Ok, so I'm supposed to write some kinda bio about myself to let ya'll know a little about the "new Guy". Well, I'm not exactly sure where to start, so I'll just start by tellin' ya'll that I've been doing this music thang since I was about 7 years old, when I started playing trombone in the school band up in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, Illinois, where my family had just moved to from Miami, Florida. My father was in the Navy and had been transferred there. Navy brat, indeed. Three years later, when my father retired after 23 years of service, we moved down to Lakeland, Florida, where some of my mom's family lived. When I was in the sixth grade, the Beatles happened, and it became apparent that guitar players and bass players got a lot more attention from members of the female persuasion than trombonists did, so I asked for - and got - a bass guitar for Christmas. Me and some buddies from school put together a band and started driving our families crazy every weekend, when we'd practice at the homes of our families on a rotating basis.

After gradually working my way up and through several bands, my older brother joined a band that was rather popular in the area, "The Enticers", whose singer had been drafted and shipped off to Viet Nam. My brother had never been in a band before, but quickly became a very good singer and a great front-man. Shortly after he joined, the bass-player was drafted and was also sent to Viet Nam, so they asked me to join their band. I took the gig and dove into what was my first road-band. They were all about 5 years older than me and were playing 4 or 5 nights a week, usually one-nighters at teen-centers or clubs all over Florida and Georgia. I was 14 years old at the time and quickly became exposed to all kinds of things that most guys my age hadn't experienced yet. Our guitarist was the next one to be drafted and shipped off to Nam, then my brother married the Mayor's daughter and decided to pursue a more respectable line of work, so me and the drummer - Johnny Rhodes - went searching for a guitarist we'd been hearing about for a while, a guy named Don Hanna, who was teaching guitar at the various local music stores in the area. He'd just moved to town from San Francisco, so he had immediate hippy credentials. He was quite good on guitar, plus he was a songwriter, so we got together for a couple of jam sessions, where things jelled rather quickly. We brought another singer aboard, who lasted about 2 weeks. I forget if he quit or was asked to resign, but after he left, Donnie and myself took over the lead vocals. We called ourselves "Power" and started playing everywhere that would book us. We quickly became very popular throughout Florida, opening shows for the likes of Fleetwood Mac (the early version), Savoy Brown, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Black Sabbath, Johnny Winter, Cactus and a whole slew of other bands that were big at the time. We got a couple gigs up in New York City, which led to the end of my high school career, which didn't exactly break my heart, seeing as I'd probably been kicked off campus a hundred or more times for various infractions, mostly for having too much fun and being the first hippie/musician at our school. Well, the gigs went well, but we otherwise imploded shortly after returning from New York, mostly because our guitarist wanted to stay closer to home, as he had about 50 guitar students that he was quite dedicated to. We got a guy named Les Dudek to replace him, hired a keyboardist named Peter Schless, added a second drummer named Ricky Ramjet and continued on as "Power" for about another year or so, although we'd become a completely different band by that time. When Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident, two of the first people they called to audition were Les and Peter. Neither of them got the gig, though Chuck Leavell did. We broke up shortly thereafter. I forget why, but I think it had something to do with inflated egos or something like that.

My brother had gotten divorced and back in the music biz about then, singing for a band named "Coventry" down in Ft. Lauderdale. They were crazy and loud, so I joined them for a while. That band had a drummer named Frankie Banalli, who went on to heavy-metal fame and glory as a member of "Quiet Riot". We played around south Florida for a few foggy months, until I smashed a finger on my left hand in what can only be described as a "transportation accident". I had to leave the band and quit playing for almost a year to let my finger heal. When it finally got to where I could start playing again, I started focusing on guitar, which I'd always messed with anyway. A promoter in Gainesville, Bruce Nieron, called me and asked if I'd feel like playing at the "Halloween Ball", to which I replied, "Yeah, book it", not having a clue what I'd be doing. So, I grabbed an acoustic guitar I'd borrowed off a friend a few years earlier, bought a Fender Telecaster and a little Epiphone amp, and went up and did a solo set of mostly acoustic blues in front of about 7 or 8 thousand Gainesville partiers, most of whom were totally out of their trees. I was followed by a band named "Mudcrutch", who were a popular band in G'ville at the time. As I was leaving the stage - and they were coming on - they asked if I'd be interested in joining their band. We exchanged numbers and hooked up a few times over the next few weeks. It seemed like a good fit, so I moved to Gainesville and dove in. We played around the University of Florida a lot and developed quite a loyal following. We soon recorded a demo-tape at Benmont's parents' house, hired a manager, Michael Lembo, and took off on a road-trip, booking the band everywhere from Tallahassee to Ft. Lauderdale. By the time we finished that run, we were quite tight, so we did another demo of our originals, the bulk of which were written by Tom before I'd joined the band. Then Tom, our road-manager Duke McAllister, and myself loaded ourselves and a cooler-full of ham sandwiches and chili (that we'd cook on a Coleman stove at rest stops along the way) into my 1970 VW camper and drove out to Los Angeles, where we had a few friends we'd been talking to about how to get a record deal. I'd replaced a guy named Tom Leadon, whose brother Bernie was an original member of the "Eagles", and acted as our advisor. We slept on anybody's floor that would have us, then get up in the morning and grab a phone book and look up "Record Companies". We'd then call, ask for the head of the A & R department, tell 'em we were a hot-shit band from Florida with a demo-tape. Sometimes we'd get an appointment; sometimes we'd get hung-up on. We started with the smaller companies so that we could practice our presentation, which included knowing when to cough while they were listening, to cover any little mistakes. On about the third day of working this one phone booth, I saw a sheet of legal-sized paper blowing across the sidewalk, so I walked over and grabbed it. It was a goldmine! On it were the names and numbers of the heads of every A & R department for every label in Hollywood. We started setting up appointments, sometimes 3 or 4 per day. After doing this for about 2 weeks, we had generated interest from 4 different labels. But we were rapidly running out of money, so we headed back to Florida, where we had some more gigs booked, while staying in touch with several of the labels that were interested in the band. We decided to sign with one label, mostly because the guy we were dealing with was going to get us a house in The Valley and book us at clubs around town. But on the day we were loading up our truck to make the move, the phone rang. It was Denny Cordell from Shelter Records, the label he co-owned with Leon Russell. He'd heard the tape and asked if we'd like to stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma on our way out west, to spend a couple days in Leon's studio there, which was housed in an old stone church. We said sure, seeing as Denny had produced such hits as "A Whiter Shade of Pale", by Procol Harem, "Go Now", by the Moody Blues, Leon Russell's first album, and had just produced Joe Cocker's first album and the legendary "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" live recording. We formed a funky caravan of cars, vans and a truck and headed west, making it to Tulsa in about three days. We introduced ourselves, set-up our gear, and recorded non-stop for 48 hours. When we were through, Denny offered us a deal, and then fronted us $5,000 to get someplace to live and an attorney to negotiate the deal, without asking us to sign anything. We shook hands, took the money, and headed for Hollywood. We hit a dust-storm as soon as we left Tulsa that was so bad that you couldn't drive faster than about 25-30 MPH. It took us about 4 days to get to L.A. and by the time we got there, we were FRIED, so we checked into the "Hollywood Premiere Motel & House Of Ill Repute", which was right on Hollywood Boulevard, and watched the hookers work the intersection, where they'd procure their "client" before bring them to one of the rooms next to ours, where they'd consummate the deal. We went out and found a couple houses in Canoga Park, which was out in the San Fernando Valley, then started looking for an attorney. We hired one of the most notorious music-biz attorneys in L.A. and started the negotiating, which went on for about 4 months. We finally signed the deal and started recording, eventually hitting just about every major studio in town. There was a certain member that just wasn't pulling it off in the studio, which drove me crazy. When the other guys in the band wouldn't do anything about it - even after our producer lost interest for the same reason - I said "See Ya!" I loved that band and I don't have to tell you that they've gone on to become one of the biggest bands in American Rock history. They eventually made the change I'd wanted to make about two years later, so at least I can say that I know in my heart that I wasn't being totally irrational, but suffice it to say that I could probably wear-out a shrink's ear for a few days. Ahem! Don't get me started!

After that, I played in a string of bands, including another stint out in Hollyweird as guitarist with "Phil Seymour & the Feel", which was during the skinny-tie, New Wave era. Denny Cordell moved me back out to L.A. to play with them, so at least I know that he hadn't lost respect for my playing. Phil was the voice doing all those background vocals on such "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers" hits as "Breakdown" and "American Girl", and had been one-half of a group from Tulsa named "Dwight Twilley" who'd had a top-10 hit around 1974 with a song called "I'm On Fire". We created quite a stir around Hollyweird for a few months. About 10 years ago, I got a wild hair to track him down, which I did. He was just walking in from a trip to the hospital, where he'd gone for some tests. He was very introspective during our conversation and sounded as if he'd been doing a lot of soul-searching. I found-out a few months later that he'd passed away from lymphoma. God bless him and rest his soul. He was a nice, very-talented guy who I'll always remember fondly.

The legendary producer "Phil Spector" was hot for us and started showing up at our rehearsals and gigs. He'd produced people like "The Righteous Brothers", "The Ronettes", "The Beatles", "The Rolling Stones" and "The Ramones", so it was kinda cool to hang-out with someone with such lofty credentials, even if he was the biggest nut-case I'd ever met. I'll never forget sitting around a grand-piano with him and Phil Seymour, singing old Ronettes songs and getting him drunk on "Colt 45 Malt Liquor". But Phil was soon romanced away from us by Casa Blanca Records, who didn't want to bring the band along in the deal. At the same time, my other brother, Freddie, was killed in a car crash back in Florida, so shortly thereafter, I decided to move back to Florida to be closer to my family.

I met Robert Nix, who was the drummer and songwriter/co-producer for "The Atlanta Rhythm Section" during their hay-day. He'd just left the band and was looking for a writing partner. So, I dove into writing a bunch of tunes for a "Billy Joe Royal" album. Billy Joe was a great cat and the sessions were insane, recorded mostly in Atlanta. The album was put out on Mercury Records and was the transitional turning-point for him, going from a southern-pop thang to a country R&B direction. He went on to have quite a string of country hits after that, until the new "young country" movement smothered all the seasoned veterans out of the biz.
I kicked around in various bar-bands for a number of years, built a couple recording studios, and eventually took a gig on a little cruise-ship in Cape Canaveral for what was supposed to be 2 weeks. Two weeks turned into 18 months, and then, just as I was packing up to move to Tampa, I got a call from someone asking if I wanted to go on the road with then-child-prodigy slide-guitarist Derek Trucks. I said "sure, when and where to?" to which they replied, "tomorrow, and we're going to Canada". So, I drove to Jacksonville, introduced myself, jumped on the bus, and off we went to the Great White North, where we played at a whole lotta rock and blues clubs for some very enthusiastic crowds for the next few weeks. We wound up playing and touring with the likes of "The Allman Brothers", "Lynyrd Skynyrd", "Bob Dylan", "B.B. King", "Buddy Guy", "Johnny Winter", "Doctor John", "Jefferson Starship" and a whole bunch of others that I can't think of right now. After 2 years of non-stop touring, "The Derek Trucks Band" blew up. That was a powerful combo and Derek has gone on to become a member of "The Allman Brothers Band" as well as maintaining a successful solo career. He's one talented young mo-fo.

After that, I went to sea for a few years, playing on cruise ships in the Caribbean and over in the Mediterranean. That's another movie unto itself. Then I moved to Hong Kong for 6 months, where I played clubs with a bunch of other Americans I met on my first night in town, at "Jam Night" at the "Hard Rock Café". That was a cool experience. REAL different! I lived in an area where there were a million people per square mile, so it was a little crowded. There's an area in the middle of town called Lan Kwai Fung, where there are about 20 clubs where all the bands in town played. Cool place.

Came back to the States just before Hong Kong was about to go back to Chinese rule, joined a band up in Valdosta called "Skannyardle" who I spent a couple years with, then moved back here to St. Augustine to be closer to my family, who moved here about 18 years-ago. Formed a band called "Dog & Pony Show" which carved out our own little niche over the last couple of years, and then was recently asked if I'd like to become the "New Guy" in local boy-band "Those Guys", to which I replied, "Sure, where and when?" They seem like a bunch of level-headed fellows, song-stylists would be a good way to describe them, so I think I'm starting with them this Thursday night at the "World Famous Oasis", which is just a coupla miles down the road. I'm working on the choreography now, so I hope I've done the right thing. We'll soon find out. Look forward to doing a lotta playing and meeting ya'll. See ya at the gig.

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