I have come to doing music in much the standard way. I was exposed to pop music and when in my teens, found a mentor who introduced me to Jazz. That was Pete DeMarzo and he was the local (Scranton Pa.) guitar master. He had incredible ears and was able to transcribe in tremendously large chunks without the guitar. He was totally self taught and had more influence on me than anyone who was famous. The song "Teacher" on my CD “AXE OF GOD” is about all of that. My past includes medium length "road stints" along both the east and west coasts. In the 80s I lived in Los Angeles and got much more involved in what happens in the recording studio. I did a lot of recording and got much more interested in that than in playing live. In this long process, I have discovered that I am not a guitar player. I am also not an entertainer or performer and have never wanted to be any of these things. My job is to create music. I compose, arrange and record my own music. I also take tunes I like, and arrange them in a way that expresses what I hear. I use guitars as well as digital technology to create with. They are my tools just like a hammer is to someone framing a house. Playing an instrument is my means to an end, not the end itself. I usually create alone, but I would love to meet other creative people who would want to collaborate with me. Feel free to contact me if you would like to collaborate. BTW, I get a lot of questions about “What kind of pick do u use?..What guitar did u use?? etc...etc” and I do have a lot of equipment. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have about this stuff, and I will do my best. Please note, however, that I don't take equipment very serious anymore, I usually pay little attention to the guitar, amp settings, strings or much else when I do these recordings, but will do my best with your technical questions. So, I make music. That's it. I have no desire to play “jobs” nor am I an available "guitar for hire". Those situations generally do not allow me to express my ideas, and therefore have little value for me. I am not an entertainer and don't really want or know how to be. To me, entertainment and music are two completely different things, although in the mainstream they often get connected. I do not connect with the "entertainment' part. It's the job of the court jester to come out and make the King laugh. He may do whatever it takes to accomplish this; Juggle, walk on hot coals, swallow worms or bend spoons with his ass cheeks. This is not my job, nor do I want it. I leave that to the entertainers. I just do the music. Along my way I have heard many views on all of the above, but I have narrowed it down to 4 simple quotes. These come from very unlikely places, and when in doubt (which is often) I try to remember one of these. 1. "Time flies when you're wasting it." |
