Joe

I began my professional audio career in 1969 working for Showco Sound of Dallas, Texas. My work with Led Zepplin, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and Joe Cocker carried me all over the world and established a solid background in both lighting and audio. In 1973, Jim Stanford, Jon Hornyak, and myself started our own sound company in Memphis, Tennessee called Rock & Roll Audio. Through our connections with the Paragon Agency and Capricorn Records, we bagan to do sound for many of the Southern Music scene, including the Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, and the Charlie Daniels Band. It was during a Wet Willie concert in Penscola duringthe summer of 1973 that I first worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd. An immediate rapport was established with the band and Rock & Roll Audio began touring exclusively with Lynyrd Skynyrd.In 1976, I sold the sound company and began to work for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band exclusively in 1977. My career with Lynyrd Skynyrd seemed to have ended when I sustained critical injuries when the plane crashed on October 20, 1977. The loss of friends in the tragic crash was overwhelming. After a lengthy recovery, I once again worked for Showco and toured with Journey in 1980.In 1987, the decision was made to do the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour, reuniting the remaining members of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band and reviving that original "SKYNYRD SOUND" developed into a very challenging project. The band wanted as much as possible to recreate everything as it was the last time the preformed together in Greenville, South Carolina. A part of that sound was the tweed-covered Peavey equipment that the band had used for years. While Gary Rossington began to organize the details of the reunion, I began the task of restoring Lynyrd Skynyrd's original stage equipment as the band's electronic technician.To be continued...........