December 8th of 2004. That’s a day I’ll never forget. It’s the day music forever changed for me. One of my ultimate heroes, Dimebag Darrell, was gone. There’s no need to go into specifics about the events because we all know what happened. It was nothing short of a tragedy. Darrell was someone I looked up to and someone I could relate to. He was a regular guy that was given a gift to entertain the masses. He didn’t seem much different than me. He drank, he smoked, and he loved heavy metal music. How could I not feel connected to that? I still do because that’s still how I am. Five years ago, he was taken away too soon and now I feel like I can try pay tribute.

(Off subject for a moment: I know I’ll probably get some kind of flack for not doing a memorial to John Lennon today too but, honestly, I’m going to leave that to thosethat were actually around when he was. I have nothing but love and respect for John Lennon and he was taken way too soon from this worldas well, however, my connection to him has never been more than that of just a legacy…kind of like he is a dream person. Sometimes he doesn’teven seem real to me even though I know he was a very real and specialperson. I look up to John Lennon quite a bit, but it’s hard to dedicatesomething to someone that cannot seem so real to you…if that makesany sense. However, as far as John Lennon goes, I do want to say thathe is so legendary and amazing he’s even touched me and he died beforeI was born. That’s incredible.)

Darrell is a different kind of legendary musician to me because I lived in a time when he was around. He was always real to me. I could pick up a metal magazine and read a new interview with him. Darrell had his own column in Guitar World where he gave pointers to other guitarists. He was very much around and doing things all the time during my lifetime. I was and am a huge Pantera fan and being a teenager when Pantera was still together and creating music was incredible because they were the biggest metal band in the world next to maybe Metallica and it was for many reasons. Darrell was a huge reason. I was always one of those kids that wanted to be a guitarist but didn’t have the skills. I’d listen to Darrell’s licks and solos and wanted to emulate the things he did with the axe. Hell, I still do! I looked up to him and still do. He was just a regular guy with a gift.

The day I found out what happened, it felt like a part of me died. I never thought I could cry so much over someone that I had never really known, but when I read his interviews and columns and listened to the music, he didn’t seem so far away. In a way, it felt like he was an old friend. He was someone I had grown up with that had helped me forge my path in this world. If there was no Darrell Abbott in this world, Pantera would have never existed, and I honestly can’t imagine a world where I didn’t have that music. That music to this day helps me get through hard times. Pantera helped change me. Darrell Abbott helped change me. He never knew my name, but he knew he had fans that respected him and appreciated him. I was one of those fans and will always be one of those fans.

I wish I would have been able to see Pantera live the one chance I had,but I didn’t. That chance will never come either thanks to a sick andselfish individual that did a horrendous deed to a talented andfun-loving guy. My heart goes out to those that really knew him andloved him, especially his wife and his brother. He may be gone, butthey should know he lives on through them, the rest of the family, hisfriends, and all of us fans he touched with the music he made. I know a lot of what I’m writing is a whole jumbled mess, but it’s hard to sort all I have to say about the man and the legacy he left behind. I won’t lie either. I didn’t dig Damageplan so I’m definitely focusing on Pantera. The podcast I’m enclosing has nothing but a medley of Pantera tunes that I personally love without myself being the host like I plan on doing from the next episode and on. I guess it’s a good way to start off this website.

Five years gone…True legends never die…Keep on rockin’…

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