The Tehachapi Music Man
From, the bio on his website…
“Gary Michael Mazzola is a talented Tehachapi songwriter with an exceptional voice and a gift for writing lyrical, approachable songs about life and love.
He’s has played with many talented musicians during his long musical journey and honed his craft in numerous band incarnations since his father gave Gary his first real guitar when he was just 13 years old.
Mazzola has been writing songs all his life and for the past few years since developing Parkinson’s disease, he’s devoted all his time to the art form. “The way I see it as long as I can still control the tremors and play I have a responsibility to myself to do what I love. I get up each morning, get ready for the day, go into my studio, and start writing. That’s my life and I love it.”
One of the topics I talked about with Gary is Parkinson’s Disease. Gary has had this debilitating disease for years. It attacks a person’s motor skills, so they are not able to move as fast as they can think. It can be extremely frustrating. One of more unpredictable results of the effects Parkinson’s has had on Gary was unintended, unpredictable yet not all bad – he has become proficient at playing slide guitar because it has become too difficult for him to form chords on the neck of the guitar. These days, he is considered an accomplished bottleneck slide guitar player. One door closes and another opens.
Gary is now directing plays as well, and he went into some detail about his current project, Young Frankenstein, the Musical. It seems Mel Brooks wrote a musical stage version of his famous movie, complete with songs and choreography and Mazzola is directing a theatrical group in Tehachapi where it is being performed by the local talent.
BTW – One of the names that came up during the conversation is DJ. DJ is DJ Barker, is a singer songwriter and mutual friend. As a matter of fact, He’s my oldest friend from Philadelphia, was instrumental in my moving to California and he helped get me my first job as a singing waiter at the Great American Food & Beverage Company – the same place where he first met Gary. You’ll be hearing more from DJ in later episodes of the Tales of the Road Warriors.
Check out Gary’s music and learn more about his other upcoming projects visit his website at GARYMICHAELMAZZOLA.COM
