Soul. I’m writing about this because a friend of mine, who embodied the essence of soul, recently passed away. To me, Rob Scheuer was the epitome of soulfulness, both as a performing musician and a human being.

In music, Soul suggests the ability of any musician, black or white or whatever, to play with emotion, or “feel.” Performing music soulfully takes more than technical ability. It requires the musician to seize the opportunity to express his or her love of music and to do it with conviction – purposefully, consistently, joyfully or painfully, as if every song might be the last.

Robbie was such a musician. Talent wise, he was the premier blues shuffle drummer in Buffalo for sixty years. A founding member of the Shakin’ Smith Blues Band, and leader of The Steady Rollin Band, The Buffalo Kingsnake Band, and The Jammin’ Gypsies, he worked the best Buffalo clubs – the Bona Vista, the Lafayette Tap Room, the Tralf, the River Grill and the Sportsmen Tavern.

He had the rare ability to play the Chicago blues style beat tirelessly, and he did it at an elite level. Although his singing voice was not exactly operatic, he had the uncanny ability to tell a story in such a way that people listened to the words, many of which were from his original songs. Rob had great posture and poise when he played, and a special way of engaging listeners and dancers.

He almost always wore shorts and kicked with bare feet or sandals even in the winter. I will always remember him like that, with his eyes shut tight, “feeling” the music. And the song always kept moving forward, steady and strong as a well-oiled machine.

Rob’s unique musical style, and his love of the visceral nature of the blues, would outlive disco music of the ’80s. It would survive the movement toward electronic drums in the ’90s. And I dare say, with faith, that Rob’s spiritual energy would have exposed the fake soul of AI generated music of today.

The idea of Soul has helped explain how we humans have a need to believe in something greater than our physicality. To assuage our fear of death and to inspire hope of a greater life beyond this one, we embrace the idea of an eternal soul. Robbie was a devout Christian, and the idea of the Soul being saved through Christ’s sacrifice to live in eternity was embedded firmly, unwavering, in every aspect of his life.

Souls, as we understand them in our everyday life experience, are sometimes fragile, vulnerable things, prone to wandering, and even becoming lost. There was no one who better understood the Christian mandate to help those in need than Robbie Scheuer. As one who had wandered too far, and stood on the edge of the abyss, I know Robbie as a man who always left a light on for his friends. If anyone could ever save a soul, it was Rob.

Allow me this definition of Soul: the quality of a human or any other sentient creature (Rob loved his dogs) that’s dedicated to love, compassion, and truth in a world that is often cruel and unjust.

Rob was devoted to love, compassion, and truth. He was saddened and angered by our government today, one that is characterized by revenge, divisiveness, and intolerance, and where lies triumph over truth.

I believe Rob Scheuer understood better than most of us what everlasting life means, and that if we are to achieve it, we must put love above all else. May his wonderful Soul rest in peace!

Musician, writer, house painter Pete Howard lives in Dunkirk. Send comments to odyssmusic20@gmail.com