Trevor is known for his mischievous sense of humor, which manifests itself in many things - from songs to comments to pranks - and so when he stated during his August 17th Q&A at the Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks that he was learning to play the tuba, well...truly, my first thought was Pull the other one, Trev! After all, this is the man who allowed people to believe he possessed multiple spleens for decades, chuckling all the while, I'm sure. But you read it here first (unless, of course, you were at the event): we might be treated to a thundering tuba interlude on Trevor's next solo record. Unless he lets us in on the joke years from now and then I can declare Ah I knew he was just messing with us! But to watch him explain (and make appropriately comical grimaces) how awkward it is to hold a tuba - how heavy and how cramped one feels with it on the torso - was totally hilarious, as were his impressions regarding the different positions one can utilize in order to play a guitar.
Trevor also revealed during the course of discussion that he will be scoring the entire first season of the upcoming ABC series Zero Hour, which marks a new chapter in his scoring career and yet another reason for Rabinites to stay glued to their televisions (although I'm still confused as to whether the show is on the Fall schedule or is a midseason replacement, as there are conflicting sources of information).
A nice surprise for me was to hear Trevor recite some of the lyrics from "(Wake Up!) State Of Fear," a song which has taken on the feel of a folk tale because the version he recorded with Freedom's Children was never released and thus has never been heard save by those who had seen that particular lineup perform it. But it was a great example of how much he desired to address the problems facing South Africa at that time, when protest against Apartheid was usually squelched quickly and violently, and the song ended up becoming a casualty of the government's draconian censorship policies.
The audience was allowed to ask questions at the end of the session and I was the last of those participants. I came up to where Trevor was sitting because in order to ask my question - about his famous Strat - I needed to reference his new portrait shot, which was displayed in the promotional poster for the event on the table next to him. I recently obtained a hi-res copy of that photograph which allowed me to closely examine the Strat and I noticed something I'd never seen before in any of the photographs and screencaps I have of the guitar, and I was curious about what it was.
I started out by teasing him: "You know, it's not as if we don't know whose guitar this is, because your initials are all over it!" And he said, "Yeah I hate that," which surprised me, given that he's done the same to his favorite Alvarez, which was his main axe for many years. But also because he carved his initials into the body at the lower end many years ago.
Much love to Larry Mah for this wonderful photo.
Trevor noted that his son Ryan's name is on the guitar as well (there is a Ryan sticker on the scratch plate, which was added circa 1988, I like how he placed it so he could read it whenever he played the guitar):
The Ryan sticker when it was (relatively) new, from 1992.
...which is known to fans, of course, and so I asked for the story behind it and he replied, "I found this dynamite sticker and he's my dynamite boy!"
(Best. Dad. EVER!)
The Ryan sticker is a bit faded by time now but still legible:
But what I wanted to ask about was this, on the upper part of the body:
I stated that I had just noticed it thanks to being able to examine a hi-res version of the photo and asked what it was. Trevor explained it was a pin - a lapel pin, I'm assuming - from Chrysalis used to promote Trevor Rabin (the 1979 international release of his first solo album). I also asked and he noted it was broken because not all of his name is there now. It does feature the same typography as on the album cover itself:
Trevor and I agree this is his worst album cover ever.
As I returned to my seat Trevor declared, "Great question!" which was very kind of him. Driven by a need to know things...that's me! And it's finding things out which is the greater reward.
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