Bommy, the talented English tramp

James Redfield believes that everything happens for a reason. He wrote that in his book the celestine prophecy. No, I am not saying that I agree on everything he asserted but I must confess that he caught my attention here. I started thinking about every little thing that crossed my path, every word I uttered and every step I took. Was I really doing all of this in a certain way just to achieve a goal? Was I meeting new people for a reason? Was I taking the car instead of my bycicle cause it would influence the further course of my life? Quite confusing but in a way it all makes sence.

The previous paragraph actually serves as a general introduction to a story that happened not so long ago. One night in Antwerp we decided to go and have a drink in a local Jazz bar. With we I mean a friend of mine called Rob and myself. I've known him since kindergarten, so we do go way back, but that's quite irrelevant at this point. Nevertheless we walked all the way up to a bar called "Buster". Arriving at what seemed a dull and loathsome pub we didn't at all know what to expect. Waiting outsided we started talking to a guy who had some cymbals on him. As we are not complete retards we guessed he would be the drummer for the band playing later that night(which he wasn't). After a five-minute-chat a rather drunk English guy, dressed in worn down clothes who should by the way really buy some deodorant abruptly joined us. He was carrying an old guitarbag which seemed to be containing a guitar as well.

After not paying attention to the tramp who ran in to us we decided to enter the pub we came to visit at last. What we however did not expect was that the smelly vagabond would follow us inside to talk to us. He entered the pub and asked the barmaid if he could play some songs, as the band had not arrived yet. The barmaid, however, did not know what to say so agreed to his urging request. It was nevertheless obvious that she regretted her decision the minute she uttered the words: "Yeah, go ahead". The barmaid, friendly as she was, asked the English guy if he wanted something to drink, to which he answered that he would like a Duvel. He waddled onto the stage and released his guitar out of its bag. It was a red Richwood acoustic guitar. Richwood guitars are these better kind of budget guitars which can produce some solid tunes if you know how to play them.

The English guy audaciously mounted the stage and grabbed his guitar. Now, music can't be put in writing but I'll try to capture it by using the word "mindblowing". It was truly unbelievable. The guy brought this old kind of English rock with some Irish influences. It was like mixing the dubliners with the rawness and I don't-give-a-shit-attitude of let's say Liam Gallagher. If you closed your eyes for just a second, noone would be able to hear the difference between a semi-profesional rockartist and the tramp playing on this little stage in a dark bar in Antwerp. What a surprise that was...

After having played a couple of songs he modestly stepped off stage. Even though there were only about 15 people in the bar they all seemed to buy the poor English guy some drinks. They congratulated him on his performance but he didn't seem to care much about that. When he walked passed me and my friend we started talking to him. He told us that that was just what he liked doing. "Music is me passion mate, I don't want to make a living out of it". He told us almost everything there was to know about him, or at least that's what he told us.

Bommy was born in Coventry; England and has been living in Antwerp since 2001. He travelled the world from Japan to New Zealand but he only had three real homes. Coventry, Dublin and now Antwerp. He didn't really get a job anywhere but just tried to get around by playing his songs in the streets. "It didn't make me rich but I could buy me a bread and something to drink". He insisted on the fact that there was nothing as important than following what you believe and doing what you really want to. "I've seen people collapse numerous times pursuing things they couldn't handle or didn't want to go after". Moving to Antwerp, he met a girl with who he lived there for about 7.5 years and who recently dumbed him. They have a boy called Rod. Bommy said that Rod was really proud of his father, which clearly meant a lot to him.

Now we talked to Bommy for about an hour I guess and I'm not embarassed to admit that it was one of the most valuable conversations I had in quite a while. For it's not often that you encounter a true vivid realization of life in its most pure form. Bommy is not afraid to live the life people don't tell him to live. Bommy doesn't give a damn about what others think. Albeit everything he had been through, Bommy was one of the most joyful and satisfied people I ever met. As to James Redfield, I strongly believe that this didn't just happen randomnly.