Santos

I am so left brained I can't think straight…My story begins long ago, when I was a kid and my family lived in a small Mexican ghetto in Chicago. We were poor but I remember being happy. As a family we didn't have much, but we had each other and music was everywhere.During those days I was exposed to all kinds of music. My father liked Elvis, R&B & Soul. My mom liked Texano and the popular Mexican music of that time (Coridos and Cumbias). Our babysitters exposed us to the latest Disco records (Commodores, Chic and the Jackson 5) while the older neighbor boys who liked my babysitters exposed us to the Hard Rock of that time (KISS, Van Halen and the Doors).At the age of 14 I got a radio and a guitar for my birthday. This was about the time that we moved to the Detroit area. After that I spent most of my days going from one end of the radio dial to the other. I know in many ways that all of these influences have transposed themselves to the guitar when I play, from one end of the fret board to the other.At the age of 20 I joined the U.S. Navy where I was stationed on an aircraft carrier for 4 years. There I was fortunate enough to serve with some of the best musicians in the world (Tim Dyer/guitar, Tate Caron/guitar, and Antoine Camble/vocals). Since I've been around the world I can say that!By 1996 I returned to the Detroit area, when I decided I wanted to be a musician. I joined a band called Mood Poisoning as a bassist for two technically dynamic guitarists Brian Burleson and Doug Hise (both of Big B and The Magic Bullets). After Mood Poisoning, Doug Hise and I formed Atomic Surfer where I played with Chuck Vermulen (keyboards) and Vic Kinsey (drums).Then I got a call from Brian Burleson (Big B of Big B and The Magic Bullets) to come and audition for a Hip-Hop group called Budda-Fulla-Rymez. This is when I met Shadow (MC, vocals), DJ Stezo, and the "Jezter" (vocals). Jezter was then introduced to Atomic Surfer and a beautiful record was born. Jezter titled it Moon Madness which is the first record I played guitar on. You see, I was a bassist until this time. Jezter is a hard core vocalist and was head of an Ann Arbor rock band called SOOT. That’s when I learned of the versatility and range of this out standing vocalist. Jezter then gave me the honor of playing guitar on SOOT's 3rd (I think…) self titled record.One bright sunny day Jezter introduced us to Emily Rogers (aaaaaahhhh!!!??? and *#!&#+';'!!!), a blessing disguised as a curse (or the other way around). She came to audition as a bassist for Moon Madness after which a crazy little group emerged called R.I.B. R.I.B. featured the lovely Daphne Briggs on vocals, Doug Wiers (my own Ron Wood) a guitarist that brought the best out in me, Chuck Vermulin on keys who taught me a lot about music, Vick Kinsey on drums, and "The Fabulous Emily Rogers” on bass. Together we recorded For Your Pleasure, Viola Wis. (Live), and a collection of songs for Double Your Pleasure (which was never released).Currently I play guitar for the legendary bassist T-Money Green in a band called Road Work. In this group I share the stage with a young buckin guitarist named Steve Caldwell (S.A.R. and Clear Gray), Tommy “Wonder” Kozup (drums), Jeff Rebrovich (keyboard/vocals), and Philip “Stenny” Wright (vocals)... T-Green once mentioned that Steve and I were rivals, but now we are the guitar team watch out for. So look out every body, here we come!!!