About Me
I live in Austin, TX, andI have been a musician for as far back as I can remember. I play drums, guitar, bass, sing, and write songs, most of which are autobiographical in nature. I am influenced by such singer-songwriters as Tim Buckley, Jim Croce, John Mellencamp, guitarists like Jeff Healey, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, bands like Rush, Van Halen, as well as early '70' soul; being a bit multifaceted, some influences are more in the foreground than others. As for my dayjob, I work for a 3rd party vendor for Microsoft, was promoted recently as well. I moved here on June 29th of 2008, have had my job since July of '08, and have recently been working with a rock band playing lead guitar and singing occassionaly. I am presently lining up plans to pursue my goal of teaching and becoming a history major, or possibly music major. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, lived there for most of my life; prior to that was just outside Philadelphia. Illinois is still home in a lot of ways for me. I lived in South Carolina and Germany while in the army in the early-mid 90's too, for 3 years. I like Austin, however it could use some good Italian restaurants! Carraba's & Olive Garden ain't makin' it!
I played around the Chicagoland area for close to 10 years; everything from open mics to outright paid gigs at pubs & bars. I was involved in an acoustic duo called Blue Melody, playing with an upright bassist, from late 2003 to early 2007. Prior to that, the time was spent as a "solo act", and during high school I played drums, and later guitar, in this or that project, hard rock bands. Other interests are movies, and I have a strong prediliction towards late 60's/early 70's films such as "Billy Jack", "Bullitt" with Steve McQueen, "Serpico" with Al Pacino, the first two "Godfather" movies, "Dirty Harry" and other Clint Eastwood epics from that era. My favorite shows from then are "The Brady Bunch", "The Partridge Family" and "Starsky & Hutch", as well as lesser known shows like "Adam 12" and "Vegas" with Robert Urich. These shows were, in hindsight, well done in terms of good story telling, empathetic characters, a real pulling together when the chips are down type vibe; the characters helped each other; TV, among many of its downsides today, lacks alot of that, so it's nice to turn back the clock a bit and watch shows where there was some caring among the people. As a kid I spent time reading about people like Bobby Kennedy & Malcolm X; their impact and desire to do the right things in their time had a deep impact on my social & political views. While calling them "heroes" may be a bit of a stretch, they are men I hold in high regard.
