Of all the events in our calendar this was one we did not want to miss!
Steve has known Jason Becker for 22 years, they first met when they were both recording on a David Lee Roth album in 1989.
Jason was a 20 year old guitarist who had already started to light up the world with his astonishing playing, he was destined to become an all time great. But one day during the recording of the album Steve noticed that Jason was walking with a limp, he asked him about it and suggested he get it checked by a doctor.
That was the start of many visits to doctors for Jason, eventualy he was diagnosed with
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. (ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease)
Despite all the negative odds, Jason is still with us and still composing music.
He communicates with his eyes via a method developed by his dad Gary.
Jason is funny, smart, spiritual and loving. In fact all the things that we all love about Steve are right there in Jason and that is why they are like brothers.
We flew to San Francisco where Jason and his family live and from the moment we were picked up to the moment we were dropped off to the airport to fly home again we were enveloped in the blanket of love that surrounds Jason Becker.
His condition demands constant care, but there is a network of carer's that include his mom and dad who take on this work without complaint. The network extends to the wider family and friends and Jason has a lot of them!
We were there to do two things other than hang with everybody, Steve wanted to add his part to the new documentary being filmed by a group of young talented film makers from the UK and he wanted to be at the music event that had been organised.
More about those things on the next blog:
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