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Craig Allen @ Solid Rock Cafe - 1/13/07

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I have been playing guitar and writing songs for over 10 years. I starting playing piano against my will when I was barely tall enough to reach the pedals, although now I deeply regret ever quitting. In 4th grade I joined the band when I borrowed my Uncle's beat-up trumpet. In middle school I played in the jazz band, but I always envied the guitarist. When I was 13, I was given my dad's dad's old guitar that made my fingers bleed and never was in tune. The fretboard was too wide and the strings too far away but that didn't stop me from learning to switch between G and C for hours on end. For my next birthday I was lucky enough to get my own guitar, an Ibanez acoustic for about $300.

The next summer I started lessons with Pete Smyser, a local jazz guitarist and teacher at Devo's. That same summer I also started playing drums, because my dad wanted my little sister to play and bought her a used kit with no crash symbol. I learned to play on that set and just pretended to hit the crash that was not there each time.

That summer was also the birth of the band known as "The Bugs". I decided I needed to learn how to play the drums so we could have this band, and I practiced tirelessly in my basement. Adam sang and played guitar, JB played bass, Jon played trumpet and keys, and Matt played trombone and bongos. Yes, we had some ska songs, but we mostly just played our "hit", I Am Here. By the end of that same year, Adam and his family moved to Canada, and "The Bugs" was over. But Adam and I always knew that one day he would move back down to PA and we would reunite with a new band. That summer came years later and we started "Found Here", which soon after became "Jocelin's Folly". This group included Adam, Jon, and myself, but also saw the addition of Adam's sister, Becca, and Nate on drums. Jon played acoustic guitar while Adam and I traded off on lead guitar and bass. Whichever one of us wrote the song we were playing sang it and played guitar. As you can imagine this led to unavoidable, organized chaos on stage. But finally we set up a recording studio in that same basement where we began our journey, and recorded our first real album, entitled "Only A Sample". This is a name Adam came up with, and it featured four songs written be me and five by Adam.

After recording the album, Adam got married and finished college. Then I got married, Jon finished college, Nate started college, and even though we were finally all in the same area, we were not able to continue playing at this time. Adam celebrated the birth of his son, Connor, and in the Spring of '06, I celebrated the birth of my daughter, Lydia.

I finally decided to try a solo project with the many songs I have written that we did not play as a band. In the next few years, I plan to play shows and hopefully form a small 3 piece rock band, inspired by the early days of Switchfoot. I love that raw sound with one guitar, a bass, and drums. I hope to record a solo album of all original songs, although it will be a lengthy process because I want it to sound great. Also, I have decided to trust God with the financial aspect of this project, and use the money I make from playing shows and selling cd's to support my church's missionaries, The Rebers. They have been a huge encouragement and source of support of not only my musical pursuits, but more importantly my spiritual journey. Please pray for them as often as you can as they are raising support to move to Kenya for at least two years by Summer '07.