S1: Washington detectives have their theories. So do you guys do good cop , bad cop? Which one of you is going to be nice to me? Which one's going to be evil? Oh , all of us.
S2: Don't worry.
S1: You're all gonna be evil. Got it?
S2: Oh , no no no no.
S1: This is it. Okay.
S2: Okay.
S3: Award winning guitarist and singer Eugene Antonio Edwards knew he wanted to play music at just four years old. Growing up in Yuma , Arizona , it's a desert town. Not too different from ours here in the Imperial Valley.
S4: Since then , he turned that passion into a career most musicians only dream about.
S5: And now , taking the stage as a guitarist for a country music icon , Dwight Yoakam.
S3: I'm Edison.
S4: I'm Axl.
S5: And I'm Athena. And today we're super excited to have you. Gene joined us for this episode of voices Don Valley. You're from where? Reggie.
S2: Reggie. And it's a band as a farewell.
S1: So I did. I was born and raised in Yuma. I went to Yuma , Yuma Union High School , uh , graduated in 91. So was there , you know , late 80s , early 90s. And , uh , I was pretty socially isolated , uh , even for Yuma. Um , I didn't , uh , I didn't drink , I didn't do drugs or anything. I just so I just pretty much stayed in my bedroom and practiced guitar , uh , around that , around high schools when I stopped playing baseball. So it really was just guitar. And then since I didn't really party , I didn't hang out with a lot of people. I didn't get invited to a lot of things. Um , you know , on the weekends everyone would go to the jetty or they'd go to al Donna's or whatever. And like , I just , I just stayed home and practice guitar , uh , which was perfectly fine with me. It was a choice I had made. Um , and , uh , now , you mentioned in the intro , though. Yeah. Where it's it's kind of an isolated place. And as I'm sure maybe many of your guests have already mentioned or I'm sure as many of your teachers probably mentioned , you have to imagine without social media how much more isolated it was a few decades ago. Um , so , uh , you know , getting culture our medium at that time in the Valley , um , could be a little tough , however , and I was just speaking to someone about this last week , uh , here in Los Angeles , uh , a a news reporter who's been with KCAl9 for a very long time. And I was telling her , I said , even though I grew up in Yuma , uh , I grew I did grow up with KTLA TV out of Los Angeles. I was channel five and then KCAl9. So those are Los Angeles based local affiliates. So growing up , I mean , I saw commercials for stuff that you could go do and see in Los Angeles. Like I had big city information coming in. I just couldn't go out and do it because I was in Yuma. Favorite.
S2: Favorite. Favorite. Favorite. Revolution. Two.
S6: Two. One. Two. Three. Four. Live in the rocks $2,000. More than you saw. Um.
S1: Um. I think a lot of people , most people have kind of a love hate relationship with their hometown , like where they're from. Um , and so I certainly by the time I was in high school , my main goal was to get out of Yuma. Um , I wanted to play guitar. I wanted to travel. I wanted to see the world. Um , you know , I didn't have , um. It's not as though I had , like , a , you know , some family farmland I was going to inherit and take care of. There was no , you know , it wasn't like my family had , like , a big future set out for me , you know? So. So I kind of felt like I was going to be pretty liberated. In fact , when I , uh , after I graduated high school , I briefly attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston , Massachusetts. And I drove there and I , you know , at that point , I had never been east of Tucson in my life. Right. So , uh , it was a lot of the country I had not seen yet. And , and , you know , things take a turn. And I ended up making a life in music. And at this point , I've. I've been to all 50 states for sure , much less , you know , several countries and all. And it's funny , though , because I guess by 1996 is when I , I moved to Los Angeles because there was a band that needed a guitar player. I loved that man. And , um. And it's funny that Los Angeles , it's I was , I it's , you know , about four hour drive , 4.5 hour drive. Um , not too far , not too close. It's perfect. It's perfect. I just I just drove through El Centro a couple weeks ago , I guess two weekends ago or a weekend ago. Yeah , two weeks ago. Because I went to Yuma to attend a memorial for my old high school choir director , Taylor McBride , who , uh , he ran corollaries for years and years and years. And , uh , I played guitar and core players for three years , which is really , really important to me. So Yuma High School , in that choral air program was a massive , uh , game changer for me. Uh , growing up , you know , it wasn't so much that it helped me become a better musician. Um , I mean , it did , but more importantly , it helped me become a better person. Like how to get along with others , to be in a band , to compromise the understanding. Some people , it's going to take them longer to learn their parts than it took you. And you hope they'll be patient with you and your stuff when you know. So , uh oh , the gratitude to that guy. So I was happy to go and attend his memorial. God , that was a long answer.
S2: Oh , that's great.
S1: I did the whole thing in one breath. Guys , can you imagine?
S4: Did you know Eugene Edwards was a criminal in high school?
S3: Well , not exactly. He attended Yuma High School , where their mascot is just uniquely the criminals.
S1: And then it seems like , well , I don't have to do it anymore , but it's like every 10 to 15 years , like USA today would run a quirky little article about this. The one and only school that has a criminal as a mascot. And then you need this explanation. Now here's a funny story I remember. Um , as I said , I drove to Boston when I attended , but then for that first Christmas break , I flew back to Yuma and I. That was my first time ever being on a plane. So flying. And there's a guy sitting next to me. Then the flight was from Boston to Phoenix , so an older guy was seated next to me and were chatting a little bit and he says , where you headed? I said , well , I'm headed back home to , to Yuma , you know. And he says , oh. And he says , top off. He goes , oh , are you a king or a criminal? And I excited to say I'm a criminal , like on this crowded plane. And then he showed me his head. And people are , like , gathering their belongings , you know. Um , and then he shows me he had his class ring. He was like Yuma High , class of 74 or something like that , you know , and , uh , so , yeah , it makes it a small world pretty fast , you know , it's like , yeah , it's it's rather infamous. Although I do complain. I don't like the new mascot. I like the old angry crim head , like the really angry , hard X like , convict looking thing. The the kind of round , cutesy one. I don't know , I'm just it doesn't it doesn't feel right to me.
S5: So how do people in your industry respond when they discover your from you?
S1: Yeah , I they they speak louder and slower. I've noticed. It's pretty insulting. I mean , Athena , how would you feel if people did that? No. Um , well , you know , uh , well , you know , I'll say I think the the most common response , they probably say , oh , the , the 310 to Yuma , right. They think of the movie , um , and I said , well , yeah , yeah. That's it. That's kind of , that's what , that's the reference. That's it. Um , uh , some , you know , a lot of people have passed through , uh , you know , people have driven through their or , um , and , uh , they'll. Yeah , they they're not. Well , some are fascinated just by by the desert. Now , this is a thing. Um , I'll be honest with you guys , because it's just us , right? In LA and probably parts all over. There's this. There's this race of people called the hipsters. You understand? We got hipsters , right? A lot of felt hats. You know , a lot of a lot of weird mustaches and stuff. And they all love going to the desert. Oh , they love them so much. Oh , they're constantly posting pictures of them in the desert , and they're going on and on about the desert. And then I know that these people simply did not grow up in the desert just by the fact that they have this glamorous. I'm thinking , no , the desert is trying to kill you at all times. Please understand. You know you can't touch the plants. You know the you know , we don't know which lizards are going to kill you. So you got to shake your shoes in the morning , make sure there's not a scorpion. Okay , so all the hipsters love going to the desert , and then I just say , by all means , have as much of it as you want. I'll go to the beach. Right. That's me , that's me. Uh , on the other hand , you can't beat those sunsets. Like , it really is pretty magical. I mean , it's like it's really , really , really beautiful. As much as I tease the desert. So. So people kind of think , oh , that must have been great growing up in the desert. I'm thinking , guys , it was 119 And I played like third base in that. Like , you know , I'm ready to file a class action lawsuit on this , like childbirth. So I said , you know , you're just trying to survive as a kid out there. You're trying to stay inside some air conditioning , you know , and , um , and you're just , uh , you know , you're covering your hand with your sleeve or with your shirt before you touch the metal car door to open it and stuff , like , just so you write those little moves , you then you just do it. You just you don't have an option , right? So , um , so no , some people are kind of like , oh , that , you know , they like humor. You know , they they think it's charming. They've been through there. Um , and , uh , but sometimes some people have asked , so what did you like? What's what , what is there to do there? And I don't know about everybody else. I just played guitar. I just played guitar until I got out. How do people react when you say you're from El Centro?
S5: What's that?
S1: What's that?
S2: Oh , yeah. Yeah.
S5: Yeah.
S3: A lot of people are asking like , where's that?
S5: Or they're like , or they'll say something like , oh wait , I think I passed by there when I was going to like Las Vegas. And I'm like , yeah. We asked Eugene about his siblings and if their parents had a lot of boundaries or rules when they were growing up.
S1: Oh yeah , they probably. So yeah , I'm the I'm the oldest. And then my sister's three years younger than me. She lives in Laguna Beach now. My brother's ten years younger than me and he lives in Phoenix. And yeah , I think it was a well , I didn't have a lot of rules. I'll admit , I wasn't really a troublemaker. I think my parents would tell you I didn't really , I , I just I minded my own business. I got good grades and then I just , I just practiced guitar. Oh , they didn't really have any huge complaints. It wasn't like , you know , it wasn't like I was out vandalizing anything or getting any sort of shenanigans. So , um , so I think I may have sent I don't think my siblings had many rules either. Probably because I just kind of. I just kind of like , I don't know , I was just I don't think they really needed to have strict rules , you know? Um , yeah. So no , I don't yeah , I don't , I don't , I don't I think they had it. Of course if you interview them they'll probably get a different they may give you a different answer , you know. But I think sometimes you , you get the rules you deserve , uh , in some houses. So I think that's kind of how it worked out. Yeah.
S4: Did you come from a musical family or get any formal , uh , training into the music industry?
S1: Why don't you go back? My grandfather , uh , on my father's side , I think he wanted , I think , his dream. He had five kids , and I think he wanted every one. He bought instruments for every one of his kids. I think he wanted to have a family band. I think he I think he. Even before the Partridge Family existed , I think this is his idea because he loved dancing. He loved live music. Right. Um , I think my father was the only one who really stuck with it. My dad played drums and played drums in high school. A little bit out of high school , quite a bit in local bands there in Yuma. And um , so but then , you know , uh , I mean , then I guess by the time I was born , my dad just didn't have time to play. I do remember there being a drum kit in the living room when I was a kid. There's pictures of me , and I'm , like , four years old , like sitting there. Um , but my father and my mother , you know , they were 20 when they had me. So they were like really young people. So , um , their taste in music and in movies and , and culture , you know , in the 70s , I was born in 73. So I was , you know , my dad was buying records that were coming out at that time. It wasn't like I grew up in a house that had just like big band music , like old people's music. My dad's like 24 , 25. So , um , he had he already had a really good record collection. And I have really fond memories of , you know , going to the record store with him and bringing records home and looking at the liner notes and , you know , he play one album and then he'd say , oh , this reminds me of such and such. And then we and then we'd pull that other album and it became this whole listening experience. Um , and so my love of music , it was , it was , it was just always , always there. And then they and I was a really , really shy little kid. So but I think they noticed that music kind of brought a little personality out in me. So they , uh , took me to my first concert when I was seven , um , which was pretty intuitive of my father. I think he just kind of knew that music activated me some way. Um , and and then I was seven. I saw that concert , and I knew exactly what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I'm going to be. I'm going to be a guitar player. I was it was it was over. So , um , and then they were so encouraging , you know , like , you know , if I needed an instrument , my dad did whatever he could to get one in my hands. And , um. Yeah , it was there was just they were very. I never really got a lecture about a fallback career or anything. They they just kind of just believe , like , why not you? I think , you know , and then and then and then it all worked out. But in terms of formal training , uh , I , I took a guitar class , uh , in seventh grade. So a beginner course thing. I was just teaching my , you know , learning by myself a lot by ear. Um , really huge. Around the time I turned nine or 9 or 10 , I became a latchkey kid. Um , and , you know , I'd get around. At the same time , the MTV reached Yuma and talking about being isolated and , you know , before the internet and all that was massive because I was seeing well , it wasn't just that I was hearing music that I wasn't going to typically hear on the radio in Yuma. There was that , but I was just all seeing people I had never really seen before. I mean , I'd never seen anybody like Adam , Man or Boy George or , um , or the guys in Iron Maiden. Like I just had not like , what is this? Where is this? So that was a real , real mind opening experience , but also , uh , it was sort of my version of YouTube , in a way. I was , uh , not to name drop , but I guess I will. Um , so this guy named Mike Campbell , he played lead guitar for Tom petty for all those years. Right? And I remember when those those early Tom petty videos , they weren't very elaborate and they would just filmed the band miming to the record. And then whenever there was a guitar solo or a guitar lick , they would just do this wide shot of Mike and he's miming the lick. And every time those videos played , I would just like , have to stare at the screen and memorize the dots on the neck of where his hand was , and I'd imitate what he was doing. Um , and I'm sure I probably eventually got a VCR , probably got a VCR and was able to tape stuff , but you just got it once and you didn't know when the video was going to play again , so you just had to get it. You know , you're like on high alert all the time. And I told him about that recently. I said , yeah. I said , yeah , you kind of were an early guitar teacher and you didn't know it , but just because the video showed you playing. Um , so , uh , and so that really MTV showing up kind of helped foster my own personal tastes , like buying records that my father probably wasn't going to buy. And it kind of. And I learned about bands like The Replacements and , um , uh , uh , Elvis Costello. And there was a lot of stuff at that time that I , I don't , I don't know how else I would have found out about them unless , you know , someone had an older cousin that went to San Diego and brought back some records. That would be it. You know , you had to you had to know a guy. You just you had to know , like you had to have an older sibling or an older , you know , a young cool aunt that would come and bring and bring stuff back. That was like artifacts from around the world at the time. Yeah. And then , uh , and then I , uh. Yeah , it's mostly self-taught until I went to to Berklee College of Music , but that was very , very brief. So mostly I was autodidact in those things. Okay.
S3: Okay. So you've had a long and successful career in the music industry.
S1: I thought , as you said , you've had a long winded answer to everything.
S3: Oh no no no no no , we love it. We love it.
S7: That's that's that's what Edison's thinking , I can tell.
S2: You now.
S3: So again , you've had a long and successful career in the music industry , and other than that time that you mentioned , your father took you to your first concert. Mhm. Um , what was the like one of the first few times that you knew , like guitar , the music industry was going to be your calling other than that time.
S1: 000 , I don't know that I've ever been asked that. Um , I don't have a bad answer to that one. Um , well , I guess I don't. I mean , I've certainly had memorable moments playing certain venues or certainly meeting a lot of people , a lot of heroes. Um , I've been very fortunate. You know , there's a whole cliche. Don't meet your heroes. But I've been. I've been batting a thousand pretty much like the , um. They've all been really , really sweet , kind , generous people. Uh , to me , for some reason , um , I'll just say that I never I. Well , like I said , I never had a fallback plan , so I never really , uh , Here's , you know , a life like that or anyone's life is really an evolution in so many ways. So. And the way evolution works is you don't really notice the change when it's happening. It's this slow building thing. Um , so I think but I think getting the gig with Dwight , which was I think 13 years ago , that was certainly that did feel like that felt like , okay , you're finally , um , you you finally reached a , a level of of of profession that I hadn't quite hit before. Having said that , at the time , I was on a , on a , a morning radio show in LA , which is the second largest market in the country. So like , you know , live on the radio and in Los Angeles is a it's a , it's a , it's a thing. And , um , uh , I certainly traveled a lot and done shows and I've been on TV , you know , been on TV shows and , um , just kind of , you know , I just kept saying yes to everything , every opportunity. Right. But , um , yeah , I guess maybe just getting the Dwight gig because I'd been a fan of his for so long , and I knew that it meant , you know , kind of traveling at that. Um , the , I don't know , the big time level , you know , uh , for better or for worse , you know , you're going to have a guitar tech. There's going to be every , you know , there's a crew that's going to set everything up for you. You don't have to tear your gear down , you know , just , um , so much is taken care of for you. And then the idea is that you just just worry about your parts , just worry about your guitar parts and your vocal parts and and show up on time. That's all you have , you know , just just do that. And so that kind of felt like , oh , you know , it really felt like a , the large part of hustling was kind of over in a sense , you know , because I was juggling so many gigs at that time. And then that one saw , like , help stabilize everything.
S4: All right. So what artists do you think most influenced you?
S1: Most would probably be Bruce Springsteen , because that was that concert I saw when I was seven years old. Um , and I have a feeling I would have wanted to be a musician anyway , but I don't know if it would have been so intense and at such a young age had I not seen that guy , of all people to see now , I mean , I'm a bit of a , you know , rock nerd and , and , um , kind of thinking like , at that age , my parents could have taken me to see , like , who else was playing concerts at the time? And I don't know that guys. He was that's a pretty singular performer. And just as someone who , uh , as I grew up listening to his records and studying them more and more , uh , he wrote in such a thoughtful way. His music was fun. It was had this fun , liberating rock exuberance. But then lyrically , the stuff was it wasn't sort of childish , dumb , misogynistic rock lyrics. It was very , very thoughtful things about how people lived their lives. And , um , so that probably , uh , helped me grow up in a , in a real big way , just as a , you know , there's some music. It's like food. Like some of it's just not good for you. It's just not designed to make you a better person. And there's other mute forms of music or songwriters that , like , they kind of give you health food in a way. And I was just lucky that my parents chose , like , this really healthy music for me to kind of get turned on to. Other than that , you know , the Beatles are constantly like a musical inspiration. And I'm always learning. And I have students and I refer to them a lot. Another person I'll throw in there as a guitar player is a guy named David Hidalgo from the band Los Lobos , and whose mom is from Gila Bend. Actually , um , he , uh , Los Lobos has a song called Gila Bend. Um , and , uh , he's the one person I've met that , um , where I totally got tongue tied. Like , I just couldn't speak. I was just shaking. And then , um , I was just , uh. We just did some shows with them recently , and I'm still not. I still , when I'm around him , I talk too fast , I , I , I talk too much. I just can't I just can't get my act together around the guy. And , um , uh , his birthday was two days ago. I wished him a happy birthday. And where someone got our numbers through each other when he wrote back. Because he's got it , brother. Thank you. And I'm just like. I just kept staring at my phone like , oh my God.
S5: So when we're researching you , we discovered that you did a voice of Sunburst Award in an animated series called Horse Land. How did that come about? Right.
S1: Right. Okay , so that's a great example of just saying yes to stuff. Um , about 20 years ago , I had my own band , um , and we would play a lot around Los Angeles , and we played , uh , like a farmers market. There's a actual there's a place in Los Angeles called the Farmers Market , and it's near all the television studios. So a lot of celebrities kind of do their shopping there. You know , we're playing there one afternoon , and there was people of all ages watching us , and there was this family of three , and they had a teenage son. And I just really , really dug my music , I guess. And we were chatting. And then I told them , of course , they have a teenage son who was , you know , a budding musician. And so I would I got their information and I let them know whenever we were playing places where somebody under age could get in , I always made sure to let them know , because I remember being under 21 and just not being able to go see any bands and just sucked. It just it was awful. Um , in fact , I was working in bars before I was 21. That's a whole other story. But I just I just remember , like , it was such a pain in the butt to go see live music when you're under age. So. So I would , I would make sure that they would come out and , and they would come to a lot of shows. And then the mom , Marcia Goodman , uh , of the family , she we just kept talking and and , um , she liked my voice. She liked my speaking voice for some reason. And it turns out she's a producer of cartoons. And we just always stayed in touch , and she , um. Yeah , she just said , would you like to come try this? Just. It could be fun , You know , and she went easy on me. I mean , I'm obviously not a professional voice actor , but , um , around that same time , uh , as when I got hooked up with the morning radio show , which was through a whole other series of events. Um , so at the suggestion of some of these people , they said you might want to take some acting lessons. I said , well , I certainly I'm not interested in being an actor , but , um , they said , well , you don't have to be. It'll just it's just it's just a skill that that'll be really good. Now , I do know I have friends who are wildly successful voice actors. Um , when I first got to Yuma , I had a side band with a guy named Tom Kenny. And this was before he was the voice of SpongeBob , for instance. Um , so I know. Yeah , I mean , I know people who , like , they're like the major. And , um , so I was very , very sheepish about doing this voice because , like , I can't do , like , wacky voices. I can just speak like me. But it was fun. It was fun. And , um , yeah , it was a it was a , you know , a good experience and , you know , just just and then years later for Fender guitar , they would have me do all these kind of commercials and , and demonstration videos and what have you. And then having had this voiceover experience and being on radio and reading copy and all that , it all , it's kind of like Slumdog Millionaire , you just you , you just do all these little funky little things and you remember them all in one day at all. You know , you get to use it all at one at one time. So that's. Yeah. But yeah. Like , how does somebody get that. Like I didn't I definitely got through the side door on that one you know.
S3: All right so tell us about the bar bands that you played in while you were underage. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Okay. So , um , when I was still in high school , there was like an R&B kind of funk cover band that needed a guitar player. So I played with them for a bit. My main memory was when I was 17 , there was a country band in Yuma called Fast Gun , and they were based in Yuma and they need a guitar player a very quickly. And so this was the summer before I was going to go to Boston , and I had like a week's notice , and I just sort of crammed a bunch of material. And they had this house gig in Yuma six nights a week , five sets a night , man. And so this is your Gladwell's in 10,000 hours right here. And I , the owners of the bar , were okay with me being underaged. Um , it did help that I absolutely didn't. I was a teetotaller. I didn't drink at all. So , you know , they didn't have to , uh , keep an eye on me too much. But when we traveled , it would. It was kind of weird. And most states just have a law that this that , um , if if I were to play there , I had to stay on stage the whole time. So if you're playing like , four sets or five sets a night , you know , the bands take a break and you go out to the parking lot or you go hang out? And I couldn't leave the stage. I had to stay there. And so then I bring books , and I just must look like a little freak. Just like , what a weirdo. Just sitting on stage reading a book. And it's just like a club packed with people. Um , and so it was pretty socially isolating. You know , even though , um , and by the way , everybody in the bands like 10 to 15 years older than me. So I'm not with peers. It's not like you guys have a band together and you're the same age and your peers. Um , I never had that experience. I was always like the kid. And , uh , um , so , you know , really wasn't dating at all because there weren't there wasn't anyone my age , and , um , I couldn't go out and chat with anyone anyway for about three years. Anyway , for three years , I just couldn't really socialize. So it was kind of bizarre , but I didn't. I didn't feel sorry for myself. I just said , well , no , but I'm playing guitar. I'm getting paid to play guitar. Like , this is. This is what you have to do. Like it? Just. That was just the reality of of what I chose to do. Um. Uh , how did it prepare me for success? Well , I will say again , the isolation part of growing up in Yuma when I did does it again , I had a huge focus. I was so driven to be good at something. There's just not a lot of distractions in Yuma. Yeah , there's not a lot else to do. For being as small as it was and a weird spot on the map as it is. And then , of course , there's Mexico , you know , just a few miles. You could just walk across the border and be in Mexico. And I got to be very honest with you. And it's a it's a serious topic. My , um , narrow exposure to Mexico was this , like , impoverished little border town. And so I remember kind of just at some I was very young when I just realized , like the , you know , the hand of fate just kind of puts it just I was just born a few miles north of this , and my life is so comfortable. It's so comfortable , you know. And who knows , if I'd just been born a few miles south of that border , how different my life , maybe. I don't know , I don't know. Um , and so when the topic of immigration and border issues come up at time and time again in the news , and I feel like it's just used as a cudgel. You know , uh , I , I , I'm sensitive to it because I was , I was , I just , I just lived with the knowledge of , um , I'm a US citizen by a quirk of birth. Like , I didn't do anything for it. Quirk of birth. Um , so it's so fragile to me. And whenever I get in a discussion with people on the topic , it's especially people that get very , very antagonistic against people who are here , um , illegally , I guess is actually the best way to put it. Um , I'll just stop and I'll say , I'm sorry , what did you do for your citizenship? Like , what did you do for it? And I said , well , I pay my taxes. I said , no , no , that's how you maintain your citizenship. You know , jury duty , which everybody tries to get out of taxes , which everybody tries not to pay. Selective service , I guess you have to you know , I was like , no , that stuff you do to maintain it , but what did you do to get it? So anybody who actually makes a journey and actively tries to be here in my mind , like they already deserve it more than I do. Um , so. that's one of those things we're being born in Yuma informs my opinion on something like that , you know? Uh , so yeah , that's , I don't know , prepare me for success. But it definitely gets me in a lot of debates.
S5: All right. So last question. If you had a look back and give yourself one piece of advice , what would it be?
S1: Turn the guitar up. No. Um. Oh , yeah. One piece of advice. Um , you know , I always thought I was going to be okay. I always. I never really worried. It could have been naivete , but I was never really that worried about it not working out. Somehow a part of me wants to say , like , it'd be nice to tell. Like when I was in my early 20s. Well , look , man , there was a lot of desperate , long van rides in the middle of the night. And , you know , the gig is crappy and the pay isn't that great. And you're tired and and it. It would. Yeah. Maybe just to tell that kids like it's going to be all right. You'll still be playing guitar , you know , years and years and years from now , you're still going to love it. Um , you're gonna you're going to have a family. You're going to live in Los Angeles. Um , you get to play even louder. I think I would , I think I'd go back and give my younger self permission to be even more ambitious. I do look back now and think like , oh , maybe I should have pushed a little more here. Maybe I should have been a little more proactive on that one. And maybe a gig like a gig with Dwight or something like that may have happened sooner. Um , but then again , I look at myself , I don't know , I don't know if I , I don't know if I would have really been able to handle a gig like Dwight's when I was younger , you know? Um , I don't know if I've been that responsible with it. You know , you need a certain amount of. You need to have a really good dose of of humility. And when you have a job like that , and , um , I'm not so sure I had it. I had enough of it. You know , when I was in my 20s , let's say. So. So I think I would have given my permission to kind of like , yeah , push a little harder. It's okay. You know.
S3: Man , that right there. That's real. Sometimes it's not about missing the moment. It's about not being ready for it yet. Exactly.
S4: Exactly. Like , yeah. You can't have the talent. You can't have a dream. But if you don't have the mindset and humility at all , it's not going to land the same.
S5: And that's what makes this story so powerful. Growing up somewhere like Yuma or the Valley , it can make you feel far from everything. But that time , that grind , that's what builds you.
S3: And then when your moment does come , you're ready for it.
S5: Huge thank you to Eugene Edwards for sharing a story with us.
S3: And thank you for listening to Voices El Valle. You're from where? Featuring Eugene Edwards.
S5: Posted by Edison Camargo. Athena moreno and Axel Cardenas. Felix.
S3: Edited and produced by Ernest Gomez Camacho and Doctor Thomas Taki.
S5: Episode music by Eugene Edwards. Credits.
S3: Credits. Music by Emmanuel Wiley. Technical and operational support provided by KPBS. Technical producer slash , sound designer Adrian Villalobos , KPBS audio operations assistant Rebecca Chacon , and KPBS director of audio programming and Operations Lisa Jane Morissette. This programming is partially made possible in part by the KPBS Explore Content Fund.
