What began as an email thread became a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a guitar ensemble in Wichita. On Veterans’ Day, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh took a trip to Wichita State’s Shocker Studios to listen to an ensemble of student guitarists play a rock set with songs from bands like “Rush” and “King Crimson.”
Walsh’s father, Robert Newton Fiddler, was a Wichita native and a Wichita State alumnus. Walsh also performed for the 9th annual VetsAid benefit concert at Intrust Bank Arena later in the week on Nov. 15.
Isaac Waterman, a member of the guitar ensemble, said it was “really awesome” to play for Walsh.
“Such a just mind-blowing experience,” Waterman said. “Like the fact that Joe Walsh … wanted to come and check out what our ensemble was doing and give us advice and stuff like that. Like, it was just really a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Adrian Torres, also a member of the guitar ensemble, said performing for Walsh made him nervous, not only because of Walsh’s celebrity status, but because he held a personal connection to Walsh’s music.
“I’ve been listening to the Eagles since I was, like, two years old,” Torres said. “And I love his music. I used to study his solos when I was in high school, and I was incredibly nervous.”
After the performance, Walsh gave advice to the budding musicians, ranging from the technical aspects of playing the guitar to help for their mindsets.
“For a lot of the guitarists, he helped them out with some tone stuff,” Waterman said. “A lot of what he told us — his big thing was, ‘Get outside your comfort zone a little bit. Get comfortable with playing in front of a lot of people.’”
In addition to passing along stories and advice, Walsh spoke with the individual guitarists about college and the type of music they were listening to.
Torres said Walsh beat the adage of “never meet your heroes.”
“(He was) incredibly nice,” Torres said. “Like, shockingly nice for someone who’s as much of a figure and celebrity as he is. You know, the stereotype is when you meet a famous person, or like you never meet your heroes. But he was so nice, he was so friendly. It was genuinely like he felt it didn’t feel awkward talking to me.”
