I love reading, playing and listening to music, traveling, and music festivals.
Earl Scruggs
Musically, I've been influenced by many. Here are some who are very close to me and affect me daily; my dad, Earl Forrester, Dan Whiteley, Chris Coole, John Showman, Max Heineman, Andrew Collins, Jenny Whiteley, Joey Wright, Marc Roy, James Thompson, Tony Allen, Kristine Schmitt, Tom Parker, Rob Fenton, Derek Pert, Burke Carroll.In the bigger picture, the following people are those whom I have: met, played with, dreamed of playing with, and/or learned directly from. The bluegrassers are: Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Ralph and Carter Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Rudy Lyle, Haskell McCormick, Tom Adams, Tim O'Brien, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, John Hartford, Mike Compton, David Long, Tony Trischka, Dudley Connell, Ron Block, J.D. Crowe, Kenny Ingram, Alison Krauss, Norman Blake, Roy Huskey, Sam Bush, Scott Vestal, Ron Stewart, Vassar Clements, and Kenny Baker.The country singers I love are: George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Don Gibson, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizzell, Webb Pierce,Blues folks: B.B. King, Dr. John, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooder,and to balance the whole bunch: Count Basie, Joe Williams, Alberta Hunter, Jesse Winchester, The Beatles, The Doobie Brothers, The Police, Oscar Peterson, Lenny Breau, Chet Atkins, Mark Knopfler, ZZ Top, and AC/DC.
Spinal Tap, Raging Bull, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Waiting For Guffman, The Usual Suspects Doctor Strangeglove
The Simpsons (To the naysayers - cartoon or not; you need some intelligence to get this show. I ain't never heard no Pablo Neruda references on Friends. After all the years they still have the best comedy and satirical writing!), Curb Your Enthusiasm (way better than Seinfeld!), Ali G (undercurrent genius!), The Colbert Report ( Almost as funny as Tucker Carlson or Bill O'Rielly.)
Books by Paul Auster, and Mordecai Richler. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The Stranger by Albert Camus.
Bill Hicks, Bill Shakespeare & Bill Monroe