I'm a 56 year old guitar player who has been playing professionaly for nearly 40 years.
I was born in Ohio, raised in Virginia and have found my way to Durango, Colorado by way of Texas, Michigan and Florida. I came here originally with Tony Lane and Jon Mastin from Dallas, fell in love with the mountains, and never went back. I live here with my dear wife Kathy, 2 dogs, a cat, 4 horses, and about 25 goats. I have been in this area for nearly 25 years now.
I love it here in the mountains where we are paid regular visits by deer, coyotes, lions, and a couple of particularly smart and tenacious bears. I fish a lot. Life is good.
I did a 4 year stint teaching guitar at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico.
I'm also a truck driver working for a local construction company named AJ Construction. It was started and run by my friends Terry James, and Mark and Mike Anderson. They are more like family to me than bosses. I probably take advantage of that a little, but they are very tolerant of me sometimes dragging my butt into work after a late gig the night before, and I love working with them. Mark is the same person who started the Movin' On Band that I have worked with for that past ten years or so. My boss is also my bass player. For more on Mark, Jeff, Billy and the Movin On Band, check out the "Say What?" page.
I don't play out as much as I used to, but I still have a regular Sunday night gig with a group called the Blue Moon Ramblers at the Diamond Belle Saloon in the Strater Hotel in downtown Durango.
And my latest project with Lisa Blue and Hal Lott is starting to gather some momentum. We now have a regular Thursday evening gig at a bar and grill called Sweeney's here in Durango.
Before that, I played with Sojourner Wolf's Cathouse Band, Hot Sauce, the Catfish Band, Dark Horse, The Hatch Brothers, Legacy, The Hues of Blues and most recently had my own blues band called the Sixth Street Allstars. I have played on and off through the years with one of my favorite artists, Greg Ryder and still enjoy sitting in with him when I have the chance.

I can't fail to mention the wonderfull music I have made over the years with my friend Jana Lee. Both on the local level and in a short stint with the legendary Hoyt Axton, who she sang with for many years. She is one of the greatest singers I've ever heard.
And also, many of my formative years were spent in Dallas with Tony Lane and Jon Mastin in the infamous "No Name Band". I owe much to them, and the rich tradition of Texas music that I was exposed to during my years in Dallas. I found the musical home there that I had been looking for. Though I'm not Texan by birth, I feel a strong kinship with the people and music, and even after all these years in Colorado, that river still flows through everything I play. And I recently had the pleasure of doing some tracks for Michael J. Martin, an old friend from Dallas who came to Pagosa Springs to record.

Over the years, my bands have had the pleasure and priviledge of opening shows for quite a number of famous acts. While I would count very few of them as real highlights of my career, some do stand out in my memory. And the chances I've had to talk to some very creative people have been particularly rewarding.

Some of the acts I've opened for include:
Merle Haggard
Waylon Jennings
Lyle Lovett
Jerry Jeff Walker
Taj Mahal
Dr. John
B.B. King
Delbert McClinton
Dwight Yokum
Randy Travis
Asleep At The Wheel
Patty Loveless
Johnny Paycheck
Charlie Daniels
Don Williams
Billy Joe Shavers
Tracy Byrd
Tanya Tucker
Mark Chestnutt
Neal McCoy
Guy Clark

What Kind Of Music Do You Like?
This is a question I get all the time. My feeling is that "it's all Blues to me".
Blues is the river that runs through most of the music I play. Country, Jazz, R&B, Folk, Rock, Bluegrass (my banjo playing friend George Uscinowitz says I "put the blue in bluegrass").
As a kid, I discovered Muddy Waters, Louie Armstrong and Jimmie Rogers and I was hooked. Later I followed my passion for Blues on a discovery trip that led me to Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, , Doc Watson, Merle Haggard, Count Basie, and a host of others.
Without the Blues, there would be no American music.
Some people think of me as a country picker. Others have never heard me play anything but Blues. and a whole lot of people think I'm Bluegrass and Folk. My tastes tend to run toward "rootsier" stuff in general. I find that so much contemporary music is more about fashion and fad, and who is the hippest. And it bores me. It is music that is here today and gone tomorrow. "Musical Big Mac's" is what I call it. MTV is to music what the WWF is to sports.
Good music has an enduring quality that trancends the latest fads, and has appeal to a whole spectrum of people. 100 years from now people will still be playing Bob Dylan, Bach, Muddy Waters and Louie Armstrong , but I seriously doubt if anyone will remember the Hip Hop artist de jour.
I'm the only player I know of that in the course of about a week played Merle Haggard in Rock bar, Jimi Hendrix in a country bar, and Frank Sinatra with a Bluegrass band. So you figure it out.