didn’ t vote. You know what? Nothing. They didn’ t even care about voting. I mean, it was a bit immature. I know that. But that wasn’ t in our mind back then when we were like … I’ m talking about early twenties, we were voting age. I didn’ t start voting until I was maybe 29 or 30 years old. It wasn’ t on my mind. We all hadn’ t grown up yet. Music has a way of keeping you young. So, we were not thinking that way. And then all of a sudden, we realized, wait a minute. We want to raise a family. We want to buy a home. We’ ve got bills to pay. We better think about who we’ re voting for. My father was a barber and he had all kinds sitting in the chair when he cut hair. He talked with every walk of life, and he’ d come home and he would say,“ Well, somebody was talking about this. He’ s a Democrat. Or somebody was talking about that. He’ s a Republican. And that was the end of it. That’ s the saddest thing about today, is that the climate has gotten really, really rough. And I don’ t like to see that, especially in families and in our business, it’ s like,“ Man, calm down. Just get back to what we’ re here for.”
[ WM ] And you think back to the early seventies. We didn’ t like Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon. We didn’ t like either side.
[ WM ] I know. Yesterday was May 4 th, the anniversary of the Kent State shootings. I was there. And it was a horrible time. And the protest was sort of peaceful. But then these characters come down from Detroit and they started riling up everything, and it got crazy. It got out of hand in the National Guard, the whole story. But I was there. Joe Walsh was there, and it was an ugly thing.
What is weird for me is that Neil Young wrote the song,“ Ohio,” and by 1976, only six years later, I was playing“ Ohio” with those four guys( Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young). It’ s pretty strange for me counting off to play that.
[ WM ] Oh, that’ s amazing. I need to finish up with you. Yogi Berra once said,“ The future ain’ t what it used to be.”
[ Joe ] He had the best quotes in the world.
[ WM ] So what advice do you have for church musicians, drummers, and percussionists, whether they find themselves called to the church or into mainstream music?
“ I’ ve learned that... be patient and wait on God. He knows exactly what he’ s doing and what you need and when you need it. That’ s hard for a human being.”
[ Joe ] Well, the first thing I would say is always pray. God knows best. His plan really is perfect, not ours. We think ours is perfect, but it’ s not. And mostly it’ s flawed. And so, I’ ve learned that … be patient and wait on God. He knows
exactly what he’ s doing and what you need and when you need it. That’ s hard for a human being. Down here it’ s hard for us to deal with because we want things now, and we think we know exactly what we want. And sometimes we do. And I understand the frustration of wanting something now or to our liking, but I’ ve learned through the years, it’ s taken me a long time, but I’ ve learned that,“ Okay, talk to God.” Tell him what you need, what you’ re looking for, pray about it and give him the whole thing. It’ s in your hands now. Because like I said, His timing is perfect. And I’ ve seen that happen through the years. I really have. Had I gotten what I wanted when I wanted, doesn’ t matter what it was. That’ s right. It would’ ve been a disaster.
And then the way things worked out; it was perfect. And so that’ s what I’ ve learned. That’ s what I would tell young people now. It’ s not only about music, but also every walk of life. It’ s all about life and just pray about stuff and it can’ t go wrong.
[ WM ] Yep. Joe, it is a delight to visit with you today. Thank you!
[ Joe ] You’ re welcome, Alex. Please stay in touch. Thank you!
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