This is my music site, kind of like on online musical diary. This is where I get to post various songs that I've written. Some of these songs have an intended purpose, such as a specific theme I had in mind for a specific type of show (e.g. cartoon, etc) and others are simply musical experiments that I've tried as a way to experiment with different song ideas, instrumentation, and production ideas.
I've been playing music since I was 9 years old, with various instruments. I started out with the piano, figuring out melodies and little chord grooves. Early on, I expected my instrument to be the piano. But I discovered the guitar when I was 13 and was immediately fascinated with it. I was self-taught for about 1 year then I found a great Jazz teacher and studied with him for several years. This is where I learned about music/harmony in general, and developed an appreciation for Jazz. I played with various rock bands through high school and also played with my high school Jazz band. In my college years I majored in Engineering, but I kept up my music studies with college courses in Music Theory, Jazz Improvisation, and performance in college Jazz ensembles. During college I played professionally in various groups (Mex-Tex, Rock, Dixie Land, Jazz combos, Blues) as well as working as a session musician at a small local recording studio, creating demos for various song writers in the area.
Currently, I play regularly with a band that does a variety of 60's and surf music, as well as continuing to write and record my own material. One of my notable projects in recent years, was doing some session work in Las Vegas with Tommy Devitto, one of the founding members of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
In 2011 one of my songs made it to the top 40 finalists in the Zenoids Cartoon theme contest. This is a web cartoon production spearheaded by William Shatner. I felt very proud of making it to the list of finalists ias many of the contestants were professional film/TV composers.
Yes, I play live quite a lot in the Phoenix area. I play regularly with a band that does a Beach Boys tribute show, surf music, 60s R&B, country, etc. I play for recording sessions whenever I can get that kind of work. I also play for church services.
I've been inspired by a lot of different musicians over the years. If I had to make my list of the ones that influenced me the most by it would be :
The Beatles, Steely Dan, Pat Metheny, BB King, Chet Atkins, Larry Carlton, Santana. Lately, I've been getting more into roots/rockabilly music. I listen to a lot of Scotty Moore, Brian Setzer, Danny Gatton, and others.
I use a variety of guitars:
Textone TwangKing - Custom guitar from a small guitar maker in Austin Texas
Eric Clapton model Fender Strat
Hamer Newport
Martin J-40M
Taylor 514CE
I've also been playing mandolin, dobro, and ukulele in my music to get different sounds. I love mixing those instruments with my traditional guitar sounds.
I record in my small home studio using Cakewalk Sonar and a few decent quality condenser mics, and one awesome Univeral Audio mic pre-amp.