Is Myspace traded publicly? Probably not. But would venture a guess that one of those mega tech companies (Google?) will own it soon, unless I've already missed that happenstance. It's definitely an interesting forum and especially for musicians, composers, songwriters, performing artists, etc. It's evolution has been amazing thus far.

Anyway, I guess if you're reading this you didn't want to see my opining over Myspace's financials.

My roots are in the deep South, read "Lower Alabama" as in Mobile. Mobile is an incredible town which is becoming a city as I type. It's southern border is the Gulf of Mexico and it has the attributes of a typical southern coastal town, complete with moss draped great oaks that canopy the main arteries throughout the city, and the antebellum influenced architecture dating back to pre-Civil War times. My growing up years were spent there where I began to tinker with guitar and music. Eventually, I was hooked and by the time I graduated from the UofA, there was no turning back. So, in that very special year (to many of us), 1969, I became part of a start-up blues rock band called Fox and soon re-named by record execs with the unforgetable nomer, Wet Willie. We were signed in 1970 to the label started by Phil Walden, Frank Fenter, and Otis Redding, Capricorn Records in Macon, Georgia. After ten or so albums (yes, the vinyl ones), many, many miles of touring, and hundreds of concerts, in 1976, I was offered a gig in Los Angeles in 1977 where I have lived and worked since. That move afforded me many opportunities and avenues to further pursue a life in music, and I've recorded and toured with some of the world's most incredible musicians and artists.

Being from the South, where blues and country are indigenous, and while my musical psyche is certainly well infused with elements from both, somehow my passion ended up leaning more toward Brazilian music, progressive R&B, Soul and even Jazz. For many, Jazz was born in New Orleans, and if you do the geneology, it's probably true. There are so many jazz artists from there and the South in general, including the brilliant Louis Armstrong himself and the great innovator, John Coltrane, born in North Carolina. My mother and father had an eclectic record collection with a lot of Latin music, a la Xavier Cugat and his contemporaries. I'm not sure how that happened, as they were both born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Really, I'm very fortunate to have had that influence in my younger years. Brazilian music has enriched my life both personally, as a fan, and professionally, in my playing technique.

Of course Blues music and its evolution, from Robert Johnson and the Delta acoustic bluesmen, to the electrified and electrifying Elmore James, BB King, Albert King, Freddy King, T-Bone Walker, Buddy Guy, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, to the phenomenal Ray Charles Robinson, Fats Domino and the plethora of gritty R&B greats like Jesse Hill, Lee Dorsey, Bennie Spellman, Clarence Frogman Henry, Earl King, many from New Orleans which was very close in proximity to Mobile, were all grabbing my attention growing up. I will never forget a black nanny I had who would bring her Bakelite radio to work and set it up on the end of the ironing board. That's how I was introduced to real blues music played on the local black station, WMOZ. Hearing Elmore James' Dust My Broom and BB King's Rock Me Baby really got me at five or six years old. It was the sound of those guitars! And with the advent of mass Top Forty radio and greater and greater exposure via television, I was thankfully exposed to a ton of music from all over the country. Ray Charles and James Brown probably had as great an impact on me as anyone. Rhythmically, James for me was the Picasso of modern R&B. His pallette, if you will excuse the analogy, of syncopating rhythms never fail to blow me away, and to this day I go through periods where I will listen to his stuff exclusively. (to be cont.)

OK, so I'm reading what I've written so far and thinking, who cares? I mean, like every other musician on the planet, we've all been exposed to as much music as we want, right? At least in the good ole USA, it's there if you want it. (Ever go to Amoeba?) I guess "roots" are important. But it's not like I was force-fed any one particular kind of music because of where I grew up. Ultimately, I think the remarkable music we create as individuals comes from the core of us. I say "remarkable", because most of it "ain't". But once in a while we become the pawns of our own spirits and, voila, beautiful music emerges. When that happens, all seems to be in order. Music is a mind altering substance. Effectively transforming, at least to some of us. And that's extremely profound, that one can feel an emotional, even physical, change via the audible absorption of music. Never understood why some people are programmed to receive that gift and others aren't.

(to be cont.)