I started playing music during the seminal folk scene of the late 1950's. There
was considerable hang time in coffee houses and pilgrimages to Washington Square,
but by accident of birth I was a couple of weeks too late to be a beatnik and
a few years too early to be a hippy. Sonny Terry was my epiphany, and Bob Dylan
was making simple, raggedy-ass harmonica playing sound cool; I wanted cool.
Happily, the harmonica cooperated. Harp playing evolved into a plausible blues
style and I made progress with guitar and singing. Eventually, I found I could
do all three at the same time -Thanks, Bob.
Childhood and youth happened in Ohio and Indiana. The Ohio River Valley and
the southern edges of the Great Lakes are the long threads of my fabric - Toledo,
Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati. Punctuating an otherwise ordinary
suburban existence were memorable times spent working on family farms and in
rust-belt factories in other, smaller towns. Good stuff for a songwriter, and
reason enough to go to college.
After college I bolted the midwest for good, landing in the New York City area,
where I spent six quintessential East Coast years launching a career in industrial
design. In '72, I moved to Southern California, a single father with two young
children, started my own design company, and have since managed to hug the golden
coast for 30 years; Seal Beach, Manhattan Beach, Venice, Santa Monica and finally
Santa Barbara.
I began writing songs about eight years ago. There were two or three songs
under my belt when a local songwriting workshop came to my attention. I will
always be profoundly grateful to Jim Messina (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Loggins
& Messina) for those weekly sessions and the subsequent extended seminars. Jimmy
was incredibly supportive and a bottomless well of talent, professionalism and
experience. The workshops spurred and honed my efforts, and they created a wonderfully
active, supportive network of songwriters and performers in the Santa Barbara
area. Workshop bonus: It was there I met and eventually married the beautiful
and exceptionally talented singer/songwriter Kate Bennett. Thanks, Jim.
These days, Kate and I perform together. I back her songs with harmonica, she
backs mine with vocals. I also have the great pleasure and benefit of my youngest
son Keegan (20), playing lead guitar with me - the erstwhile 2Bisch'n' Blues
Band.
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