BORN in 1958 at Swedish-American Hospital (Rockford, IL - then screw manufacturing capitol of the Western world) into an Irish-Italian family. Dad: factory worker born in Wisconsin; Mom: postal employee and great cook. At young age moved to a farm on the outskirts of Rockford and raised chickens to suppliment family income. First job: 7 yrs. old...pulling pinfeathers from scalded chickens on their way to the freezer. We broke every Health Dept. code and child labor law on the books!
TWO IMPORTANT VERY EARLY EVENTS:
1. At age 4 my cousin Tom gave me a box of 45 rpm records he'd owned. Included were records by Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Fats Domino, The Marcels, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker (I can still picture that Vee-Jay label!)
2. Aunt Florence took me to the State Theatre in downtown Rockford to see Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls! I remember "Return To Sender" was the song that did it! My obssession with the Milwaukee Braves was replaced by a wild-eyed enthusiasm for music. Any music. All music. As long as it came on the radio or spun on a turntable, I was fascinated by it.
THESE DAYS:
Earn my living as a gardener/landscaper. Write. Cook. Play the guitar. Read. Cook some more. Sit on my deck with my wife and cat and feed the wildlife. Play in The Blind Robins. Pretty great life, all in all.
What I do: Write songs, play guitar, produce and arrange, sing, complain.
Bands I've played with (excluding early cover bands):
1988-1991 - THE BOX ELDERS
1992-1997 - PINE CONE:
2001-2002 - AQUAVIT
2002-Present - THE BLIND ROBINS:
Songs have appeared on the albums:
1985 - Land of Opportunity by E*I*E*I*O* (co-writes)
1989 - The Box Elders by The Box Elders
1996 - Love Field School by Pine Cone
2002 - Pop Songs for the New Depression by Aquavit
2004 - The Origin of the Wasteland by The Blind Robins
2006 - Panorama Valley by The Blind Robins
Songs have appeared in the films:
1987 - Campus Man
1989 - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
