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Well, it all started in Perrysburg, Ohio in 1980 when I was about 15 or 16. (I was born in October of 1964.)
I was always a bit of an "Air Musician" (Especially Guitar) like many others during this time.
I grew up listening to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, KISS, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Boston, Journey, Cheap Trick, Styx, Kansas, Bob Seeger, Foghat, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Heart, BTO, ELO, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, etc.
I also liked listening to my Parents' old Records: Elvis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Beach Boys, etc.
Of course, when you're listening, it's in some people to naturally start "Playing Air Insturments". Me, being one of them.
Well, one day in the locker room after practice, (I was a Manager for the Football Team at Perrysburg High School in Perrysburg Ohio. I wasn't allowed to play because of my hips.) the live version of Slow Ride by Foghat was on the Radio (With the extended guitar solo at the end.) and I couldn't help myself. I picked up a mop (or was it a broom?) and just started off in an Air Guitar routine. After that, I was nicknamed "Jammin'".
After the Football Season, my family and I moved back to the Columbus Area.
About six years later, (1986) I wanted to get a Browns Jersey but with "JAMMIN'" on the back.
Remember, this was the days when the East End Zone Bleachers at the old Cleveland Stadium became "The Dawg Pound" and it developed a rather infamous reputation. Hanford "Top Dawg" Dixon (Whom I later named my Bulldog after.) and Frank "Mighty Minni" Minnifield were terrorizing recievers in the secondary and getting The Dawg Pound crazy. It's Dixon that is credited for "The Dawgs".
Anyway, I was in a store at Eastland Mall that customized NFL Jerseys on the spot. I was thinking "Instead of just JAMMIN', I was thinking of somehow adding "DAWG" to it. As it turned out, "JAMMIN' DAWG" had too many letters.
The clerk at the store suggested "JAM-DAWG". (Originally, it had the hyphen, but since then, has been spelled as one word.) I agreed, so I had it put on the Jersey and the rest is history.
So now you know that this isn't some self-gloss like when George Costanza tried to give himself the nickname "T-Bone" on an episode of Seinfeld.
That reminds me, I really need to get a nice Accoustic Guitar and start taking some lessons.

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