Bio: Originally from Long Island, New York, I started out with four chords at age 12, shown to me by my Dad. After playing guitar for about a year, I was hooked on Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rush, as well as other obscure heavy rock bands of the late 60s and 70s. Prior to that, I had grown up listening to a lot of guitar oriented music, as well as bluegrass, Italian music, Greek music(particularly, the Zorba The Greek soundtrack) and old rock 'n' roll.
A year after moving to Texas, at 15, I discovered German guitar phenomenons Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker. It was during this time, I formed my first decent band, playing covers and experimenting with improvisation, in a power trio setting. We never really had a singer, so it was a great way for me to practice my chops. I spent the next few years in various metal bands.
In 1989, I joined New Orleans born thrash/death metal band, Hammer Witch and stayed 5 years with them. For the next 10 years, I was in experimental metal band, Amillion Pounds, with my brother. I wrote three songs on acoustic guitar during that band's existence and just kept going from there. My titles are usually based on (or taken from) places I've been, their sound, or what was going on at the time they were written. Jimmy Page and Leo Kottke were also huge influences, from early on.
By 2002, I was completely immersed in the acoustic guitar, further inspired by the likes of Michael Hedges and John Fahey, as well as middle-eastern and various types of world music.
In 2005, I co-founded my brother's bluegrass brainchild, The Electric Mountain Rotten Apple Gang. After 2 years, from "The Gang" spawned the band, Blackland River Devils. "The Devils" are essentially the Dallas/Fort Worth members of the Gang, as my brother moved to Austin, taking the EMRAG name with him, thus rebuilding an Austin chapter. I'm into various other musical projects, as well.
...................................................................................
To find out the story behind the songs uploaded to my player, just click on the lyrics section of the menu of the song.
...................................................................................
Venues I've played:
FORT WORTH, TX
The Red Star Lounge
4-Star Coffee Bar
Rockyard
Ridglea Theater
MacHenry's Upstairs
6th Street Grill
6th Street Live
Moca Java
Fred's Texas Cafe
Black Dog Tavern
Wreck Room
Ridglea Wine Room
Tommy's Hamburgers
Pop's Safari
Spiral Diner
Artistic Blends
Borders Books
Worthington Hotel
8.0s
Hip Pocket Theater
Prairie Fest
Panther City Coffee
Fort Worth Zoo
The Blue Grotto
The Bronx Zoo Sports Bar
Froggy's
Halo's
ARLINGTON, TX
Coffee Haus
The Phoenix
DENTON, TX
J&J's Pizza
Rubber Gloves
Andy's Bar and Grill
Brickhaus Cafe
Haleys
Wine On The Square
Banter
Dan's Silverleaf
DALLAS, TX
TX Tea House
Deep Ellum Arts Festival
Cafe Brazil
Fat Ted's
Cottonwood Arts Festival in Richardson
Wildflower Festival in Richardson
Poor David's Pub
Velvet Hookah
Salute Club
Liquid Lounge
The Old Crow
Standard & Pours Coffee House
The Cavern
O' Riley's
West End Pub
Winedale Tavern
Lakewood Bar & Grill
Renos
AUSTIN, TX
El Arroyo, Far West
Ruta Maya Coffee House
Double Dave's Pizza
headhunters="">
Hickory Street Grill
Flamingo Cantina
Austin's Pizza
Sunset Valley Farmer's Market
6th Street Artist Market
Oyster Bar, Bastrop, TX
Green Chai, Bastrop, TX
Spiderhouse Cafe
Clementine Coffee Bar
Wheatsville Art Fest
Rockin' Tomato
Cafe Caffine
Sam's Pilot Point
SAN ANTONIO, TX
La Tuna
HOUSTON, TX
Last Concert Cafe
Sidecar Pub
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX
Club Zeros
ABILENE, TX
Mezzamiz Coffee House
Bean Counter
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
Galileo Bar & Grill
TULSA, OK
Gypsy Coffee House
LAFAYETTE, LA
Artmosphere
PHOENIX, AZ
Mama Java's
SOQUEL, CA
The Ugly Mug
PORTLAND, OR
Tonic Lounge
SEATTLE, WA
Cafe Luna
GRAND JUNCTION, CO
Coffee Mugger's
KAFM Radio performance
DENVER, CO
Oriental Theater
TELLURIDE, CO
Fly Me To The Moon Saloon
BOULDER, CO
Caffe Sole
Pearl Street Mall
VAIL, CO
Sandbar
AVON, CO
Loaded Joe's Coffee
EDWARDS, CO
KZYR The Zephyr, Radio performance
I've opened shows for(solo or with band):
Monte Montgomery, Brave Combo, Omar and the Howlers, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Two High String Band, South Austin Jug Band, Rhett Butler, Michael Fracasso, Flametrick Subs, Josh Alan, Ralph White(of the Bad Livers)and Rocky Athas.
In the days of yore.....
Stop in at http://www.myspace.com/hammerwitch and check it out. This was my first "real" band. I've always had fond memories of the local thrash scene, so I decided to share it with those of you who may not be familiar with Hammer Witch. I felt what we were doing was pretty important, musically for the time, which was 1991, when we self-produced Legacy of Pain.
Also, my band after Hammer Witch, Amillion Pounds has a page now:
http://www.myspace.com/amillionpounds