John Petrucci comments

In honor of Father's Day, which is this Sunday, June 17, we decided to reach out to some of our artists who are themselves parents, and ask them how they balance family life with the sacrifices necessary to be in a rock band – long stretches of time spent apart from wives and kids, the need for isolation to let creativity flow, and more. Here are the answers we got back.

John Petrucci, Dream Theater: “I have three kids and they are all musical. It’s a funny thing because they have always been surrounded by music, whether it’s at concerts, backstage, on stage, on a tour bus or in the studio. It’s kind of inevitable that they would end up being musical. I always say it’s like being born into a cop family, or a sports family, etc.

“They are especially exposed to tons of music at home since both my wife and I are guitar players. There are instruments all over the house and someone is always playing! The interesting thing is that my wife and I never pushed music on our children. They are naturally drawn to it and I think as a parent you have to walk a fine line between encouragement and over-involvement when it comes to the arts.

“As a father, the toughest thing that I’ve been faced with over the years is the difficulty in striking a balance between career and family. I really miss out on so much of their lives at times, so it’s so important to value the time we are together and do the best that I can to hopefully share my experiences and knowledge with them enough that it has an impression on who and how they turn out to be as people. Fortunately for me, I married an amazing woman who has been such a positive and loving presence in their lives and incredible role model as their mother, and we work together at filling in all the gaps that may result from this kind of professional lifestyle. At the end of the day, I find that it really doesn’t matter what band you’re in or what anyone may think of you as a guitar player…to them you’re just Dad!”