Danasaurus Rex

So about me... I'm a local Dallas musician who has been in and out of the scene here for over 20 years. From my college days in '85 - '87 down on Greenville in Johnny Tanner's show at the Saloon, to Schooner's with Hash Brown. West End shows at Froggy Bottom's and out on the Plaza Stage. Deep Ellum days hanging out with bands like the Daylights, being mezmerized by Dorinda Duncan, I played all over town. David's Bar & Grill in Addison, The Basement, Dallas City Limits, Savvy's, Stage Right Rehearsals, Musicians Exchange, (hehehe remember?) I played in Ryme with Kevin Bennett, Glenn Scott, and Preston Hunt. Glenn and I also teamed up and hosted acoustic nights at the Plaza Room (Where the British Rose is now) as The North Dallas Conservatives. We would dress in business suits and short haircuts and jam out classic acoustic tunes.

My originals band was called BRAINLOCK (Kevin Bennett, Ross Wilson, Jeff Clark) and the name was basically pulled out of thin air. Ross and Jeff came from another project I played with called Rain Gets In. Hippies, what can I say? Anyway, I wanted to use the logo I drew of a large human brain with a padlock on it, illustrating closed minds ripe for opening. We had a good run and played out with bands like ASKA, Ideal Cynics, Big Frog, etc. in the mid 90s. Then I got divorced and all hell broke loose. Hard to be a musician when you're fathering 2 little girls, so I set it aside for almost a decade.
While I was with BRAINLOCK our rehearsal times would turn into roaring laughter at the silly song parodies I came up with impromptu. So the guys suggested I try out my luck in a comedy club. I did... it was amazing. First of all I learned that comics are the most emotionally wounded and dysfunctional creeps around as a rule. The music community supports each other, these comedians ate each other for lunch. I never heard so much backbiting and envy in my life... they were pissed off that I, an outsider from the music world, was doing so well from the jump.
I would tell them, "Hey I'm just here to make people laugh and sell drinks."
The internet has done AMAZING things for the music industry by providing the ability to nearly anyone with talent, something recorded, and internet access, to be seen and heard by the masses. Previous to the advent of the net, a person had to get a label deal to be widely heard or else shell out for studio time and record pressing themselves. Then of course there's the marketing of the finished product which was all basically done by word of mouth at local gigs, unless you had a label behind you to promote you. Now you can promote yourself and with the assistance of great sites like SoundClick.com I can share my music with you freely and all you have to do it point and click. It doesn't matter if you're here in Texas or on the other side of the globe. The .mp3 file format allows for great sounding digital audio clips to be shared easily. A person can gather up the songs they like and disregard tracks they normally would be "stuck with" when buying a CD or album, and can now create their own CDs from these .mp3 files to custom design their own listening experience. If you download my songs I want you to be sure to share them with as many people as you can. If you use file sharing software like Kazaa or WinMX, I'd like you to be sure to include my files in your sharing folder. I give it freely, as I feel music is a gift and I'm not looking to make my living off it anymore. This notion may clash with other artists' viewpoints on the subject, and that's perfectly okay for them to dictate how they want *their* music handled, but mine is free.
These recordings were done with my band BRAINLOCK here in Dallas and along with myself on rhythm guitars (electric and acoustic), piano, and all lead and backing vocals. You 'll hear Kevin Bennett playing all lead guitar parts, Ross Wilson on bass, and Jeff "Ffej" Clark on drums and percussion. We recorded this with Chuck and Todd Frizzell at Hot Trax in Garland a number of years ago. (You can see Todd play amazing guitars in the popular local band "The Village Idiots")
I have been influenced in some way, shape, or form by every artist or band I've ever heard. Even the ones I don't particularly like influenced me in some manner... if only to let me know what I don't like so I can avoid it. I grew up listening to balladeers like Jim Croce or Harry Chapin and all the great rock bands of the 70s, 80s and 90s like Led Zeppelin, RUSH, Styx, Queen, KISS, Foreigner, Van Halen, etc. etc. and have tried to stay up with the times all along.