About Me: This is where I get to ‘hype’ my life . . . Woo hoo!
I was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 6th, 1954. The second of six sons born to Marge and Robert “Don” Tschirhart. Dad was a journalist for the Detroit News, working various desks throughout his career, from ambulance chasing ‘City Beat’ to ‘Obits,’ Obituary writing. He freelanced his ‘Human Interest’ stories after retiring in the late 1980s.
Mom took on the daunting task of raising six sons during the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies . . . Oh boy! When asked how she did it, mom was known to stick her thumb down and say, “I have a really big thumb.”
My parents have passed on and left my brothers and me to keep the family healthy and productive. Some of us are more prolific at it than others (Bob). Here’s my Mother’s last Christmas (2015) with my wife (Sue), two daughters (Jennifer and Nicole), Son-in-law (Jacob), Nicole’s boyfriend, now husband (Jeremy), and my awesome granddaughter (Isabella) Nicole and Jeremy gave us another granddaughter, Layla in 2018:
I began playing guitar around 1966, at first using my older brother’s Harmony 12 String Acoustic Guitar and learning songs using my ears, listening over and over to vinyl 33-1/3 albums and 45’s, along with using the ‘fake’ books that showed guitar chords and sometimes, transcribed solos for each song on an album. Mostly The Monkees, Paul Revere, and the Raiders, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, of course.
After doing a Paper route for a short time, I bought my first electric guitar and amplifier. The guitar is a Japanese-made Guyatone, and the Amp was a Heathkit sold by Radio Shack (Awesome sounding Amp!) Here’s the guitar after I painted it psychedelic in 1967 or ’68 (I recently repaired and cleaned the electronics and converted it to a 12-string. It sounds awesome!:
I had a pretty normal childhood. I began playing guitar for the love of music . . . Okay! Maybe I wanted to impress the girls, too (I was 12, ya’ know). I really did love music, though. My dad used to take us to Belle Isle to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra outside at the band shell, where I learned to pick out the various instruments and their place in the Orchestra (Yes. I know what the Viola and Oboe sound like). I loved the Concert Basses!
As I mentioned before, I began playing guitar at age 12 to impress the . . . I mean, because I loved Rock and Roll and Soul music. One of my earliest Rock and Roll/Soul memories is “Workin’ in a Coal Mine,” written by Allen Toussaint, who I had the privilege of meeting in 2015, just before he passed away. I also remember being supremely moved by The Beatles’ lyricism and harmonies in “Hello, Goodbye,” then being completely blown away by The Temptations’ “Bernadette” in the next song on WKNR (Keener) AM. My wedding to my beautiful and supportive wife in 2015 at The Motown Museum was in the Studio’s large “Echo Room,” where I imagined all the Temps vocalists gathered around a microphone, then the dramatic pause in the middle of the song . . . Then David Ruffin’s powerful voice calling out, “Bernadette!!! You’re the soul of me!!!” It still brings chills down my spine . . .
My family moved to New Mexico during the long Detroit News strike of the middle 60s. I started High School there and played my first gig with the Guyatone Guitar at a dance. I played the solo in The Doors’ “Light my Fire” note for note and was scared out of my mind trying to impress Geraldine Lee, the cutest girl at West Mesa High School. I think I impressed her, but not enough to date me. Dammit!!!
We moved back to Utica, Michigan, and I met other musicians and played in various High School bands, and made some lifelong friends, including the members of WTFK (It’s the band members’ last name initials! Really!), formerly Ozzie. In the 70s, I played in Ozzie with my High School friends doing Disco, Rock, and some Fusion Jazz. After that, I went on the road playing in a Hotel Band. After that, I came home and played in various bands and studios (Commercials and Demos), ending my full-time music career after getting married to my first wife, who disliked the late nights, lost weekends, and crazy friends of a full-time musician in the Seventies and early eighties. We divorced in 1990 after producing two beautiful daughters. After that, I went through various jobs and began driving semi-trucks after surviving a long, life-threatening illness. During the end of my year and one-half recovery, I went to a truck-driving school.
In 1999, I left truck driving for good after deciding that, although I loved driving the big rigs, the lifestyle was not meant for me—no time to pursue my love of music. I began working for ‘Special Needs’ adults helping them to meet their independence goals. I retired from that fantastic job that I loved working after 20 years, which afforded me the time to pursue music as a semi-pro on March 11th, 2020. I played in a Duet and as a Single-Act using my sequences/band tracks and have played with WTFK (Formerly Ozzie) and played in a Worship Band at Saint Elizabeth Church in Detroit playing Gospel Bass . . . Awesome!!!
Now . . . I’m looking to play music and travel (hopefully both at the same time) and make myself available for Studio Sessions. My love for music has never diminished. I also have become a Luthier and Musical Instrument Customizer and Repairer. And . . . Don’t tell my wife . . . I have GAS, Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I am cataloging all my various musical instruments on this website with occasional updates. I think I have 7 Basses, 6 Guitars, 2 Lap-Steel Guitars (one is 1949 Vintage), a Banjo, and a Violin/Fiddle. And a Baldwin Acoustic Upright Piano, a Weighted Keyboard Controller, and a Vintage 1969 Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano I’m restoring that sounds awesome.
Thanks for reading.
David T
Look up Darrel Braun Guitar on you tube, he just made a super strat that I thought was fascinating.