Pets or Meat

My music career began in 3rd grade when I was handed a recorder. The next year I started playing the clarinet, which three years later I was bored with and discovered upon entering Junior High a contraption sitting in the corner that looked like a bad plumbing problem. This became my next instrument, the sousaphone. In my Junior High if you played the tuba in Band they automatically had you play string bass in Orchestra. And if you played string bass in Orchestra they had you play it and the bass guitar in the Jazz Band. Thus I was introduced to the instrument that would be my major influence for my musical career. When I entered High School I was no longer interested in the tuba and returned to the clarinet. It was my ability on the clarinet that got me into the Air Force Band when I graduated in 1972. This was a better option then being drafted and sent to Vietnam. I played in the USAF Band from 1972-1984, traveling from Nebraska to Europe to Virginia ending up at last in Alaska. While in Germany the USAF discovered that I was a better bass player than the person assigned as a bass player. From that point in 1977 Bass became my primary instrument and reeds my secondary. In 1984 the USAF and I parted ways based on our difference in opinion on the benefits of a certain herbal substance.While in Alaska I have played Bass, acoustic and electric, with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Anchorage Opera, Alaska Chamber Choir, Broadway Shows, local musical producitons, jazz groups of all sizes, salsa bands, zydeco, folk, bluegrass, rock, basically every genre but rap. During this period I started writing music for both classical and popular music groups. Thus the beginning of Pets or Meat.Pets or Meat consists of myself on bass and vocals, Paul Paslay on guitar and vocals Karl "Saint Karl" Pfeiffer on guitar and vocals Julie Benson on drums and vocalsAs a group we ceased to exist in 2003 but the music lives on.