Introducing a VIP in My Life

Every now and again, if you're fortunate, you meet someone who really touches you. It's almost as if there was a chunk of you missing and they came in and filled the space, perfectly. No gaps, no misalignment, sort of like that feeling you get when you glue something together that's been broken. You wiggle the two parts together until you feel that "click" that tells you it's just right. This is how it felt when I met Gerald Miller...

I met Gerald in Facebook, via Stevie Riks. I guess he'd liked something I posted or something, because he sent me a friend request. I don't normally accept requests from people who don't know at least one person I know, personally, but hell, anyone who digs Stevie Riks, Monty Python, and the blues is all right in my books! And he looked familiar, like someone I should know. I knew nothing about him, of course, but as I perused his photo albums I learned that he was a musician—a lead vocalist—who had sung with some pretty good bands during the 70s and 80s, up in Canada, even opening for Foreigner (I think) as well as some other pretty big names.

The Rodium Band

At the time we met, he was trying to get another band together and we began conversing a little, then a lot, then a lot more. At my request he sent me some of his recordings and I was knocked out by his voice. I don't rave about someone's talent if they don't have it. I am in fact rather critical, but Ger's voice is amazing. His current group, The Rodium Band, which centers out of Guelph, Ontario, started out strong the minute it hit the circuit.

The more I got to know Gerald, the more I liked him. He in fact reminded me so much of Noel Saunders (one of the characters in my Beyond he Bridge series), it was downright spooky. Gerald is Scottish by birth and shares certain northern UK personality "bumps" with Noel, who hails from Liverpool in the north of England.

Although Gerald and I have never met vis à vis, or have even spoken on the phone, we just know each other. There's a deep understanding—a simpatico, if you will—that makes us feel very close to each other. One day I hope to meet him, but I fear I will spend all of our time together just hugging him.

Today is Gerald's birthday and I just wanted to acknowledge him here on my blog. Happy Birthday, dear friend! I hope the upcoming year will find you loved on by your Muse and applauded by your audience!