Q: Did you learn to play an instrument as a kid?
A: I started playing the guitar when I was 13 years old. A year later I played my first paying gig at a local school fish fry. We were all younger then most of the kids at the dance. I got paid twelve dollars and almost got beat up after the gig! |
Q: Where were you born and raised?
A: I was born in Mississippi but call Florida my home, I spent my growing up years in the outskirts of Largo. |
Q: When did you get serious about music?
A: At the age of fifteen I had a small run in with the local sheriff's department. My parents had me on restriction for damn near a year. Looking back; this is what made my sit in my room and practice and learn to really start playing. |
Q: Are you self-taught?
A: For the first couple of years I taught myself rhythm guitar. A buddy of mine was learning lead riffs from a teacher, so I took lessons from him for a couple of years. I wanted to be a jazz player when I hit my early 20's and took some lessons, but never really got the hang of it. But sometimes you can still hear it in my improv. |
Q: Do you get nervous before a show?
A: "Practice makes perfect" or at least that's how its goes for me. Practice is the only thing that gives you the confidence to keep the jitters down to a minimum. Before a big show I tell myself "Son, you've been doing this all your life." |
Q: What instruments do you play?
A: My main instrument is the guitar both acoustic and electric. I also have been playing the single row button accordion and play electric bass when recording or writing new songs. |
Q: What artists and music do you listen to?
A: A have monster vinyl collection from years past, but I seem to listen to the same stack of CD's that are close at hand. Buddy and Julie Miller, Steve Earl, Robert Earl Keen, Robben Ford, Guy Clark, Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Sounds like a lot of Texas boys, but the next day I'm off to Reggae and dancehall. |
