Lisa Marchesoni, Senior Writer
Posted: Sunday, August 17, 2008 8:10 am

Tom Davis is sandwiched by rockers Glenn Hughes, left, and Chris Slade.

All Tom Davis wanted was to win tickets to the legendary Bruce Springsteen’s concert this month at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Instead, he won the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream.

Davis, 51, of Murfreesboro, was selected by a Nashville radio station to attend the 10th annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp Monday at the Wildhorse Salon in Nashville. Before the day was over, the grandfather of two trained with childhood idol Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple and performed rhythm guitar with a band for the first time in his life.

“Absolutely, this was the experience of a lifetime,” said Davis. “All the stars were so gracious and so accessible. The experience was very in-depth.”

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp offers one-day sessions allowing aspiring rock stars to train alongside Hughes, Chris Slade with AC/DC, Earl Slick, who performed with David Bowie and John Lennon, Gilby Clarke of Guns N’ Roses and Elliot Easton of the Cars. More information about the camps may be found at rockcamp.com.

For Davis, the timing couldn’t have been better. The retired Naval officer, who raised his family, was widowed last year. To fill some time, he decided about three months ago to teach himself something he always wanted to do —play the guitar.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for 35 years,” Davis said with a deep laugh, adding he dreamed of being a rock star since he was 14 years old.

First Davis had to tell his boss at Saia Motor Freight in La Vergne he needed the day off to take the camp. His boss told Davis he couldn’t picture him as a rock star but encouraged him to go.

In his youth, Davis saw Hughes perform three times with a group called Trapeze, one of Davis’ favorite bands in the early 1970s. Hughes later joined Deep Purple.

“I was just awed by the opportunity,” Davis recalled.

During the camp, Davis worked directly with his idol Hughes.

More than 20 campers split into four bands and spent the morning rehearsing three songs to perform as opening acts for the musicians.

“Our band played ‘American Woman,’ ‘Superstition’ and ‘You Really Got Me,’” Davis said. “I knew some, but I’d only been playing about three months. They walked us through the key the song was in.

“They were very good in making me feel comfortable,” Davis said, explaining they worked on chords he could play. “They wanted to make sure we had a good experience.”

The musicians told the campers their bands came together faster in Nashville than any other city on the tour so far.

During the afternoon session, the campers broke up into master classes. Some stars gave classes on rhythm guitar techniques. Mark Hudson, an Aerosmith producer, gave the campers tips on how to keep control of one’s song when someone else produced one’s music. They prepared to go on stage.

Wildhorse was about half full of people when they started the concert. Davis’ friend, Terri Milburn, was his special guest, who took photographs of him with the musicians.

“It was my first time to perform like that,” Davis said in an experience he termed, “indescribable. You can tell from the pictures I was concentrating, making sure my fingers were doing the same thing.”

When the crowd recognized “American Woman,” they cheered.

“It was a pretty incredible feeling to hear cheering for you performing that piece of music they recognized and cameras going off, and that 15 minutes went by so fast,” the budding musician said with enthusiasm filling his voice. “It went by so fast, so fast. It just seemed like you blinked and it was over with.”

After the campers played the opening acts, the musicians played as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp All-Star Band.

“They put on one whale of a show after we got through playing,” Davis said with a touch of awe. “They jammed over 1-1/2 hours.”

Some of the musicians who played were Mark Slaughter of Slaughter and Kip Winger of Winger, who lives in Nashville.

The experience left Davis with a goal to improve as a guitarist.

“I want to get better, that’s for doggone sure,” he pledged.

When asked if he still wanted the Springsteen tickets, Davis merely replied, “Who?”

Lisa Marchesoni may be reached at 869-0814 or at lmarchesoni@mufreesboropost.com.