I didn't. My parents did. The other band I'm affiliated with, Evolutions... well, we chose that because we thought that having Dinosaurs on our gig posters would be cool. We briefly considered "Simply Tall."

I participate in the folk group that plays at the 8 PM Mass at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Ottawa, every sunday. Every Holy Thursday, all the choirs and musicians get together and participate in a Last Supper recreation that is... astonishingly beautiful. I spend the whole year looking forward to it.

How could it not? Twelve years ago, it cost us five thousand bucks to put out a CD that sold a couple of hundred copies. Now, I can record using my own equipment, and distribute exactly the number of copies as demand calls for. And I've reached thousands...

I really don't feel I need to be a rock star anymore. There are more important things in life, and I still get to make music. :-)

In the 1980s, I performed in a popular local group called The SugarDaddys. After that, I spent an active decade or so with Evolutions, which has kind of petered out of late. But during its heydey, it was great fun - we played original R&B music with a horn section, and we got to do some very strange (but fun) gigs. We were on the local radio and cable channel frequently, and even filmed a video (that involved the bassist and I attacking a woolly mammoth statue in loincloths, I am ashamed to say.)

Lately, I've put my focus on crafting sounds. What do I want my music to sound like? In these recordings I've played all the instruments myself, so that I can make the tunes sound exactly as I want them to. I learned the bass, got some congas, got my organ playing back into shape, and experimented with guitar textures. The later songs show that I am getting better at it.

Robert Cray, Albert Collins, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, B.B. King are big influences. So is Mark Knopfler. The people I've played with over the many years have had a big influence as well.

I love Montreal, especially near the water or in Old Montreal.

My mandolin is a Fender acoustic-electric. On electric guitar, I favour a Fender Telecaster, but also have two cherished Strats. My acoustics are both Ovations, which I like because of the cutaways. On keyboards, I have a Yamaha organ with a leslie speaker combo, and also an M-Audio Keystation, which I mostly use for its Steinway piano sample. I have a Squier P-Bass and a no-name banjo.

I record with a Fostex MR-8 and/or Quartz Studio, and use a combination of Reaper, Audacity, Ableton, and Wavosaur to mix and master.