Lynn Allen Calls Shot–Hits It Out Of The (Panorama) Park

I just read a post from Billy Peiffer today that is probably the best thing for anyone to read.  The basic idea is, "Love what you do, and if possible, make it your life's work."  Ah, to be so lucky.

I have had the pleasure of being a fan of Lynn Allen and friend of Billy for about 26 years (and counting.)  By the time I met him, Lynn Allen had already solidified their reputation in the Quad Cities, and the world, as a great rock band.  And I still would put Peiffer's songwriting up against any of his contemporaries.  Yeah, that's above Mellencamp, maybe just under Springsteen.  I've been around the world with that guy, from Limos to Lowden, Mopeds around Cozumel, Boozies in Muscatine and many points in between.  Great memories made, some forgotten, and a ton of songs along the way.

So, when Peiffer says that he's ready to downshift the band, and do less gigs in the coming years, you just can't help but appreciate those moments a little bit more.  I will cherish the opportunity to interview the band and video a studio session in, where, Cedar Falls?  I mostly just turned a camera their direction and captured the lunacy, but there were a few quiet moments during that session where Terry (Murphy) and Hal (Johnny Williamson) opened up about being around the driving force that is Peiffer. Candid stuff that I loved hearing, but won't ever share.  Seeing Billy in the studio, where he seamlessly jumps from cutup to control freak, is to see genius at work.

If there is a harder working showman in the Quad Cities, I've not yet been introduced.  We've had some great conversations where he's given me some pretty sound career advice.  I've also given him advice, but if you know Billy, you know already that you can't tell that guy anything.  Right or wrong, pass or fail, he's steered that S.S. Lynn Allen through rough waters and calm seas, on his course alone.

My wife and I dated to the music of Billy Peiffer.  He is the soundtrack to our courtship.  And I'm only one of a thousand folks who can say that.  Tree was one of the Beethoven's fanatics, before she ever heard of a Dwyer.  Our wedding was a Lynn Allen-filled festival.  I've written a lot of paragraphs, and that's just the personal stuff.

For what amounted to two and sometimes three gigs a year for Dwyer & Michaels as a Morning Show over the past 2 decades or so, you could make the argument that professionally speaking, we were also one of his biggest clients.  We've also been on stage with him (Michaels can drum, Peiffer took pity on me and let me sing along) from gigs as long ago as 1992 at the Col Ballroom, to last year's Halloween Ball.  And what a ball it's been.

I'm glad to read that he'll be writing, and recording in between a slower gig schedule.  Doesn't matter how old I get, when he writes tunes, Peiffer is writing my story.  Our story.  He belongs to everyone that ever lifted a Lynn Allen Record out of the bin at Co-Op, or paid a dime to see him jester around onstage.  And he is living proof that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.