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Biography...the details |
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I grew up near Boston, MA, and started playing music at around 11 years old. My very first instrument was accordion, but it didn’t take long for me to learn that my real musical passion revolved around strings, and not bellows. So, by the tender age of 12, I started playing guitar, and by 13, had transitioned to bass. In the late 60's, some friends and I started our first band. Just your typical garage band, playing covers of whatever was the latest “hit” song. This eventually led to gigs in a number of local bands over the years, doing the bar and club scene, playing whatever the crowd or management wanted to hear, from Classics to Country, Polkas to Punk, and just about everything in between! Unfortunately, while I thoroughly enjoyed playing my bass as often as possible, I was never completely happy with the type of music we were playing. You see, somewhere in the middle of all this, I had some collaborations with a guitarist friend with whom I had discovered the blues. Of course we couldn’t make any money playing blues in New England in the 60’s and 70's, but the desire to get back to the genre never faded. Jump ahead 15+ years, and it's the mid 80's, and my musical career is kinda stagnant. |
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By the end of the 80's I was playing mostly for my own pleasure and sanity, and having gotten married, and needing to support a growing family, I started working on a contractual basis, doing my “non-musical” job of designing printed circuit boards for companies such as Intel, HP, IBM, Motorola, as well as the US Government. However, spending 6 months here, 3 months there, and traveling from one end of the country to another, didn’t allow the steadiness needed to join or form a regular band. But, I always kept a guitar with me on these travels, and would strike up musical friendships wherever I could. The one thing I found though, was that in most cities, there’s always a Jam night happening somewhere, and in most cases these were blues based jams! This allowed me to reconnect with my love of the blues, and jamming with so many different musicians, helped me to shape a very “adaptive” playing style. |
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| After traveling and living in places such as Connecticut, New York, Indiana, Michigan, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona and California (just to mention a few), I finally settled in the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest in 1997. While living in Gig Harbor, WA in 1999, I had the opportunity to sit-in on several occasions, with the legendary Jerry Miller of Moby Grape fame. It was during one of these sessions, that I met local guitarist/songwriter Billy Moss, and the two of us soon formed the band that would eventually become Rebel Storm. Along with drummer Bobby Nesbitt, and keyboardist Joe Turnbull, Rebel Storm became one of the premier new southern rock/blues bands in the U.S. and Europe. We released our first album “Stormin' South” in the fall of 2001, to critical acclaim. In 2002, Rebel Storm performed at the Whitehorse Mountain Classic Rockfest, sharing the stage with legends Elvin Bishop, Delbert McClinton, and Little Feat. Shortly after this, the band received the 2002 GRITZ Southern Music Hall of Fame Horizon Award, and we organized, booked and financed our first European tour, performing shows in The Netherlands and Germany. In the spring of 2003, we recorded our second album “The Hard Way”, and in the fall of that year, completed our second tour of Europe. This time, performing in The Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland, receiving much praise in the European press. Rebel Storm's music has also been included on the compilation albums “Stars ‘N Bars”, released by Z-Roxx & Manassas Records in the U.K., in 2004, and "Hand Picked & Home Grown", released by Gritz in 2006. Among the awards and recognitions received by Rebel Storm and its members, I was honored in 2002, to be voted #7 Bassist of the year, and then #5 Bassist of the year in 2003, by the readers of Bands of Dixie magazine in France. | ||||
| That incarnation of Rebel Storm ended in early 2004, and the members went their separate ways. I took advantage of the downtime, to re-evaluate my musical direction, spend some time jamming with other local musicians, and eventually become involved in several new local projects. Not too long ago, I began teaching bass guitar at Allstar Guitar's Allstar Academy, in Gig Harbor, and through that association, hooked up with Denny Hall and Judy Wayenberg, to add what I could to The Nite Café project. | ||||
| Joining The Nite Café, has been a musical re-awakening of sorts. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for early “roots” blues music, but never had the chance to play it with anyone. After so many years playing high-energy southern blues-rock, it’s refreshing to relax, and lose myself in the music that Denny writes. His style affords me so many opportunities to stretch my musical legs, and the pleasure of playing with such talented musicians is beyond description. Best of all, Denny’s willingness to consider, and in many cases incorporate, my suggestions and musical input, really gives me a sense of complete participation in the project. We’re even including one of my songs on the next CD! I’m hoping the Nite Café will be the beginning of a long and fruitful musical collaboration between Denny and myself. It’s an absolute joy to show up for rehearsals, and to see what magic we can make that day. | ||||
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