Born: Chico California, August 1950
Resides: Benicia, CA
Favorite Food: filet med-rare, lobster tail, baked potato
Favorite Book: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Favorite Song: Kathy's Song by Paul Simon
Relationship Status/Children: married, 2 adult sons
July was a busy month for you—twenty four gigs in twenty nine days. Since you retired from teaching have you thought about slowing down? When my wife, Kathy retires, maybe.
You say you were shy and didn’t date in high school. Anyone who has seen you play knows you’re not shy now. How did you overcome your shyness? First, I met my future wife Kathy on a blind date. She was not shy and helped me tremendously overcoming my shy tendencies. Second, when you teach high school it is impossible to remain shy and be an effective teacher.
You play “covers.” For those who don’t know, what does that mean? It's someone else's song that I liked and taught myself how to play and sing. I didn't have a lot of interest early on to write my own songs. I wanted to play the songs that were popular and everyone already knew. I guess I didn't even consider writing my own songs. I didn't have anything important to say through my own songs.
As a retired BHS physics teacher, how did being around high school students and their music affect you as a musician? I did get suggestions from students. An example is I play "Stairway To Heaven” (Led Zeppelin) at almost every gig because of a very insistent student. Early in my career the suggestions were right on, in the latter few years I influenced my students more than the other way around.
What did you listen to as a teenager? Peter, Paul, & Mary, Beatles, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Simon & Garfunkel, Rolling Stones, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, etc.
What do you listen to now? A lot of classical music (not classic rock), and the same stuff I listened to in my teens and twenty's.
What's the first music you remember hearing? Ray Conniff, Peter, Paul & Mary, Kingston Trio. Also, church choir music; my dad sang in the choir.
Who influenced your music? All the artists from the 1960's but mostly Paul Simon, Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey, John Denver, John Lennon & Paul McCartney. They wrote/recorded the songs I still play to this day.
When did you know you wanted to be a musician? When I saw Ed Sullivan's show Feb 9, 1964! When the Beatles first appeared on TV, I was 13 1/2 & knew I wanted, someday, to be good enough to play and sing like that. All those girls screaming and fainting! Wow!
What was your best moment on stage? When I am able to get everyone singing either Don McClean’s "American Pie" or "Hey Jude.” It is a lot of fun to hear everyone in the place singing with me. I have no interest in being a "star,” what I am doing is so much fun that it's just right.
