I was born in The Netherlands where my folks owned a farm. Mom showed me how to operate a record player so I could listen to "The Smurfs Sing The Blues". I ravaged mom’s record collection, and became infatuated by The Shadows (and Hank Marvin), the Spotniks (a Swedish Shadows clone) and the Jumping Jewels (a Dutch Shadows clone).By age 5, I had built a red Fender Stratocaster out of Legos after watching Jeff Beck on German TV. Mom bought me a Spanish gut-string and I was enrolled as a student of classical guitar under Henriëtte Waskowsky, until age 14.
By that time, I entered High School and was surrounded by people considerably cooler than parents ever wish their kids to be. My hair was immediately parted down the middle, as opposed to right over to my left ear, and eventually grew out. Polo shirts were worn untucked, and eventually replaced with AC/DC T-shirts. White tennis shoes were replaced with military boots. The Spanish gutstring was replaced by Korean plywood. It was not great, but hey... it was loud!!! After being introduced to Led Zeppelin I took a paper route and saved up for a Gibson Les Paul and a Marshall amp, with which I play my first pro gig at age 16. (Well... it was the school prom... And we played for 8 beers each, as opposed to the 4 school administrators allowed us to drink...)After High School, I was accepted in the Jazz Guitar program of the Arnhem Conservatory of Music (located in the former Dutch headquarters of the Gestapo. I don’t make the facts, folks...) I walked out after 4 months, reportedly exclaiming "!@$%^&*()_+†which is Dutch for "Goodbye!". I was not allowed to participate in a recital because I skipped band-camp, because I was booked with my band.In the spring of 1998 I got on a plane to Los Angeles. (This answers the question of how I got here: a 747.) By Dutch standards this was widely considered to be an unconventional move.
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L.A. was too fast for this Dutch farm-boy, regardless of the fact that I was a polished and efficient weapon of Rock 'n Roll. In the fall of 1999, I moved to Memphis TN, and played blues on Beale Street and around the Mississippi Delta. I loved it……………for awhile. I eventually got involved in the Alternative Country scene in Memphis, and joined band called Bumpercrop. in the Spring of 2004 I moved to Nashville, TN.I have toured the continental USA, played Lower Broadway and have done demo sessions for various songwriters. I contracted and transcribed for Brent Mason and I am currently developing instructional videos for Indyguitarist.com.
For funzies I study Tai Chi and guitar under Stan Lasiter. Please update your Wikipedia entries.Rap Sheet:
Due West
Tim Gates
The LoCash Cowboys
Kim and Jay
The Young Guns
Chad Wilson And The Change
Brian Lee
Bobby Cutshaw
Taura Byrd
Cheryl Johnston
Chad Bradford
Keesy Timmer
Kyle Wilson
Josh Thompson
Aaron Solinger
Jeremy Crady
Lindsi Weaver
Micheal O'Neill
Fatback
Mike Rodgers
Brandi Thornton
Keith Smith
Wilson
Heath Hinsley
Chris Hennessee
Amy Acklyn
Karly McKeeman
