Profile edited with CricketSoda’s Myspace Editor I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, already on the road to becoming a musician. My dad played guitar for my mom when she was pregnant with me and they watched as I moved to the music. My dad has always played guitar and growing up he was and still is one of my biggest influences. I started out playing drums when I was eleven, every Friday night I’d jam with my dad and his friends. But I really fell in love for the first time on my thirteenth birthday when my parents bought me a Fender American Standard Stratocaster. My fingers brushed the strings, felt the metal, heard that voice that only guitars have; I was hooked. At fourteen I started going out with my dad to see him play with his ex-band, Blues Daddy. I used to run sound for them on Friday and Saturday nights and then sit in with them on a song or two. One night this guy named Dan said he’d seen me play and that I should check out the open mike night at the Broadway Oyster Bar where The Soulard Blues Band played. I somehow convinced my mom to take me there on a Monday night, we showed up and I got to sit in with them. They’d been together for twenty-three years at that point and were a staple in the downtown St. Louis blues scene; you can imagine how nervous I was to even be on the same stage with them. But the night went well and as everyone was packing up they invited me to return the following Monday, this time for a few more songs. From then on, I was a regular; I played with everyone and anyone who would let me sit in with them. I snuck into bars, jumped fences, peaked through windows, anything to get another taste. Down Town St. Louis University had accepted my application and I got to study under the blues legends of the Muddy Mississippi. Through all of this, I was continually writing my own music. I played on stage and wrote simultaneously, always creating. In 2003 I joined a band called LOJIC with some of my boys from high school. We toured through the Midwest and created quite a following. In 2006 we decided to move to Los Angeles, California and start from scratch. It was an exciting, but daunting challenge. On Friday, July 13, 2007, I branched off for the first time in five years to test out some of my own material. I played my debut show at Molly Malones; a 45 minute set of all original acoustic music, except for a cover of Eric Clapton’s Old Love. It inspired me to keep going and live the dream again. Since my debut show at Molly Malones I have teamed up with an outstanding group of musicians. Stutz Bearcat on bass, Jerry Slattery On acoustic Guitar, and Dan White on the drums. I could not have bought a better group of musicians to play with. So now I can retire the I and start saying we. WE write new music every day and we have booked more shows; the ball is rolling. WE will see you all at the Hollywood Bowl, check our schedule for upcoming shows.
