Songwriter. Singer. Guitarist. Keyboard player. What do Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, Atlantic Records and I have in common?
I've been playing piano since I was seven and guitar since sixteen. As a teenager in Marblehead, Massachusetts, I co-founded a local rock band with a few pals. The five of us got paid $25 total for our first gig. Just three years later, after several different band names and two personnel changes, we were recording as Presence for Atlantic Records' ATCO label and living full-time in the infamous Hotel Albert in New York City. I was the lead guitarist and keyboard player.
This was in 1968 and 1969. Other performers with Atlantic/ATCO at the time included Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Amazing company to be keeping. I met Jimi Hendrix (the night he watched us playing at a popular club called The Scene) and also the guys in The Band. We co-headlined with Van Morrison in Boston. We were named one of the "Hot bands to watch" by a major music magazine. (I don't remember which one. It might have been Billboard. Poco was also mentioned.) Definitely mind-blowing when you're only 19 and getting paid to play rock and roll in the big city.
(Check out a few pics from those years in Photos.)
In 1969, the band broke up after recording half an album for ATCO and releasing a single that tanked. We went our separate ways. I returned to college (Dartmouth in Hanover, NH). After graduating, I lapsed into a two-year coma by then going to graduate business school and getting an MBA. Playing music was tossed onto the back burner for 40 years as I pursued a career in advertising (including being President/CEO of two well-regarded ad agencies in Los Angeles and Las Vegas).
I played a bit of guitar here... some piano there... but that was about it until seven years ago. Suddenly, I really, really wanted to create and perform all over again. Strange but true. So I started practicing every day, writing lots of new songs, showing up at just about every open mic night I could find, playing in six different bands and learning how to use the "new" (at least to me) digital recording technology. (Many thanks to the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and Reaper... a terrific interface and DAW.)
(Here's another preview. This song is called "Does it even matter?")
So now, here I am. I live in the very small town of Tahoe City on the shores of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern California, 50 miles west of Reno. As a singer-songwriter, I create original rock, country rock, blues and Americana songs based on what I've learned by living. I describe it as music from real life. It makes you think while letting you know that you're not alone.
For all of my songs, I perform all of the parts myself (with help from my 1989-era drum machines). I hope you like what you hear. If you do, please download a few tunes... and tell your friends! (And you can hover or click on any of the photos below for more information.)
The songs in this website are just the beginning. I'm back.
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for listening.
A singer/songwriter's life in Reno/Tahoe.
Me and my trusty Gibson ES-330-TD. Jimi Hendrix watched me play this guitar.
Getting some fresh air with my main guitar -- Stratocaster Deluxe with Lace Sensor pickups.
Writing a new song using the Gibson on my front deck in Tahoe City, CA.
Here's my badge as a nominee in two categories for the 2016 Forte Awards.
My wife Sue and me on the Red Carpet at the 2016 Forte Awards Show on Nov. 3, 2016 in Reno.
I'm about to be photographed on the Red Carpet at the 2016 Forte Awards Show.
Just a tiny part of the crowd at the 2016 Forte Awards Show at Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.
Two for two. I've been nominated two years in a row by the Forte Awards in a total of three different categories.
Back on the Red Carpet at the 2017 Forte Awards. Older, grayer, still making noise.