Born March 19, 1974 in Albany, Ga. Moved to Jonesboro, just south of Atlanta for my first five years, and then to Mobile, Al where I was supposed to have finished growing up.. I began singing in Catholic school choir at St. pius X in Mobile under the guidance of Deacon Bill "Coach" Tew. I was a Saprano until puberty, at which time I became an Alto. I Finished schooling at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School where I made the All-State tennis team and had long forgotten a career in voice. Tennis was "it" at the time and nothing was going to stand in the way of becoming a touring professional-- until I lost my virginity. Appeasing my high school girlfriend, I turned down several out of state scholarships to attend college locally at The Univ. of South Alabama. The team there is made up of mostly foreignors, and not to sell my self short- they were just too damn good. Nonetheless, I stayed on the team and trained with them through my freshman year, until realizing that they weren't just too damn good- But that sorority girls and drinking beer were too damn easy. In the Spring of my freshman year I joined some of my high school buddies in pledging Kappa Sigma, at which time, needless to say tennis took a back seat- (more like in the trunk.) One of our pledges was drumming in a new band and I tried out as lead singer, and got the job! From then on I can't really remember anything else.
The End
Seriously though, that first band, A "New South Roots Rock" outfit, Slow Moses grew to become one of the hottest touring college acts in the Southeast selling out 1,000 capacity venues, and selling close to 10,000 Copies of our cd release, Blend. Members included: Phillip Stein, Molly Thomas, Ben Tenhundfeld, John Milham, Eddie Moore, Tracey Duarte, Bill Hamby, Davis Zunk, Kenny Lewis. Other guest musicians were:Chris Spies, Steven Jacobs, Jeff Fiddler, Damon Garcia, Grant Dunaway, Mike Arata, and many more. We also shared the stage with several national acts: The Neville Bros., Leftover Salmon, Widespread Panic, Wet Willie, Better than Ezra, Seven Mary Three.
I also began hosting an impromptu jam night and songwriters night at a local Mobile bar called the Garage. It became one of the bars best nights of the week and featured a hodge podge of local and regional performers. On any given Monday night there would be several drummers, bassists trading in and out.. Organ, and Vibes, were not unusual. Horn players would arrive out of nowhere and accompany the band on some very special nights. Some of the members of the All-Star Garage band were:Brian "Goatboy" Mattei, Bo Roberts, Beau Burman, Steven Martin, Andy Green, George Kennedy, Brad Leppick, Robert Murray, Isaac Vasquez, Albert Robinson, Jacob Meador, Bucky Hicks, Glenn Siggers, Rob Willmann, Shane Palmer, Dale Drinkard, Eric Erdman, Brandon Whigham, Tim Stanton, Damon Garcia, Ebony, Roland Cobb, to name a couple. We have cranked the Open Mic Nite back up-- so come out and bring your friends and your tunes.. We supply the rest..!
Not to get sidetracked.. In 1998, after burning up the roads in a crappy van for four years, Slow Moses, disbanded and I moved to Orange Beach, Al and rekindled the flame of an old calling- "waiter". I waited tables for a year until making the big move down to the small island of St John in The USVI. Once there I continued waiting tables and bartending until meeting up with a local reggae/rock/hiphop trio, Hatch and becoming their singer/frontman. The reggae came from bassist/singer Ernie Clendinen, who was born and raised in the VI. Drummer/singer Mat Vacherat, hailing from Philadelphia, gave the band its hard edge and hip/hop vibe, while guitarist Greg Kinslowfrom Philly/New York, could duplicate pretty much any style of music. I brought the Southern fried nuances to the group. We sold over 3,000 copies of our cd release US Virgins and were voted Best Band In the VI Three consecutive years from '00 to '02 by the Virgin Islands Daily News readers poll. Keeping my job bartending at The Stone Terrace, and Island Blues, I was also voted Best Bartender on St. John in 2000! (okay... runner-up bartender next to Mean Jean from Skinny Legs. I run a part time Production Company called SoonCome Productions and began booking stateside bands on short tours in the islands. Among the acts that have made the journey down island are: Kung Fu Mama (Mobile, AL), STRUT(Asheville, NC), Wes Loper, and Lee Yankie (Mobile, AL) Maria y el Sol (Oxford , MS) The Running (Nashville, TN) John Lisi (New Orleans, LA) FreeWorld ( Memphis, TN) My recording catalogue also include a 5 song EP The St. John Sessions produced at Gregg Jones' Horrible Weasle Studios on St. John.
After three fun years in the Caribbean I discovered that "Island Fever" is not just an urban legend. Three days in St. Thomas Federal Prison taught me that (public nudity- it's a long story with a short ending). My brother and mother flew down and bailed me out, and I was able to enjoy the last couple of weeks in paradise until gathering my things and flying back home.
Once back in Mobile, I continued to meet musicians in hopes of setting them up in the islands; the first of which was guitarist/singer Keith Williams Jr. who, at the time was playing with blues act Luther Wilson. We quickly became friends and formed the Acoustic duo/ Four piece band Loose Cannons and have been performing over 300 shows a year since. We perform mostly along the Gulf Coast, focusing on Mobile and the surrounding beach and college towns. Our four piece band the LowDown ThrowDown (along with Tyler Goodwin (drums)and Brian Mattei (bass) are in search of a booking agency that will get behind what we are doing and help us get out of town more extensively.. We have toured the USVI twice since I moved back from St. John. I also booked an acoustic tour of the VI with Justin Fobes in June/July '06 under the name Burning Sensations and most recently attended the 1st Annual St. John SongFest and collaborated with other professionial songwriters from all over. Presented by Allan Mcphee and Cat Braaten the owners of "The Beach Bar" there will be an album (maybe a volume series of tunes that were written on the beach and at The St. John Inn and recorded at Steve Simons studio on St. John. Songwriters in Paradise has opened my eyes and ears to sheer simplicity and joy of writing songs. There will be many to come!!! SONGWRITERS UNITE! FORM OF- ONE BIG SONGWRITING MACHINE!!!!
