<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t we all have our share of anxieties stemming from various things that come (or may come) our way?\u00a0 Be you a \u2018Little Mary Sunshine\u2019 or \u2018Debbie Downer\u2019, or a \u2018Happy Sam\u2019 or \u2018Gloomy Gus\u2019, there are times when it just gets to be all too much.\u00a0 With that said, before we even get into his life story, take a minute to search for \u2018Peter Dankelson#normsrareguitars\u2019 and watch a bit of the YouTube clip of him playing his Gibson SG at Norm\u2019s shop in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Norm always posts clips of interesting players that visit his renowned shop and when I saw this one, I was compelled to purchase Peter\u2019s book <\/span>How I learned to Rock My Life – The Peter Dankelson Story <\/span><\/i>(Peter and Dede Dankelson, 2022, Pete\u2019s Diary LLC).\u00a0 If you watch closely, you will see all of those amazing sounds he coaxes from the strings are done with four fingers, but we will get to that.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is the short version of Pete\u2019s early life in his own words:\u00a0 \u201cI was born at two thirty in the morning on what my Mom describes as the scariest day of her life.\u00a0 It was early October (2000), and I wasn\u2019t due until mid-December.\u00a0 She also knew I had significant birth defects. [After a routine ultrasound my parents] were told that I had birth defects with my kidney and lower jaw.\u00a0 My kidney was in an unusual location, and it appeared that I only had one instead of two.\u00a0 Doctors also noted that my lower jaw was so small that it might block my upper airway.\u00a0 These two birth defects, my parents were told, could result in incompatibility with life.\u00a0 My parents were scared and worried, but they were determined to handle whatever happened.\u00a0 After several sleepless nights and lots of tears, Mom and Dad composed themselves and began preparing for my arrival,\u00a0 They consulted with Mom\u2019s obstetrician and were referred elsewhere for more tests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The official name of Peter\u2019s condition is Goldenhar Syndrome.\u00a0 While he was too young to remember the earliest hospitalizations and surgeries, he developed his own set of anxieties about hospitals, operating theaters, and needles.\u00a0 This is not too surprising considering the staggering number of visits to specialists, clinics, and hospitals for treatments, therapy, and the thirty-six surgical procedures.\u00a0 All were needed to correct these life threatening birth defects and were part of his life up to age twenty-one.\u00a0 I do not want to gloss over Peter\u2019s complicated medical history by focusing on his musical gifts, but there would be no way to do justice to his journey.\u00a0 By the time you read this FTV, a copy of his book will be at the Ontonagon Township Library so you can absorb the complete and remarkable arc of his young life.\u00a0 Suffice to say, the confident, outgoing young man that Peter is now is a testament to what human beings can become in the face of enormous challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dede Dankelson, Peter\u2019s Mom, had her own anxieties to confront:\u00a0 \u201cWhen Peter was born with craniofacial syndrome, my first concern was for his health, but it was quickly followed by my fear for his future.\u00a0 I spent hours at his hospital bedside worrying if he would one day have friends, if he would be bullied in school, and how we would handle the staring.\u201d\u00a0 She began a journal called <\/span>Pete\u2019s Diary<\/span><\/i> to help her cope and eventually joined the Board of Directors for Children\u2019s Craniofacial Association and Harmony 4 Hope.\u00a0 Together, Peter and Dede have become a tag team.\u00a0 Together they educate others about the CCA. H4H, and the power of positivity.\u00a0 For all his mother\u2019s worries about how her son would handle the attention his birth defects would attract, Peter has followed the sage advice he was given at age eight to \u201cBe A Difference Maker\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mike Babcock, a NHL Head Coach (2002-2019), Stanley Cup Champion (2008), and winner of Olympic Gold Medals (in 2010 and 2014) was at the helm of the Detroit Red Wings from 2005 to 2015.\u00a0 He often invited patients from the Children\u2019s Hospital of Michigan to be his guest at home games and in 2008, it was Peter\u2019s luck to be one of them.\u00a0 Babcock asked the eight year old, \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d\u00a0 When Peter mentioned something about wanting to be famous, the coach said, \u201cThat\u2019s good.\u00a0 You can be what my mom taught me to be.\u00a0 You can be a difference maker.\u201d\u00a0 Peter may not have fully understood what Babcock meant, but his mother took it to heart.\u00a0 According to Dankelson, \u201cShe had already made it her mission in life to help other families like ours and do whatever she could to raise awareness about craniofacial syndromes.\u00a0 [As part of Dede\u2019s work with the CCA and on behalf of the Children\u2019s Hospital of Michigan] our family even traveled to Washington, D.C, with the hospital to advocate for pediatric healthcare.\u201d\u00a0 Little did Peter realize Dede was laying a foundation for him to truly follow Coach Babcock\u2019s advice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dede Dankelson began speaking with hospital faculty about parenting a medically complex child.\u00a0 When he was ten, she began bringing her son along so he could give them his insights as one of those \u2018complex kids\u2019.\u00a0 It may not have been a well used term in those days, but the pair also emphasized the need for providers to recognize \u2018medical PTSD\u2019:\u00a0 \u201cI had a panic attack whenever a needle was around, and Mom would be anxious knowing it would happen.\u00a0 She tried multiple ways to help me manage the anxiety while simultaneously trying to control her own.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think anyone truly appreciated the constant state of anxiety I lived in.\u00a0 I woke up every day knowing that I would need more surgeries, but I didn\u2019t know when.\u00a0 That unknown is a heavy burden to carry, especially when you\u2019re so young.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As he neared the end of middle school, Peter\u2019s father, Darin, was spending weeks in Illinois and Wisconsin as his job required frequent travel.\u00a0 The family made the decision to move to Illinois the next summer leaving both Pete and his younger brother Jacob faced with entering new schools.\u00a0 After spending his freshman year at Libertyville High School trying to fly under the radar (socially and academically), he finally found something to become passionate about.\u00a0 Having coped with life in general by listening to the hits of the day, Peter\u2019s Dad pointed out the song <\/span>Eruption<\/span><\/i> on the radio saying, \u201cYou need to hear this.\u201d\u00a0 Van Halen led to AC\/DC and near the end of his freshman year, he told his Dad he was thinking about playing the guitar.\u00a0 \u201cWell, you\u2019re in luck,\u201c his father told him, \u201cI happen to have one in the basement.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Darin had a Fender Musicmaster electric guitar, a bass, and a Peavey Amp from his high school days.\u00a0 He showed his son the basics and then left Pete to explore the instrument on his own.\u00a0 YouTube provided him with a variety of teachers and self study gave him plenty of time to learn the styles of Malcolm and Angus Young (AC\/DC) and Slash (Guns N\u2019 Roses) at his own pace.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pete recalls, \u201cI got frustrated a few times, but I never gave up.\u00a0 I have a hypoplastic left thumb, which means it\u2019s not functional.\u00a0 There is no muscle, and it won\u2019t bend.\u00a0 I can\u2019t grip anything with that hand or use it when I am playing guitar.\u00a0 That\u2019s my fretting hand, so I had to get creative with ways to use only four fingers.\u00a0 The issue with my thumb only made me try harder.\u00a0 I was determined to learn.\u201d\u00a0 Dankelson was glad his parents didn\u2019t push him into formal lessons as his own explorations of the instrument became a form of therapy for him.\u00a0 Being a\u00a0 self-taught guitarist may have led him to \u2018pick up some unusual habits\u2019 but he is okay with that.\u00a0 For instance, he holds the guitar pick between his thumb and middle finger and not his index finger.\u00a0 He later found out Eddie Van Halen held his pick the same way, but Peter didn\u2019t pick up\u00a0 that piece of information about EVH until much later.\u00a0 The first time I watched a video of Pete playing, I didn\u2019t even notice he was only using four fingers on his fretting hand.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Peter made good progress with his guitar studies and even performed solo for a school talent show and at a CCA convention in 2017.\u00a0 He was also able to get to know Milwaukee musician Trapper Schoepp who serves as Harmony 4 Hope\u2019s musical ambassador.\u00a0 During periods when he was recovering from one of the many surgeries he had to undergo, practicing the guitar was the best form of therapy he could get in and out of the hospital.\u00a0 Another life altering event happened in July of 2017 when the School of Rock Libertyville opened just a few miles from the Dankelson\u2019s home.\u00a0 The week he spent at the camp gave Peter his first experience playing in a band and he became one of the founding students of the SoRL\u2019s first performance group.\u00a0 After several months rehearsing, the group played at a local venue, another first for Peter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eventually, Pete found the experience of playing on stage to be his favorite part of being a School of Rock student.\u00a0 The Beatles provided the theme for this first SoRL group.\u00a0 Peter wasn\u2019t a huge fan so he procrastinated learning the songs.\u00a0 His mother reminded him he would be on stage performing whether he learned the songs or not and it was his choice to sound terrible if he didn\u2019t get cracking.\u00a0 He rushed to get the songs down and even though Pete didn\u2019t know them well, he fell in love with performing and being on stage.\u00a0 When his second group session focused on Led Zeppelin tunes, he was all in.\u00a0 The bonus came when they got to play at a concert venue with lights and full effects.\u00a0 The next step up was performing with the SoRL House Band at some even more amazing gigs like one at Summerfest in Milwaukee.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As Peter\u2019s high school career wound down, he wasn\u2019t sure about going to college.\u00a0 Traditional school was hard enough with everything he had stacked on his plate.\u00a0 He began to seriously consider a music career and said, \u201cA music career is not an easy or traditional path, but it parallels my life.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have a traditional childhood, so doing something non-traditional after high school didn\u2019t seem that crazy.\u00a0 School and academics were always challenging for me, and college didn\u2019t feel like the next step.\u00a0 With Dad\u2019s support, Mom established a limited liability\u00a0 company (LLC) for our motivational speaking business.\u00a0 She felt it was the right time to start charging a fee for our school visits.\u00a0 This could bring in revenue while I pursued my dream of becoming a musician.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During their travels, Peter would try to squeeze in a visit to some of the guitar stores he had become familiar with while teaching himself on-line.\u00a0 His first stop at Norm\u2019s Rare Guitars in Los Angeles put him in touch with both Norm and Mark Agnesi.\u00a0 Mark produced \u2018Guitar of the Day\u2019 videos for the store that Pete watched while learning to play.\u00a0 Mark let him play a Stevie Ray Vaughn Stratocastor and Peter was thrilled when they asked if they could film him playing for a post they called \u2018Straturday\u2019.\u00a0 After graduating from high school, Peter met up with Agnesi again, this time in Nashville where Mark was now working for Gibson Guitars.\u00a0 When he mentioned to company president Cesar Gueikian and Agnesi he was playing a Taylor acoustic guitar during school programs, they gave him a Gibson G45.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Peter needed one more round of surgeries to close the trach stoma in his neck and the feeding tube port in his stomach.\u00a0 Both had been necessary to keep him alive and while he did not look forward to another round of surgery and recovery, it was a choice he made.\u00a0 His decision to take a gap year after high school opened the time slot in his schedule to take this important step.\u00a0 During his recovery, Dede posted a clip of him playing a Jared James Nichols tune and tagged it to both Nichols and Agnesi.\u00a0 When Jared re-posted the clip and sent him a message, Peter\u2019s Dad encouraged him to call him.\u00a0 One thing led to another and Jared not only invited Peter to come to a show where his band was opening for John 5, but to also play a song with his band.\u00a0 If Pete needed motivation to recover from his last surgery, this would do it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pete\u2019s Mom promised him a visit to the Chicago Music Exchange when he was finally discharged from his last hospital stay.\u00a0 The opportunity to visit the store and hold one of Jared\u2019s Les Paul guitars also had great therapeutic value.\u00a0 When they gifted him the guitar at the end of his visit, Peter noted, \u201cReceiving so much kindness motivates me to stay positive and pay it forward.\u00a0 A day that started out with surgery ended with a heartful of gratitude and a new guitar.\u201d\u00a0 The CME also offered to let him borrow a Les Paul Standard and a Marshall amp when he played with Nichols\u2019 band.\u00a0 More accolades, encouragement, and gifts would come Pete\u2019s way as more people found his clips on-line.\u00a0 The next logical step was to form his own band.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Peter Dankelson Band now includes a fellow Libertyville School of Rock member on drums named Ryan \u2018Rockey\u2019 Johnson.\u00a0 After they spent some time jamming together, they recruited the then sixteen year old Mac McRae to sing lead vocals and play bass.\u00a0 There are clips of the band\u2019s work on <\/span>www.petesdiary.com<\/span><\/a> and they are currently working on an album that should be released sometime in 2023.\u00a0 We have no doubt the album will be well received as the Pete\u2019s Diary social media site has already gained 700,000 followers.\u00a0 Based in Lake County, Illinois, one notes they are not too far away from Upper Michigan – perhaps we will get a chance to see them grace the stage at the Porcupine Mountain Music Festival one of these days.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We started this piece talking about anxiety.\u00a0 I highly recommend anyone who needs a pick me up to check out more about this amazing young guitarist.\u00a0 I have a sneaking suspicion we will be hearing more about the Peter Dankelson Band in the years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 The Peter Dankelson Band doing what they do best – Rocking ANOTHER LONEY NIGHT!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t we all have our share of anxieties stemming from various things that come (or may come) our way?\u00a0 Be you a \u2018Little Mary Sunshine\u2019 or \u2018Debbie Downer\u2019, or a \u2018Happy Sam\u2019 or \u2018Gloomy Gus\u2019, there are times when it just gets to be all too much.\u00a0 With that said, before we even get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-new-music","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2692"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2696,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2692\/revisions\/2696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span><\/p>\n