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..I was born and raised in Macon, GA, home of Little Richard, Otis Redding, and The Allman Brothers Band. It was also the town that General Sherman spared on his march to the sea, so there’s a lot of fine old antebellum homes there that everybody’s proud of. I grew up during the civil rights/Viet Nam/hippie era. A few things from those formative years that left their mark: going through the school desegregation process as an adolescent; attending public high schools that were sexually segregated, with the boys’ school having mandatory ROTC; seeing Otis Redding leave a music store when I was 11 or 12; watching The Beatles on Ed Sullivan; fronting a band from age 10 to 16 and learning to play the pop songs of the day.I went to college intent on being an English major and eventually a professor, but by the time I graduated music had re-entered my life and I had begun performing again at local bars, parties, weddings, whatever, whenever, and wherever. During my 20s I belonged to several groups, most notably Uncle Ernie. A good-timing trio (guitar, harmonica, and bass), we played throughout Georgia, barely eeking out a living, playing a strange combination of our two favorite influences, bluegrass and funk.It was during this time that I met my wife of nearly 25 years, Vicki, also from Macon. She became a major cause for me wanting to clean up my act, both personally and professionally. This desire, coupled with disappointment over so many wrong-headed choices I had made in my misspent youth, led to a spiritual crisis. It also led to much soul searching, Bible study, a return to church, and eventually, conversion to Christianity. Vicki and I were married shortly afterwards.At 29, I got my first real break as a musician - a job in Jerry Reed’s band. Vicki and I ended up moving to Nashville, and I toured with Jerry for 4 years. This was an important period of growth for me, both personally and creatively. At the same time I was learning more about the professional music world, I was also growing spiritually and beginning to write songs about my newfound faith in Christ. Some of these songs came to the attention of Bob MacKenzie, a mover and a shaker in the contemporary Christian industry, and he offered me a record deal that resulted in my first three recordings. These essentially established me as a Christian singer/songwriter with a decidedly country flavor, and an exceptional harmonicist capable of playing a wide variety of styles on an unlikely instrument.Early in our friendship Bob introduced me to his good friend Bill Gaither, who shortly thereafter invited me to be a part of his touring production, and I was introduced to “Christian†audiences for the first time. Over the next 10 years I toured with the Gaithers, continued to release records, and did more and more dates as a solo artist.My recordings have, more or less, chronicled my growth as an artist and a person.As an artist, singer, songwriter, the community and landscape that has most often informed my work has been that of evangelicalism. For 20 years I’ve traveled to churches all over America and beyond. I’ve read books, heard sermons, attended seminars and meetings where doctrinal systematics were taught and propounded – not always to good effect.Along the way I’ve written songs or adopted material from others that helped me join in the evangelical conversation. re: sinners & saints is my best collection of these little attempts to distill wisdom from my limited experience as a believer in, and halting follower of, Jesus.Instrumental music is precious to me, especially if it involves trying to find the particular voice of one’s instrument. For me, that’s the harmonica, and to a lesser degree, the guitar. With the harmonica I’ve always tried to overcome it’s stereotypical role as a blues only or campfire only instrument. It’s really a highly expressive extension of the human voice. Whether I’m trying to “sing†a hymn with the harmonica or properly execute a difficult fiddle melody, I’m always conscious of at least these 2 objectives – proper expression and proper execution.“RUFUS†was such a joy to record. It was the culmination of something that had begun stirring a few years earlier, in the mid 90’s, when I began to realize that I had let myself be squeezed into a marketplace that allowed for very little “music for music’s sakeâ€. Christian music, being message oriented, relegated music to a strictly supportive or even utilitarian role, or so I had thought. But I wanted to PLAY! Slowly, I began to get back to my original reasons for becoming a musician in the first place: love of song, a great groove, improving at my craft, and perhaps most importantly, playing with others. “RUFUS†was the first record I ever did with that criteria in place.HAPPY MAN is a continuation of what started with “RUFUSâ€. The same criteria plus the notion that, as an artist, I might have something unique to contribute to the world of roots music.Caution to all curmudgeons: contents could make you happy!
