My sister recently scanned and sent me these two photo images from the past. They were taken back in 1972-1973 when I was freshly graduated from York High School, and involved in a music duo/ministry with a friend named Ray Nickel. We called it Nickel, Birkey & Company. We both played guitar, sang and performed at churches, camps, retreats, banquets, weddings and the like. Notice the nice long hair, cool shirts, jeans and boots. Very hip!

At the time of these photos, I had been playing guitar for only a few years, after picking it up my Freshman year of high school, after dropping out of playing trumpet in band and orchestra at school. I started playing on my Dad’s 1948 Martin D-18, then saved up enough money to buy a Guild F-112 12-string from Biasco Music for about $250, with a hard shell case (pictured here).

Those were quite the days. We played some Simon & Garfunkel, Seals & Crofts, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dillon, and many others, as well as many jazz and pop standards. We played for worship in our church, as well as added more artistic/creative friends to help us put on “multimedia” shows with our concerts, using slide photography, projections, lighting, art, illustration, drama, and music. We were really on the cutting edge!