LOS ANGELES — Musician Rydell Howsoff has successfully transitioned his love of playing guitar into something he “thinks about doing here and there,” sources close to the musician confirmed.
“There was a point when Rydell wanted nothing more than to smoke dope, hook up with hot babes, snowboard, and play lead guitar in a band that toured the world,” said longtime friend and former bandmate Carter Johnston. “But now that the pressures of life have broken his spirits a little, he’s comfortable playing guitar for 15 minutes a week or so, and sometimes posting an Instagram video of him trying to learn a song, if he has time.”
Howsoff confirmed the yellow Fender once played nightly in clubs across Los Angeles now sits near-permanently on a stand in the corner of his bedroom.
“I look at that guitar all the time,” said Howsoff, browsing adult education courses at a nearby community college. “Just the other day, I was watching the Rams, and at halftime… it was like it started smiling at me. I picked her up, even though the dust almost made me sneeze. I strummed it a few times and it just felt right, you know? But, then, I couldn’t remember where my fingers went on a G Chord, so I went on YouTube to look and got distracted by street fight videos. By the time I found a tutorial, the game was back on, so I put the ‘ol axe down. But it was nice to play again.”
However, Howsoff’s roommate and mother Lydia Howsoff described herself as “nonplussed but accepting.”
“When Rydell said he wanted to be a musician, I encouraged him — just like I did when he wanted to go to space camp, and when he trained to become a magician,” she said. “Frankly, though, this was the loudest of all his passions, so I’m not really going to complain.”
At press time, Mrs. Howsoff reminded her son that if and when he wants to play, “That’s fine, but remember: someone has to work in the morning.”
Photo by Anya Volz @AnyaVolz.