2009
Sergeant Anthony Hixon and Ally Pacella
Eddie Kramer mans the board in Studio B
I asked him about his approach to being a
Rock Counselor. “I think there needs to be
a leader,” he explained to me. “I expect the
campers to learn, and they need to have a
leader, someone who knows what to do, and
who can tell them. And if they don’t learn it,
I’m going to remind them to learn it. It’s very
concentrated and directed. I’ll even push the
executive who kind of just dreamt of being a
rock star but is really basic on guitar and can
barely play. I won’t disrespect him, but I’m
going to try and make him be as good as he
can be… he’s going to want that.”
I quickly realized that if it’s anything, R&RFC
is a five-day crash course in learning how to
be in a band. This hit us almost immediately
during our first practice, when we started to
learn Aerosmith’s version of “Helter Skelter,”
our assignment. Our bass player, Tony, was
having some trouble keeping up with us.
Like everyone else, Tony was came to the
camp for the experience of hanging out with
rock stars and getting to play at The Whisky,
but he was also there to pick up on things
that would help his bass playing. What I saw
happen with this man over the next few days
was pretty incredible. Tony was stationed in
Iraq for several years, and had only tooled
around with the bass a bit before he was
sent to serve our country. He never really
got the opportunity to keep it up, but what
he did bring to the band was something that
a hell of a lot of musicians out there could
use: the ability to understand criticism.
In four and a half days, I saw Sergeant
Anthony Hixon go from not being able
to hold a pick or fret a note to keeping
up with “Helter Skelter” and “Highway
to Hell.” On the third day of camp, he
played “Helter Skelter” for Steven Tyler.
I’ve been playing guitar for over a decade,
and even I was close to losing it when
Tyler was standing next to me singing. I
even flubbed the solo because of it. I can’t
imagine what Sergeant Hixon was feeling
at that moment, but he didn’t choke, even
when he made a mistake or two.
This is a perfect example of why this camp
is such an amazing concept. It doesn’t matter what skill level you’re on or what your
background is; every artist worth their salt
will tell you that you can always be better
at what you do. What Tony got out of the
camp was something that it takes some
people years to develop, if at all: the ability
to listen to the band and play when you’re
supposed to. It’s a rudimentary lesson, but
one of the most important any musician
can master. Tony may not have mastered it,
but he was certainly on his way, and doing
extremely well for someone on only his
third day of the job.
Put your head together
and sing it out loud
The day before our final night, we all piled
into the van and headed up to Capitol
Studios. We had been working diligently on
our original song, “Livin’ Our Dream.” Ally
had a guitar lick that she’d been sitting on
for a while, and Bruce and the band helped
turn it into a complete song. Ally wanted a
song that expressed what we were all there
to accomplish, and to represent what we’d
be taking back with us when the camp was
over. It had a cool Rolling Stones vibe to it,
and our ever-helpful tour manager Leslie
contributed her enthusiastic attitude to help
keep the process fun and exciting.
Passing through the huge gate and entering
the lobby of Capitol Studios was awe-inspiring. The multi-platinum records, portraits of
The Beatles, and photos of Les Paul, Mary
Ford and Frank Sinatra in the studios recording was a powerful reminder of where we
were. As we passed down the long hallways,
with photo after photo of music history
adorning the walls, we entered Studio B and
quietly watched the master himself, Eddie
Kramer, working on a mix from one of the
other bands. I was excited that I was about
to be recorded by the man who recorded
with David Bowie, Ace Frehley, Anthrax and
many others. After we unpacked our instruments and arranged our positions, Eddie
