When your peers start to recognize you, it’s an intoxicating experience. Especially when those peers are much further up the ladder of success than you are. When I started getting better performance slots it was a kick in the pants. I did some shows at a place called Martini Blues. Several were styled after songwriter…
There’s no doubt that anyone and everyone on the planet can relate to the hurt of rejection. Unless of course you’ve got a screw loose and have no concept of E.Q. I don’t outwardly show a ton of emotion, but that doesn’t take the sting off of any rejection. Here’s one of the biggest stings…
Once upon a time I had a discussion with a friend that ran a songwriter’s group. During that discussion we spoke about another mutual friend who was a bass player and how he sang and played bass at the same time. Part of that discussion led to the idea of slap n pop, which is…
If you’ve ever seen the movies 20 Feet From Stardom or Hired Guns, some of what you’re about to read will not sound all that outrageous. However, if you’re not familiar with these two documentaries, then it’s possible you’ll think my veracity is suspect. A few years back I was doing auditions for bands signed…
The saying says that the man who does what he loves for a living will never work a day in his life. For me I get the joy of creating music as my living. Which is meant to say that I don’t apparently work. If I were to tell other musicians that I’ve played with…
To most musicians, being unknown is the kiss of death. Especially if no one beyond your family and a few friends know who you are. To that end, a lot of musicians are constantly working to expand their network and often get a little boost from instrument and gear makers. This is often called getting…
Video games are big business. As a kid I was a master of quite a few video games. Then I got into music and never thought of combining my musical skills with the creation of video games. Not until a friend of mine, Robert Navarro, put it in my head that I should find an…
How did I manage to live with a famous singer in Los Angeles? A question I tend to get when people find out one of my good friends and former roommate is Jeff Scott Soto. Getting disappointed living in Boulder Colorado after graduating from music school, I was looking around for places to go. Two…
Based on my upbringing, I’ve never been one to freak out over meeting someone with any kind of celebrity status. Gotta thank my parents and their friends for that. Cause they had some super famous friends and to my sister and I, they were just people. When I first started living in LA, I was…
Every musician out there has at least one other musician that has influenced their musical perspective. Stealing From One Source It’s been said that mediocre artists steal entirely from one source. Hence my opening line that we all have at least one influence. I remember very distinctly a music teacher that uttered those very words…