ION INDIE MAGAZINE September 2014, Volume 4 | Page 24

Music by pinksideofthemoon/”Lost in Space”

By Kiki Plesha
Photo credit Giancarlo Tenorio

There’s an old saying “You can’t go home again.” I don’t know if that is true, but I know if I
were to rewind the years and turn back the hands of time to circa 1974, one would find me
back in Illinois at my old High School, J. Sterling Morton West (Go, Falcons!), located in
beautiful Berwyn. And right about midday, I would be holding court in the very prestigious
lunchroom of Morton West with the same acoustic guitar I play to this very day. And I would
be in the most excellent of company…for that same acoustic would be passed back and
forth between myself and someone that the music world has claimed as one of their valued
and respected contributors, LEE POPA. I was amused to learn that my friend Lee credits me
with “teaching” him guitar (a whole 5 chords), but let me assure you, Lee has surpassed
anything that I ever accomplished in our separate musical paths. Especially since his
particular walk has been paved with stars.
As Lee tells it “Yeah, it’s a fact. I learned the G chord, the C, the D, A Minor and F Barre. For
the next five years, I put songs together using those 5 chords and learned how to get my
guitar playing together. The first song that I ever learned was the song “Me and Bobby
McGee”, that Kiki taught me. I went to the library and got the “Bob Dylan for Easy Guitar”
book--and was off to the races!”
As a mere coincidence, immediately after our graduation, I took a job working for Lee’s
mother at a beauty salon while attending the local Cosmetology School (I am a Beauty
School Drop Out) in Oak Park, Illinois, and heard through her that Lee was putting together