Jesus, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather, Marco Sfogli, Criss Oliva (R.I.P.), Mike Oldfield, Lindsey Buckingham, Rusty Cooley, Michael Angelo Batio, Paul Crook, Curtis Basque, Al DiMeola, Alex Lifeson, Steve Morse, Stevie Ray Vaughan (R.I.P.), Ritchie Blackmore, late 80’s/early 90’s hair metal (hey, I grew up with it...), Mili (vocalist from Steelheart), and many others. I tend to favor those who study their instrument and take their music seriously.
Sounds Like
Unashamedly Rockin' Out For Jesus, Because He's Done So Much More For Me!
I'm a 33-year old guitarist originally from Saint John, NB, Canada (and will always be a Canuck at heart no matter what! ,/m/), I now live in Culpeper, VA, USA with my wonderful wife Angie, daughter Skye Melody, very cool stepdaughter Rhiannon (yep, named after the Fleetwood Mac song, cause that's just how cool she is folks! ;) ), and our assortment of critters overseen by three dogs and three cats. I'm a Senior Networking Engineer (Cisco & Juniper stuff) by day and a shredder by night...for the time being. I also currently have active Cisco CCNP, CCIP, and CCDP certifications.
That being said though, my life's true passion is Jesus, and the more I submit to Him and put Him first instead of selfishly thinking of myself, the happier I become and the better my life gets. The talents I have on guitar, as well as the many other blessings I have in my life, I have because God gave them to me. This gift of music from Him is a true blessing to me, and not one I take lightly. My family and I attend Mountain View Community Church here in Culpeper on Sundays, and these days we have also become more active in its' rockin' praise and worship music ministry through the monthly View Song Cafe sessions at "The Warehouse" - and they're a LOT of fun! :) I get to extend the range of my guitar abilities from tearing it up on electric to include the acoustic side of things too. To be honest, I'm very grateful for it, because for the longest time before these sessions, I found myself playing less and less acoustic guitar, almost to the point of that aspect of my musicianship being non-existant. God apparently just wants me to play *GUITAR*, period, though, without discriminating what kind, and that suits me just fine, I've never been happier! There's yet another blessing - He'll develop both my electric AND acoustic guitar playing! And besides, a wonderful acoustic guitar like my Ovation Adamas II should NOT be allowed to go to waste! :)
I also serve the Lord as a worship leader around Culpeper with Mountain View Community Church's worship band, CrossView, as well as with the Summit and City On A Hill churches, both once a month. Talk about a blessing! To be able to use the talents that God gave me on guitar for His Purpose is awesome! :)
My more shreddin' style material is not finished yet, but once it is I will post it. A few details about my uploaded tunes:
Angie: I wrote this piece for my wife one night while I was still back in Saint John before we got married. I was originally going to go out to a local open mic jam that night, but I ended up staying home and finishing this instead. Thanks to my wonderful wife for being my muse! :) I no longer own the guitar I used to record this one, which was a custom Ed Roman Quicksilver (SN 141) with Seymour Duncan BlackBack pickups (custom made for Ed Roman's guitars) through my Johnson J-Station.
Wasteland: This is actually a song by Curtis Basque, a very good friend of mine and musical influence from back in Saint John, which will be on his forthcoming album TBD (usage of his song on this website by permission from Curtis himself). He asked me to play on this song, and so the solo you hear during the last two minutes is me. I no longer own the guitar I used to record this one either, which was a rare 1993 Washburn N4 made from Paduak (supposedly only a few hundred were made), which I modified with a DiMarzio HB From Hell in the neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge, and a Schaller Floyd Rose. I played through Curtis' rig for this one, which was a Digitech 2101 through an old Hiwatt.
I am blessed to have Ben Cordy and his family in my life as good friends, as well as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. God crossed my path with Ben's to give me an example of what He intends for my life as a worship leader. Ben is also a missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Although we miss him while he's currently in other parts of the world to spread the Good News, we know that he is in God's hands and is living out His purpose to know God and make Him known. Click his pic to learn more:
Came across your site and wanted to personally say "Thank you" for putting me in your 'Top 16'. I very rarely leave comments on peoples pages because I don't personally handle my page and don't really surf the net. Rockin' out for Jesus is ALWAYS a great thing! Keep it up. Thanks again.
Busy as a one armed paper hanger. Just got confirmation that I'm sending a show to Afghanistan for the troops. Pretty exciting. Alfie Zappacosta, Bob and Clint Moffatt, Carson Downey and Jolene Keats.
I was coming on to myspace to leave you a comment only to find you had already left one for us. It's so awesome to see how God is using you and growing you! You're blessing our socks off!! Have a super week!
I hope you had a great Fathers day! I know Skye loved spending time with her daddy! I think it was awesome how she just kept staring at you when we were at lunch! Love ya! xoxoxox
Just dropping by to show ya some love and say "CONGRATS BRO!" on your soon-coming child. We're so happy for you and Angie! You're a great brother who will be an awesome Dad. Be blessed, shredder!
Metus Deus, nulla alius, Kevin Conner www.brandishingsteel.com www.myspace.com/brandishingsteel
