About AJ
Born Arnet Jerome Diggs on June 5th 1956 to Eula Mae Johnson & William Kessler Diggs in Philadelphia, Pa., I learned music at an early age. In this family of 10, all of my brothers and sisters either sang or played an instrument. Inheriting the love for all types of music (i.e. gospel, jazz, R&B, and entertaining) from Mom, who had the voice of an angel depending on how I acted...lol, and Dad, who I discovered later played guitar and sang quartet gospel.
I started a musical journey that hasnt waned even though its taken all of the changes in direction that musicians take. I was fortunate to survive the streets of Philadelphia, a few starter bands, a post Viet Nam military period, a marriage or two, being a single parent to a talented, high functioning, mildly disabled son and numerous losses of family members. The most recent being my brother Terrence on April 6th.
I'm currently the father of 2 daughters, Yolanda & Maleka and a son Arnet Jr.
I took violin lessons in the 3rd grade only to find that the cello squeaked a lot less. I played cello all through my school years, became a music magnet student and was good enough for 2nd seat All City Orchestra during high school. Also during that period, I had practiced long and hard enough to learn bass, guitar, drums, piano, theory, composition and acoustics. Over the years since school, my influences had grown from the Mozart I studied, through the 60's & 70's Motown eras to the more prevalent and progressive sounds of the electronic 80's & disco.
My major influence and mentor was my brother Vincent, a percussionist and singer in a 70's band called The Interpretations. He also played with Grover Washington Jr and was with the team that mentored Pieces Of A Dream. I ventured into virtuosity and began to listen to composers and performers like Jimi Hendrix, Motown's James Jamerson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Quincy Jones, Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten ( and the list goes on). My repertoire became virtually endless and includes a great deal of rock with was also prevalent during my musical growth. I also watched enough tv to develop an interest in theme songs and movie scoring and arrangement. I ended up being the MD for the majority of the bands I performed with because of my training in music and have several students to my credit. I left Philly in 1988 and relocated to South Carolina then moved to North Carolina in 2006.
Ive performed with several national and international artists like,
The Blue Notes, The Dreamlovers, The Ambassadors, Bill Pinkney and The Original Drifters. I have played for icons like the Johnny Rawls, the Late Chick Willis, Blues ladies like Barbara Carr and Priscilla Price thanks to the mentorship and business acumen of blues legend, Greensboro resident and my friend, Roy Roberts. This world class entertainer has made it possible for me to become an international entity with our tours overseas to perform at The Cognac Blues Festival in France, where I was honored to meet and chat with guitar legend George Benson and Billboard Live in Tokyo where we backed William Bell which is still my favorite gig. I am still in the Roy Roberts Band along with the Greensboro based bands, House Of Dues and Soul Central.
AJ and Company was formed by me in 1999 while residing in South Carolina.
My current cd, Already In Progress is still making moderate progress in the beach and blues markets and is available @ CD Baby, Amazon , Soundclick, Spotify, Number1Music and most digital download platforms....
...and of course from me.
You can expect a new cd from me soon and Ill see you @ the show.
PEACE, PROSPERITY & ONENESS
............................AND MUCH LOVE,
AJ Diggs Sr
Instrumentation
The current unit consists of myself on all lead vocals,Electric and Acoustic guitars and everything else you may hear on my recordings. (Except where indicated.) The other members or additional personel will be announced.
I play live and lately i've been doing a lot of work with blues artists in the Greensboro, NC area. There are a number of blues venues between NC,SC,GA, Fla and beyond. So far, it's always a special moment on the many stages. This year has put most bands to the test of survival but I can safely say, my crew and I have survived and are looking forward to performing for you.
Growing up in Philly,it goes without saying that I listened to a lot of MOTOWN, the local groups like The Delphonics, Blue Magic, The Intruders and the legendary SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA, Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes, Billy Paul, The O'Jays, Dexter Wansel, along with Sly and the Family Stone,The Iron Butterfly, Cold Blood, Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, Isaac Hayes & STAX/VOLT, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith,, George Benson,and even Sinatra.Through other entertainment mediums(i.e.radio,tv,etc),I got familiar with QUINCY JONES, CHICK COREA,
LALO SCHRIFIN, MIKE POST and the art of scoring which is really what I aspire to do ultimately.I also learned Jazz and Gospel, which were also prevalent in my musical upbringing. Stevie Wonder, Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Prince, Steely Dan, Phil Collins, Led Zeppellin,The Beatles and the late greats Jimi Hendrix, Barry White, Ray Charles, Jaco Pastorious, Otis Redding, Grover Washington, Luther Vandross, Tyrone Davis, Curtis Mayfield, Roger Troutman, Michael Jackson & Marvin Gaye are still staples of my daily regimen.
I use a Sterling 5 string bass, an LTD 6 string bass with either an Ampeg BA210 or the Eden Nemesis Bass Amps. A employ a Fender "Voodoo" Strat, a Mexican Strat, an Ibanez AF1 and a Squier Custom 20th Anniversary Edition Strat. Shure SM57 & SM58 Mics....yeah..."Old School"
CHECK OUT WHAT I DO.I DON'T USE DIGITAL BUT I'M LEARNING TO. I DON'T LOOP CUT &/OR PASTE! I DO MOST OF IT ALONE AND I'M ONE OF THE BEST I KNOW IN THIS BUSINESS. IF YOU CAN NAME 100 TOP 40 TUNES FROM "THE OLD SCHOOL",I CAN PLAY THE ENTIRE RHYTHYM TRACK TO AT LEAST 85 OF THEM. I'VE LEARNED MY LESSONS WELL AND I AM MORE THAN WILLING TO SHARE WITH THOSE THAT FEEL THE NEED TO KNOW. THERE ARE MANY SNAKES STILL IN THE PICTURE AND I'VE BEEN PRACTICING FOOL-PROOF METHODS OF RIDDING THE BUSINESS OF THEM. I DO THIS FOR A LIVING AND I LOVE IT!
FEEL FREE TO MAKE CONTACT ME.
