Shortly thereafter I began playing melodies that sounded new too me—and for the most part they were truly awful. Twenty years later I am still chipping away at what, I believe, makes a tune good and how to avoid playing a song that leaves both the audience and myself wanting to bolt and run.
I have referred to my style as roots-pop. And that is to say that what we refer to as standards, songs like "More Than You Know", "Summertime", "Louie, Louie", and "King of The Road" all at one time or another were considered pop songs and the trait they all share is their simple, strong appeal. My ultimate goal is to write a melody as graceful as Berlin's "Blue Skies"; I am not quite there, but not yet disheartened to stop.
By 1994 I was married and living in Chicago. I began going to open-mics and acquainting myself with the local music scene. Meeting such players as Michael Smith, Ralph Covert, Mark Zeus, Roger Connelly, Kraig Kenning, Mark Dvorak and the like really sharpened my thoughts as to what makes a good song.
Musical highlights for me over the years have been shaking Bill Monroe's hand; opening for rhythm and blues powerhouse Delbert McClinton; hanging out after a gig with Leon Redbone eating hot peppers and talking about Tin Pan Alley; having Art Blakey rest his hand on the back of my chair when he emerged from a dressing room to check out the house; performing a live FM broadcast of our jazz band's final show at a beautiful outdoor gig; scoring original music for two theater productions (Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and Beth Henley's The Wake of Jamie Foster); being invited to perform at the Two Way Street Coffee House for their 30th Anniversary Show; being asked to play on two records by Mark Zeus; and having the sax player in a former band introduce me to my wife at a gig some time back.
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