Born 8/31/75 I spent myearly years in the small farm town of Boyds, Maryland. My parents noticed that I was constantly singing little ditties that I made up and idolizing my older brother Justin and cousin Curt who played drums and bass respectively. So, at age 8, I started bass lessons. After moving to California, and discovering Megadeth and Kiss at 13, I picked up the guitar. Many older musicians brought me into their bands. As an “A†student and athlete, I studied guitar with classical guitarist Matthew Grasso practicing up to 4 hours per day. This is where I honed my technical abilities. I started playing and writing music ranging from funk to Alternative to Death Metal, and found a voice for my diverse interests At 19, now living in Oregon, I began studying jazz music at Portland State University. I found two bands in the next few years that got me up and running in Rock n Roll: Ground Zero and The Rust. They gave me a lead guitar position where I was able to write my own leads. These two bands were also all older guys. I also played with Alisa Wolfe Project, various musical productions and did studio work for various projects. Since graduating from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz, I have performed in as many as 6 bands at a time, playing guitar, bass, and singing lead/backup vocals. In 2002, I wrote and recorded a 5 song demo with a band of my design called State of Balance. The demo was a success in that it showcased my abilities well enough to garner some attention from the likes of Marty Friedman and Chris Caffery in the coming years. The last couple of years has seen me travel the world to receive lessons from two world renowned guitarists, Al Pitrelli and Marty Friedman. These two Musical encounters forever changed my mindset. In New York City, Al taught the lesson of preparedness and encouraged me to sight-read music and continue playing many styles. This lesson would prove highly effective and Al has become an ongoing mentor. The Marty Friedman story starts as a failed audition in Tokyo, Japan. Having spent 8 months learning Friedman’s material and making 3 audition CD’s and a video, I refused to give up. This led me to receive three 4-hour thrashings from the veteran guitarist. Marty taught the lesson of detail and professionalism to the highest degree. Marty encouraged me to record more and sing lead. He has also become an ongoing mentor. Classic Marty quote: If you want to make it in the music business, you have to be prepared to eat shit and ask for more. In 2004, I won a contest allowing him the privilege of jamming with the mighty Metallica. This jam session further cemented in the young guitarist’s mind that there is more to music than playing in bar bands. Within days of winning this contest, I asked Al Pitrelli to put in a good word with Chris Caffery. I had heard Caffery was releasing his first solo record and contacted Chris through email and continued communication for many months. Almost exactly one year after winning the Metallica contest, I secured the 2nd guitarist position in Chris Caffery’s Faces. After the fourth show with Faces, Chris and I made the decision to part ways so that I could spend time with my brand new baby girl, Lisa Miwa Cook. Right now I'm working on a Guns n Roses tribute band called Appetite for Deception. There are some really outstanding people and musicians in this group. Check out http://www.myspace.com/appetitefordeception I want to thank my wife Yoko for teaching him the cold reality that hard work is the only way to get what you want. Thanks to the following musicians for their continued mentorship: Matthew Grasso, Jon Finn, Marty Friedman, Al Pitrelli, Darrell Grant, Sean Malone, Brian Beller, Ron Jarzombek(beat me for the Marty gig, so I made friends), Timmer Blakely, Chris Catero, Chris Caffery and Charley Grey.
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