My Musical Journey

As a new member of 3rd Street Plaza, I thought it would be fun to tell a little of my story. It seems my life has been one song after another, since I started playing guitar around the age of 14, and began playing in bands, one after the other a short time later. Moving to Wilmington from Rocky Mount, NC in 1971, graduating from UNCW in 1974, being a part of the Wrightsville Beach surfing scene for years, traveling to many surf spots in the Caribbean and Latin America, playing in many local bands, having two daughters and now a granddaughter, it seems my life has been very busy, often wonderful, and yes, caotic at times. However, one constant has been my desire to do something, contribute something, create something, that would be original, special, and constitute a legacy of sorts. That opportunity began to present itself recently when I was able to accept an early retirement from my former employer in the insurance industry. The freedom to write and create, both a novel as well as many original songs, became a reality. The most tangible result so far has been my first solo CD of original songs entitled "I'll Take Paradise". (Still working on getting the novel published). Taking over a year to record and produce, I wrote all of the songs, played all of the guitar and bass parts, sang all the leads and harmony vocals, as well as provoded simple keyboard parts (I'm not a keyboard player), programmed the heck out of my electronic drummer, and recorded all of the 16 songs in my own studio. The tracks then went to my friend talented Ed Quidley, at Dragon Soundworx (Ed's studio) for mastering. The result is my completed CD which is available at local stores Sweetwater Surf Shop, CD Alley, and others. Also, the CD can be purchased online at cdbaby.com/cd/jerrypowell. The songs represent a variety of styles, mostly in the soft rock genre with influences from Clapton, Beatles, and CSN&Y and many others. While I am not good a tooting my own horn, I am proud of the project and I would like to see it be successful. I would invite 3rd Street members and others interested in good local and original music to grab a copy of my CD. Also, please get in touch with me with any questions or comments about the songs and/or the process of completing the CD. It was an interesting journey. I am now working on more songs, this time a little more blues oriented, and I recently joined the Wilmington Writer's Group, to try to improve my writing skills. Interesting choices for a 58 year old "Baby Boomer"?
By the way, I do perform live at a few select venues and I'll be at Sweet and Savory near Wrightsville Beach on Saturday, March 21st and again on April 16th. Please come out and hear a few songs. Thanks for taking time to read this little saga and hopefully we'll all be inspired...........Jerry Powell