MY JOURNEY
I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After my father finished college, the family loaded up the Ford station wagon and moved to Thibodeux, Louisiana.
Growing up in the South was the beginning of my early musical education through “osmosis”. I was exposed to a wide variety of music thanks to my older siblings, AM radio, and a funky bus driver that cranked “sweet soul music” on his 8-track stereo during the ride home from school each day. Those early years were filled with great music. I listened to everything from The Beatles to Motown to Led Zeppelin.
In those days, we entertained ourselves with record albums and an electric keyboard/organ that was stashed away in my sister’s room. I quickly discovered the sound of the I-IV-V chord progression using the 12 small round buttons located on the left side of the keyboard. It was easy One finger could blast out major and minor triads in any key. It wasn’t long before I began adding an occasional Minor to the I-IV-V progression. I wrote my first song on that keyboard at the ripe old age of 6.
Albuquerque - Age 5
One afternoon, I heard music resonating from a neighbor’s shed. Being a curious one, I wandered about with a few wide-eyed kids to get a glimpse of our neighborhood rock heroes. The guitarist asked if anyone knew how to sing. I was normally shy, but for some reason I stepped up, grabbed the microphone and belted a tune with the band. It was a rush hearing my own voice through a PA system I knew right then and there that someday I would be in a band.
A few years later my older brother got a Yamaha acoustic guitar for Christmas. I took one look at that guitar and was convinced that it was the instrument for me. I was only 9 or 10 years old, but I would have gladly traded my new orange bike for that guitar!
My family returned to New Mexico and set roots in Santa Fe. It was there that I signed up for guitar class in junior high school and really discovered a love for the instrument. My older brother let me borrow his steel string acoustic for a few months until we scrounged up enough money to buy my own. I formed my first rock band (Midnite Fire) and began writing songs in 8th grade. Our debut gig was at the school talent show. We finished in third place and earned $10.00 for our effort. The following day the boys in the band marched down to the local music store to purchase an 8-foot curly guitar cord!
I was also fortunate to learn a couple of riffs here and there from my brother and his hippie friends. The "basement jams" were a ton of fun! I used to sneak down to play guitar with my brother and other musicians that happened to be passing through town. One of my more memorable moments was when we were jamming with Johnny Winter's guitarist and I broke the E String on his acoustic.
At age 13, entering my freshmen year of high school, I auditioned for the advanced guitar class with my own acoustic rendition of “Tuesday’s Gone” by Lynyrd Skynrd. It wasn't long before I transitioned from acoustic to electric guitar after purchasing a Black Les Paul copy from a classmate for $25.00. My life of rock n roll began!
Santa Fe - Age 13
While in high school, I performed in the Santa Fe area, before moving on to the Albuquerque club scene, where bands often played six nights a week. I was amazed at how every band featured their own full-blown concert sound and lighting systems with paid engineers to boot! Local shows rivaled that of small touring bands. Performing in clubs night in and night out was a great experience that taught me to be a more consistent player and performer. During that "club era", I entered my original song “Time Again” in the MCA Records/Stroh’s beer nationwide talent search. It was one of ten songs chosen for a local compilation album. “Time Again” won the Stroh’s Talent Search in New Mexico and made it's way to the Western regional finals. After a couple years performing in the Albuquerque club scene, I decided to load up the pickup truck and move to Hollywood. Yes, there were swimming pools, movie stars, and alot of starving musicians - including me!
Although I was primarily self-taught (other than a few classes in high school) I enrolled at the Dick Grove School of Music in Studio City, California. It was there that I really dedicated two years of my life to "studying music" - learning theory, composition and improvisation. I graduated GSM as the “Guitarist of the Year”, and was asked by Dick Grove to join the staff as a guitar instructor. My experience at GSM as both student and teacher was life-changing.
While teaching at Grove, I resumed my career in the music industry with primary emphasis on songwriting, recording and producing. A few milestones include credits as co-writer with Neal Schon on "Pirana Blues CD", sonic architect for Sting on "Brand New Day" CD, New Orleans Jazz Festival with Joni Mitchell, various sessions with grammy nominated producer Mike Elizondo (Dr Dre, Eminem), compositions for television, blues-rock release on Bruton/Zomba label and various projects in L.A. studios.
w/ Neal Schon of Journey
I currently reside in Los Angeles and work as a session guitarist, songwriter, producer, live performer, guitar teacher and sonic architect.