An Average Joe
September 16, 2008 by Kevin Scurlock
Who Is Joe Mulkern?
Joe is a self described average guy. He sits in a cube all day as a Technical Account Manager for a major software company. But Geoff Tate changed all that when he asked him to play guitar on his upcoming Insania Tour.
Joe, originally from Southern California, came of age during the 1980’s metal explosion. He was inspired by Randy Rhodes and Eddie Van Halen to start playing guitar when he was 14. He played guitar for many different bands hoping to one day to make it big. Reality quickly set in. He cut off his long hair, got a degree in Electronics Engineering and a regular job. He eventually moved to Washington with his wife to pursue his career and started a family, and subsequently set aside his guitar for many years.
One day he heard about a suburban dad garage band needing a guitarist and decided to dust off his guitar and join the band. Soon, a friendship between his wife and Susan Tate led to an invitation for dinner and opportunity to jam with one of Queensryche’s guitarists, Mike Stone. An evening of blues jams and Joe felt invigorated again. He began taking lessons and re-discovered his passion for playing.
Both Geoff and Susan remembered that evening when they were beginning to look at guitarists for The Geoff Tate Band. They asked Joe if he could learn 30 songs in six weeks and take some time off of work to go out on tour. After careful consideration of what that would mean to his average life, he decided to take the chance. He’s temporarily trading in his small cube for a smaller bunk on a bus. Instead of typing on his laptop all day he’s playing Geoff’s riffs. He may be an Average Joe, but he’s living the dream!
