MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS: Tom Waits, Eva Cassidy, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henry, Richard Julian, Patsy Cline, Michael Reed, Joan Baez, John Cowen, Kitaro, Tuck&Patti, Leonard Cohen, Jennifer Warnes' CD "Famous Blue Raincoat!) many more.
INSPIRATIONAL WEATHER: I LOVE cool cloudy days. They energize me and make me feel at peace and "at home" (shades of my Irish blood?)
Sounds Like
Some say I sound just like Suzanne Reed... I have to agree
I have a very loving family and great friends in my life. I'm lucky.
I sing and play guitar which is a very big part of my core. I started in San Diego coffeehouses in the mid 60's, then as a working singer/guitarplayer for 20 + years starting at age 19. The first four years I was in a duo with my friend Pete Varhola. Pete and I worked mainly with the Reuben's Restaurant chain; we played Atlanta and all around Calif. After my years with Pete, I went into a solo career and worked for Reubens but then went on to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Carmel, CA. The 80's found me into Country music bands, first fulltime and then later parttime, while Dan and I were raising the boys. Country music was thriving so I jumped into that with both feet and loved it. I got to work with some of the most incredible musicians. In the 90's I started integrating day work into my life as I knew I'd need other skills to carry me. As for my music "wheel", it went full circle at that point. I could see that coffeehouses /cafes coming back in vogue in mid 90's with singer/guitarists. I went around San Jose where we were living and got some "JFFTO" ("just for fun/tips only") gigs in these new cafes doing open mics. This time it was focusing on songwriting, however, so I started dabbling in writing. Scary place to go for a former "cover tune only" performer!
Now here I am creeping up on 60 and a few years ago finally started to get serious about writing songs. Never too late to learn something new!
Two of the most incredible people I've ever known in my life? Matthew and Michael Reed. I never knew my heart could love, and break, as much as it does for my sons. They are both so uniquely talented, so smart, so funny, so real. "I hope I get to see them soon" ....I always say that to myself.
Please visit ALL the wonderful folks in my "Friends" section and go support their shows if they are playing in a town near you.
wow, your sons music is beautiful. really nice. Thats a dang good first recording, garage band is brill isnt it? lets us all give recording a go. its such a shame, we were coming to san diego for the night, even had a couch surfee hooking us up for the eve, i was even trying to find a gig there, but we had to cut it out of our journey because we didnt organise very well!!! Oh well, all the best the music and keep in touch. Jonah
Suzanne - It is good to hear you have dreams cause I believe no matter what age dreams will come true even if it's only for a short time. My dream band is coming together right now. Lets say we are late starters! I had a lot of life to live first! I miss Summersongs. I hope that I will be able to go again sometime.
I totally agree that I need to get out to some more open mics! Last night I went to see a show at Portugalia and Jefferson Jay asked me if the rumor was true that I'd retired from music. Not true! I am performing in the Creative uRGe contest on Friday, May 22 at the Hilton in Mission Valley. I can do a Tuesday or a Wednesday night open mic. Lemme know! :-)
Water conservation is crucial! Learn more, benefit change, hear music! Come to the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach this Sunday afternoon... 143 S. Cedros Ave. Solana Beach, CA 92075
So yeah, Prince William's agent/publicist/PR guy/whatever called us or rather called the head of our label, Sailor Mouth Records, to ask if we could play at some royal thing in a few months and we asked him for a dollar.
Anyway, there's a music video coming up very soon for three of our newest songs and there are also two new songs coming before the end of this coming week. An olm is a creature that lives in caves under Slovenia and is pretty much a glorified eel-it has no eyes but has little hands, for no apparent reason. The people who first discovered them thought they were baby dragons. Yesterday I watched TV.
So yeah, Prince William's agent/publicist/PR guy/whatever called us or rather called the head of our label, Sailor Mouth Records, to ask if we could play at some royal thing in a few months and we asked him for a dollar.
Anyway, there's a music video coming up very soon for three of our newest songs and there are also two new songs coming before the end of this coming week. An olm is a creature that lives in caves under Slovenia and is pretty much a glorified eel-it has no eyes but has little hands, for no apparent reason. The people who first discovered them thought they were baby dragons. Yesterday I watched TV.
