About Me
I consider myself a storytelling folk rocker with a good sense of humor. My original songs come from how I feel and what I see or do. Many of my songs are spun from living in a log cabin I built.Approximately 30 years ago, I bought 18 acres in Little Mountain, SC (approximately 45 miles from Columbia). I cut 85 pine trees down, shaved the bark with a draw blade, and notched together a log cabin. I lived in it for 10 years - 5 of those years without electricity or water (see my stories at end of this bio concerning my life in the cabin.I play mostly around the Myrtle Beach area, but over the years I've been all over North and South Carolina. Mostly at quiet spots where people will listen to original music. I have several CD's I've put together over the years. Please email me if you are interested in listening.STORIES FROM THE LOG CABIN:When I was 23, I had a worthless job and a worthless life. I had graduated from the University of South Carolina and I was tired of living in Columbia. I got this great idea that I should live in the woods somewhere, and live the good life. I went to a real estate agent and told him I wanted to buya piece of land. " How much money do you have?" he asked me. " About a thousand dollars" I said. He just laughed at me and said come back in twenty years.I went back home and started thinking about how I could save money. I looked around and figured most of my money was going towards rent and utilities. I packed up all my stuff and put it in a mini warehouse. Everything but my mattress, which I put in the back of my station wagon. I started living behind my friend's homes. Usually I could stay a month or so before I started wearing out my welcome. I managed to do this for two years and saved $12,000. I went back to that real estate agent and this time he shook my hand. He said he knew just the place for me - 18 acres in Little Mountain, SC. I drove out there and Angels sang and the trumpets blared. I bought the property.Now I needed a place to stay. I didn't know much about building a regular house, but I figured building a log cabin would be like using big lincoln logs - how hard could that be. I cut a pine tree down, shaved the bark, tied a rope around it, and it didn't move. I called up eight of my strongest friends and said "Hows about helping me pull these logs out of the woods and build me a log cabin." They came out on a Saturday, we moved two logs, they drank all my beer, and I never saw them again. The rest of the logs I pulled out with a comalong (hand winch). Nine months later I had a roof over my head and life was good.As I was building the log cabin, neighbors started telling me that it was going to cost a lot to run electricity. My cabin was about 1,500 feet from the nearest utility pole and the neighbors were saying it would cost about $1 per foot. I didn't have $1,500 so I got used to living without electricity. I'd sweat in the summer, freeze in the winter, and used Coleman stoves and lamps. I did that for five years.As I got on my feet, I was able to save $1,000 and decided to see if I could get electricity. I drove down to the Newberry County Electric Co-op and told them I wanted electricity. They had this map of the county that covered the wall and I was able to show them where the cabin was. The man said "Well your cabin's about 1,500 feet from the nearest pole. This is going to cost you some money." "Yes Sir" I said. I was prepared for that. He said "First you're going to have to join the Co-op and that's $25.00." "OK" I said. "Then we're going to have to charge you another $30.00 because we have to go so far." "Wait a minute!" I said. "You mean your going to give me electricity for $55.00?" He said he was sorry, but they had to charge the extra $30.00. Well four days later, I had electricity. On the fifth day, I had a fan, a hot plate, a light bulb, and a television. Life was still good and now it was better.I lived in that cabin until I got married in 1987. It was then that running water and city life got the best of me and I moved to Myrtle Beach. I have hundreds of stories about the cabin and my life. Keep an eye on my web page for more tales.
