BalloonFest chairman Joe Seawright isn't the only one who likes to rock and roll.
His son, Power Seawright, whose band, Governor Fuzz, will be performing at 1 p.m. Saturday, seems to have caught the same music bug that led his father to play music for almost 40 years.
Joe Seawright, 58, realized his love of music at age 12 when he saw someone perform an Elvis routine, complete with snarled lip and shaking hips, at a Kiwanis Club meeting he attended with his father.
From that point, he said, he was hooked.
"I started playing piano at 14, much to my mother's horror," Seawright said, smiling.
Seawright said his first musical instruction came from his brother, who taught him how to read music. After that, he was pretty much on his own.
"I was a self-taught musician," he said.
He quickly got interested in playing guitar, and after a bit of pleading, finally got one for himself.
Seawright said he was strongly influenced by the music of the times, including The Beatles and Chuck Berry, who Seawright still names as his biggest rock and roll hero.
Seawright said he even sported the famous Beatle haircut, but only after learning how to modify a home-perm treatment to help make his curly hair straight.
"I can't believe I'm telling these things on myself," he added with a grin.
In 1979, Seawright and a few friends formed Curb Service. The band, which played private parties, weddings and country club gigs, played about 100 shows a year during their prime.
The group, whose repertoire Seawright described as pure '50s and '60s rock, played until their official retirement show on New Year's Eve of 2000.
"At that point, I decided I was just too old to play rock and roll," Seawright said.
Although his days of rocking are over, Seawright is thrilled to see his son, Power, taking the reins.
The 29-year-old Seawright, who his father said plays music only as a hobby, formed Governor Fuzz with friends about two years ago.
"Power first showed interest in music around age 8 or 9, but he never got serious about playing until he went to college," Joe Seawright said.
Power Seawright, who plays rhythm guitar and sings for Governor Fuzz, has a degree in accounting as well as a degree in computer science from Ole Miss.
He is currently writing software for Novacopy in Memphis.
Joe Seawright, who worked many years for Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. and has been involved in a couple of business ventures, said his son's band plays music similar to that of the North Mississippi Allstars.
"They're not quite as jam-influenced as Widespread Panic, but they're in the same genre," Joe Seawright said.
The elder Seawright, who is now retired, also gave Governor Fuzz all of his old equipment.
"I didn't really have any use for it anymore," he said.
Even if Joe Seawright has bid his rock and roll performances farewell, he always has the opportunity to watch his son carry on the musical tradition.
"They're certainly a young band, but they're really good and getting better," Joe Seawright said. "And I'll always enjoy watching Power perform."
