1979-80 - I was living in Downey California, which for a suburb of LA was a step up from Paramount. I had met these two guys from Sacramento who also worked for Stauffer Chemical and they had rented a 3-bedroom house on Klondyke. They had room so they invited me to move in. Daryk Askew was a big buff guy whose passion was building muscle cars. Tony was an Italian wild man. We had some pretty wild times at that house. I was the only musician though so there wasn’t much musical inspiration. But I got to play music with my friend Dan Nelson who along with his girlfriend Paula Nicestro, I had met in Paramount. Dan and Paula had bought a house in Long Beach and I jammed with Dan quite a bit. But in the midst of all this, I was really feeling homesick by this time. I was pondering whether I had done the right thing when I impulsively left Maine and all my family and friends so far behind. California wasn’t quite the utopia I had expected and making a living playing music seemed to be more and more of a pipe dream than a remote possibility. Nevertheless, I enrolled at Cerritos Community College as a music major and penned several songs during this time.
ALWAYS ROOM TO GROW
Words and music by Reggie Michaud © 1979
Well I’m leaving Monday morning, kinda hate to say goodbye
Struggling with emotions as I watch the hours swiftly fly
Holding little Joni, speaks with me a little while
Tell her she’ll be grown up when I return to see her smile
And it seems like a long time; like a hundred years ago
Surrounded by love, so many I could call my own
But I was greener than green and it came the time for me to roam
Hey mister future, tell me where I need to go… I think you should know
Tomorrow is always tomorrow, as always still another road…
And there’s always room to grow
Well I’m thinking Monday morning, wondering if I ought to fly
There’s abundant melancholia; the feeling seems to have run dry
Can I earn a living? Do I even dare to try?
As I think of little Joni, tears begin to fill my eyes
And I know it’s a long time, at least a hundred years ago
And my heart feels so empty with nobody to call my own
Now I’m bluer than blue and I wish that I could be back home
Singing- Hey mister future, tell me where I need to go… I think you should know
Tomorrow is always tomorrow, as always still another road…
And there’s always room to grow
They tell me you should know… There’s always room to grow