Playing music with his friends is something Richard McGibony has done on a weekly basis for decades.
He has a little studio behind his house, and, at 10:30 on most Thursday mornings, Quentin Miles, Fred Smith and Blackie Marlo bring their instruments and amble inside. Smith and McGibony are 80; Miles is the youngster at 74.
Harmonica wizard Marlo is 95. Last week, the boys put their session off a day because their senior member was having a pacemaker installed.
As they gathered without their buddy on Friday, they were relieved to know that he came through the surgery, and seemed in good spirits when he talked to McGibony on the phone that morning.
Without much hesitation, the players begin to play.
McGibony has a resonant voice, and he accompanies himself with one finger, playing an organ that fills in the chords and adds electronic drums and a bass line.
Miles plays a beautiful red Fender Stratocaster, deftly adding chords and melody lines.
Smith adds harmonicas and the occasional harmony vocal, and sometimes plays tambourine.
The boys move from song to song to song, sometimes with a little conversation in between, but not much. They play some of McGibony's songs and some country music standards. After about an hour, they close with "Amazing Grace" as Gene, McGibony's wife, arrives with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to go with the pot of coffee in the control room area of the studio. They talk the way old friends do while they munch their cookies, then close with their hands joined in prayer before everyone heads back home.
McGibony says he and Miles recently discussed the importance of having the jam sessions in their lives.
McGibony had been writing songs since he was a child, but began to get serious about songwriting after he got out of the Army. He was friends with Johnny Cash and wrote songs for him during the singer's wilder days. He wrote songs recorded by O.C. Smith and many other artists. In the 1960s he recorded some songs under the name Rick Starr, and had some modest success, but had to make a decision between life on the road and his job with the railroad. He stayed home and became a part-time musician and songwriter.
But to this day he still enjoys the music.
"If you get pleasure out of something, do it," says McGibony. "That's all I can tell you. It's something that makes life worth living."
Moment is a weekly column by the Times Free Press photo staff that explores the seldom-told stories of our region. To hear this story in their own words, go to www.timesfreepress.com.
Richard McGibony, right, sings and plays with his friends, Quentin Miles on guitar, left, and Fred Smith on harmonica, in the studio behind his house.