Guitar, harmonica, vocals

A Fender Telecaster that I made myself from parts I bought on ebay and a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.  Though I own and occasionally use a Marshall amplifier I much prefer the Fender sound and my Fender Deluxe Reverb is my main amp these days.

I played in garage-type bands from about thirteen years old right on up until I was drafted into the United States Army when I was twenty-one.  While stationed at Fort Bragg, NC, I played country guitar in a local nightclub called "Our Place" with a piano-man named "Al".  I picked up most of my fingerstyle guitar technique there.  It was during my time in the Army that I was exposed to the types of music that came to form the basis of my musical ethos; like rockabilly, southern rock and straight-up fingerstyle guitar.

 

When I got out of the Army I tried to get back into playing in bands but for some reason it never seemed to work out. I lived my life, raised my kids and played my guitar at home.  I have no regrets.  Sometime in the year 2000 I became interested in band work again.  The guys in the Force of Habit took me into their fold and I have been playing ever since.

Many of the members of my Mother's family were and are musicians and so I guess my talent comes mostly from that side, but it was my father who made sure there was a always guitar in the house even when it wasn't being used. I loved the sound of the guitar long before I could play it.  My brother Mike and I started to really want to learn how to play around 1962 and we went at it with a vengeance.  I played in bands both with and without my brother for my entire adolescence and young adulthood.  Mike was and continues to be a big part of my musical life.

I never play anything exactly as played on "the record".  I sort of get the gist of what the guitarist is going for and then apply my own interpretation.  I believe, like my greatest influence George Harrison did, that the guitarist should not play one note more than is necessary but that the notes played should be integral to the song.  I believe that the guitarist should be a part of the band and not the focus of the band.  I don't study in any traditional sense and have no interest in musical notation whatsoever.  I simply enjoy the interaction between my fingers and the fingerboard and I love the sound of the guitar itself.  If it all comes together and others enjoy hearing it ... so much the better.

George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Steve Cropper, Paul Simon, Tommy Emmanuel and, of course, Jimi Hendrix.

Primarily a Classic Rock band, we do a lot of material which is dominated by the guitar styles of those eras.  We all share a common love for this music and I believe that is why this band has been together for over 30 years. They are a great bunch of guys and it is an honor to share a stage with them.