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well they said add a bio to the site, so I'll keep it concise and as factual or factoid, whichever you perceive, as possible. It all began in a little european village outside of the Vatican City, which by the way, is the smallest country in the world, now dig this, I was born with a very small guitar in my hands straight outa the womb! it was amazing......just kidding,.... born and raised in san jose, love that bay area, I suppose the music thing hit me pretty hard cuz I remember hangin' out at home with mom's being my usual hyperactive borderline ADHD mischievous self, gettin' on mom's last nerve when she flicks the kitchen transistor radio on one day after grade school, I guess to keep from stringing me up, this was around 1961-62,... well she dials in her favorite top |
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40 AM statiom ,KLIV, I think that was it, they played top 40 hits like the elvis's, bobby darin's, the four seasons, coasters, drifters etc., well that did it, I soon manipulated, as I'd been accustom to do on occassion, and got a tube radio for the "boys" room,(4 boys and 3 sisters, your typical no-nonsense, no safesex family, but that's another story), I | |
| systematically got real deep into music, the hits as well as the misses, music was now my favorite pasttime, I'm talking the animals, beatles, rolling stones, temptations, wilson picket, jr. walker and the rest, I remember my first live show, I was round 15, david serrano the "older" neighbor kid, the very hip, low-riding crazy all around 60's gangster cool slick growing up with friend took me to see James Brown at the fairgrounds, that began | ||
| my professional career as a, got way too much time on his hands concert goer.....I suspect I've attended every out-door, in-door, in the club, at the fairgrounds on the tv, r&r, r&b, blues, soul, funk show worth going to, the san francisco filmore, winterland avalon ballroom and the rest were pure inspiration, to say the least. Grandpa, on my mothers side, played guitar, they'd sit around drinkin and singing mexican |
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| folklore, always very festive and lively, he'd see me eyeballin' his axe and eventually got me one, I was maybe 12 or so and it was a nylon beauty with cowboys on it, I think roy rodgers, anyway gramps taught me to play cielito lindo and some mariache rythms, my father caught on and sent me to this music store for guitar lessons, which given my inherent defiant nature worked against me, I wanted to rock n roll and they wanted me to learn to read charts and play oh susanna, pops was bent on learnin' me and hired a finger-picking old dude to come to the house since the | ||
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music store didn't pan out and teach me finger picking, that was cool but there was still a kinda difference in material, a creative dispute if you will, meaning this "teacher" insisted on having me play the way lame standards, I soon became a rather rebellious student, which at the time was more or less the "in" thing to do......hard pressed to rock I bought this Ventures album and it had learn how to play, walk don't run and pipe-line, I think wipe-out too, the instructions were | |
| easy, given my already been through the learn this and learn that phase, together with a few school chums who liked to play and pretend to be rock stars I put my first band somewhat together, loads of fun and the girls dug it.....first performance was at high school, I was literally flunking outa my get this, music class, probably cuz I seemingly had better things to do , like run up to haight asbury and golden gate park in S.F., to see and live the hippie scene, music sex and dabble in extensive substance use and eventual abuse, any way....to pass my much needed music class for the credits to graduate, my teacher suggested I play for the school at a end of the year student talent show, kinda scary I recall being a little nervous and smoking a huge before going on reefer, me and a buddy covered the woodstock richie havens | ||
| tune, freedom, I remember that being a major rush and we killed em, need-less to say I passed with an A, the first A grade I ever got in high school.............played rock n roll till one time looking into some savoy brown material or rolling stone stuff I really can't recall but I noticed all the selections I wanted to learn were willie dixon, sonny boy, b.b. king, hooker and the like songs, it's been blues ever since...... |
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| been struggling in so far as being consistant, to my dismay,..... my brother hook, on the other hand did a tremendous job with being true to this calling, if you will, he'd come around hang out watch and listen to the endless jams I'd have going on here and there, picked up a harmonica at one point and commenced to play, bro hook's been no less than an awesome inspiration. I found I was redirected a number of times for a various number of reasons, always came back to putting together a blues band, off and on | ||
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over the years, I'll play nothing else I'm afraid, being the self-absorbed egotistical narcissist pin-head that I am I did not join any of the other players bands, though I've had opportunity, I've instead always kinda spearheaded the various blues projects to date......in the site you'll see mostly photo's taken with friends, past and present, current band, more history, now and then, and shots of the family and relatives......click on | |