| 3.20.2003
Albert DiBonaventura, 18; dreamed of being rock star
His fingers conjured magic from the neck of a guitar. Albert A. DiBonaventura,
18, could play on his knees, or swing the instrument behind his back and
rip into a melody without seeing the strings.
Six guitars hang on a wall in one room in his parents' cream-colored
house on Wheeler Street, North Dighton, Mass., where he lived. Music posters
dot another room. Images of guitars are even part of the carpet design.
Albert was a guitarist with 18 Stars, a band that played at The Call
and other Providence clubs. Lately, a band called Shryne was asking him
to riff with them, says his brother, John "Patrick" Ring, 35,
of Plymouth, Mass.
But Albert dreamed of more. His was the rock 'n' roll fantasy: move to
California and play gigs in Los Angeles clubs where the great ones paid
their dues.
"To be a rock star -- that's what he wanted to do," says his
brother. "For as long as I can remember -- as soon as he picked up
a guitar."
He liked classic rock and the harder-edged music that followed. He would
lay down a speed-is-king solo in the style of Eddie Van Halen. He would
dig down deep and play the blues of Jonny Lang. And he appreciated the
swing of Brian Setzer.
Albert attended Dighton-Rehoboth schools and planned to study computer
graphic design at a college in California. Already he had used his computer-graphics
skills to design the cover for his band's CD.
His brother recalled Albert's love for baseball as he drove a visitor
down the wooded back roads of Albert's adolescence. "He was left-handed,
so he was an unstoppable pitcher," John Ring said.
He brought the car to a stop. Ahead was the ballfield where his brother,
tall for an 11-year-old, sent a homer sailing impossibly far over the
outfield. "He just crushed that ball," John said. "I just
see him standing at the plate."
John shared something he has written about his brother since the fire:
"I can only have faith that Albert is now in a better place, playing
the music he loved for the heavens to hear."
-- Michael P. McKinney
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