Read Online Facing the Music And Living To Talk About It by Nick Carter - Free Book Online
Authors: Nick Carter
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could tune out my parents’ arguments, get lost in a melody and disappear into my own world. Music was a comfort for me even before I realized that I could build my life around it.
MUSIC WAS A GREAT ESCAPE FROM THE CHAOS AT HOME WHEN I WAS A KID.
The stress and lack of nurturing at home took a toll on all the Carter kids. Our schoolwork suffered and we were often in trouble for acting out in class. My sister BJ started as the best student in our family. Because she’d earned straight A’s, she was picked for the honored position of student patrol officer. In that role, she would help kids cross the street before and after classes. I was jealous of BJ and the other school patrol members, mostly because they got to wear super cool neon-colored safety belts. As things got worse at home though, BJ became rebellious and her grades dropped.
I, on the other hand, was never much of a student. While the teacher talked, I’d find myself daydreaming. The studies seemed beyond my grasp. I felt lost and very insecure. I was never in the advanced classes with the smartest kids. My classroom was one of those portable units that always seemed reserved for the worst students. I felt like an outcast. It was as if they put us in there so we wouldn’t infect the smart kids with our contagious stupidity.
All in all, school wasn’t a great experience for me. I was bullied some, especially at the bus stop. The street we lived on in Tampa—131 st Avenue—was in a pretty tough neighborhood. One kid terrorized me even though our sisters were friends. He beat up most of the kids who rode our bus, so I guess it wasn’t personal. I just tried to stay off his radar or at least out of his reach.
Studying and doing homework were difficult for me, especially when there was so much drama between my warring parents. When Nintendo video games came out, I spent hours playing them. My mother tried to pry me away, but that was pretty hard to do. The one thing we both liked was music so that became something we shared. There was always a radio or stereo on in our house. My parents may have cashed in on the disco era when they owned the tavern but they were mostly big fans of the golden oldies of rock and roll from the sixties and seventies—what my mom called real music .
She liked harmonies and strong vocals. In fact, one of her favorite songs when I was little was “Bridge Over Troubled Water ” by Simon and Garfunkel. She bought a cassette tape with the song and played it all the time, so I knew it by heart. When I was eight years old, Mom was working in the kitchen one day and she heard me singing that song in the backyard.
I often sang while bouncing on the trampoline, but this time I was on solid ground pretending to be on stage at an outdoor concert. I imagined the blades of grass were my audience. (It was a very green crowd.) Mom suspected that I planned this as a performance for her benefit since I was belting out a song she loved, but I was singing for the fun of it.
My parents always said that I was a natural born ham. Mom has written that sometimes she feared I was overly needy and starved for attention. When I think about it, there may be some truth to that as she and dad worked so hard they weren’t around very much. If I was hungry for affection and attention, singing that song sure did the trick.
Mom—who genuinely thought of herself as an unbiased observer—immediately decided that I was destined for stardom when she heard me singing that day. She was so impressed, she dragged me into the house to sing for my dad too.
This was the first time my parents realized I might have marketable talent, though Dad was less convinced of my greatness than Mom. He wanted a second opinion, and probably a third.
I INHERITED DAD’S BLUE-COLLAR WORK ETHIC AND DRIVE...
Dad was a total realist about life—not at all what you’d call an optimist. My father was a truck driver before he became a bar owner and nursing-home operator. (He’d
MUSIC WAS A GREAT ESCAPE FROM THE CHAOS AT HOME WHEN I WAS A KID.
The stress and lack of nurturing at home took a toll on all the Carter kids. Our schoolwork suffered and we were often in trouble for acting out in class. My sister BJ started as the best student in our family. Because she’d earned straight A’s, she was picked for the honored position of student patrol officer. In that role, she would help kids cross the street before and after classes. I was jealous of BJ and the other school patrol members, mostly because they got to wear super cool neon-colored safety belts. As things got worse at home though, BJ became rebellious and her grades dropped.
I, on the other hand, was never much of a student. While the teacher talked, I’d find myself daydreaming. The studies seemed beyond my grasp. I felt lost and very insecure. I was never in the advanced classes with the smartest kids. My classroom was one of those portable units that always seemed reserved for the worst students. I felt like an outcast. It was as if they put us in there so we wouldn’t infect the smart kids with our contagious stupidity.
All in all, school wasn’t a great experience for me. I was bullied some, especially at the bus stop. The street we lived on in Tampa—131 st Avenue—was in a pretty tough neighborhood. One kid terrorized me even though our sisters were friends. He beat up most of the kids who rode our bus, so I guess it wasn’t personal. I just tried to stay off his radar or at least out of his reach.
Studying and doing homework were difficult for me, especially when there was so much drama between my warring parents. When Nintendo video games came out, I spent hours playing them. My mother tried to pry me away, but that was pretty hard to do. The one thing we both liked was music so that became something we shared. There was always a radio or stereo on in our house. My parents may have cashed in on the disco era when they owned the tavern but they were mostly big fans of the golden oldies of rock and roll from the sixties and seventies—what my mom called real music .
She liked harmonies and strong vocals. In fact, one of her favorite songs when I was little was “Bridge Over Troubled Water ” by Simon and Garfunkel. She bought a cassette tape with the song and played it all the time, so I knew it by heart. When I was eight years old, Mom was working in the kitchen one day and she heard me singing that song in the backyard.
I often sang while bouncing on the trampoline, but this time I was on solid ground pretending to be on stage at an outdoor concert. I imagined the blades of grass were my audience. (It was a very green crowd.) Mom suspected that I planned this as a performance for her benefit since I was belting out a song she loved, but I was singing for the fun of it.
My parents always said that I was a natural born ham. Mom has written that sometimes she feared I was overly needy and starved for attention. When I think about it, there may be some truth to that as she and dad worked so hard they weren’t around very much. If I was hungry for affection and attention, singing that song sure did the trick.
Mom—who genuinely thought of herself as an unbiased observer—immediately decided that I was destined for stardom when she heard me singing that day. She was so impressed, she dragged me into the house to sing for my dad too.
This was the first time my parents realized I might have marketable talent, though Dad was less convinced of my greatness than Mom. He wanted a second opinion, and probably a third.
I INHERITED DAD’S BLUE-COLLAR WORK ETHIC AND DRIVE...
Dad was a total realist about life—not at all what you’d call an optimist. My father was a truck driver before he became a bar owner and nursing-home operator. (He’d
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