My love affair with the guitar started at age 9 when my brother showed me the open E-Minor7/A progression made famous by Neil Young's "Down By The River", on which I jammed incessantly for hours on end. I fell in love with flatpicking at age 12 after seeing a bluegrass band perform at an ox roast in Highlands N.C. Started pickin' and grinnin' seriously from that point on, and mowed lawns to save enough $ for my first axe, an Epiphone dreadnaught. I have Bluegrass roots, but also have the Blues firmly rooted in my DNA. For a while, while other kids my age were paying homage to Jimmy Page, I worshiped at the temple of Doc Watson. The classic album "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" fed my soul those days. I teamed up with a buddy of mine who had also caught the bluegrass bug and became a kickass Scruggs-style 5 string banjo player. I have also always loved all forms of the blues (I can remember wearing out the grooves to the Johnny Winter And Live album back in the day) and continue to tap into that primal energy. I also love big band, bebop, cuban music, African stuff like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Drum & Bass techno (my son introduced me to Pendulum) and even classical Indian "Ragas". So, I guess I'm schizophrenic when it comes to music.
I am an ardent believer in what the great Joe Satriani once told me: "Play What You Feel!"
