takes to play the right chords and strum---let alone picking.

Here's where the "dream come true" part comes in. Aside from ACTUALLY being a band we have formed our virtual band Kicking Piguens thanks to Rock Band. Disclaimer: I am NO good at video games. We never had them growing up. But Rock Band is sooooo much more than a video game. I'm still not very coordinated when it comes to playing pretend guitar or bass, but I'm not too shabby on the drums (on easy) or vocals. Steele is AMAZING at everything. DD is the queen of bass and more aggressive on the drums than me. And we have even persuaded mom and dad that it's fun! I guess we're all a little bit of a rock star at heart.

Our world of pretend has just gotten a little more real. And we can wail away to some of our favorite tunes. We've been known to play for hours at a time---switching instruments and positions for lead and back up vocals. It's a good thing DD and I live up north or we might never stop playing! ROCK ON!

Next time we're in San Diego, I'll take some new photos of the band to post later.