I had always loved music, but didnt really start playin in clubs and for audiences until a factory i worked for went on strike back in the late 70's.
Through the course of the journey i have had the privileged oppurtunity to open for acts such as Randy Newman, Preston Reed, John Hammond, Jonatha brookes, Christine lavin, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, John Stewart, Katie Melua, and most recently The Wood Brothers. I continue to try and play venues when my schedule allows.
My music and artist influences are too many to mention. However, blues, and all the major genres of music ( I guess everything is classified as something sooner or later ) have all played an important part. The great Merle travis fingerpicking style, and songwriters from the beatles era ( and before ) through the present time have all influneced me greatly. Although i initially learned to fingerpick the guitar after i had learned to play 5 string banjo. Once i started to fingerpick the guitar, i never really touched the banjo anymore.
Sometimes i seem to have more of a facination with actual sound and how its produced and reproduced, more than just the music itself. It's always seemed such a mystery to me where certain guitar tones come from live and also how they are manipulated in a studio situation to get such huge sound and pristine recordings. I tend to like old analog cranked tube amps more so than the new computer modeling things. Albeit, they have come a long way, and are getting better all the time. I'm sure all neighbors love em :-). They do have their place, and i believe are useful in certain circumstances. I guess i like recordings best if they are a combination of analog and digital technology these days. Although, i imagine sooner or later it will all go digital. It's all really a topic within itself.
One of my all time dreams is to be able to see how a professional recording is done from start to finish of an artist i admire. I would find the experience very valuable, and hopefully allow me to learn how to get the best sounds etc out of minimal equipment, or how to achieve certain sounds. Although, there is an old saying i heard once. I am not sure whom said it. It says though, something to the affect, if you enjoy music or politics, don't watch either one of them being made :-). From my own experiences, it may be part true. Everything has a price. For me, i consider the saying more geared towards non musicians and strictly listeners.
This has been a bit about me and will add and edit as i see fit. I hope you enjoy the tunes, and will try and post different ones from time to time. I'm new to things here in myspace so I'll do what i can. Feel free to message me ( or massage me :-) ) if you would like any more info on me and the music. Thanks, fred
