This is me...hair down and all. Yes, that's a KNAC t-shirt I'm wearing. I got it from the KNAC Beachfest a while back. RIP.
I'm really a rock player. Sometimes heavy metal, but mostly
blues and rock. I'd like to learn to play more improv. I guess
you really don't learn that -- it's experience. I need more of
that.
I generally listen to jazz and blues. Around here, the place for
that is Cal State Long Beach's KLON
88.1.
I hardly listen to rock or metal on the radio. KNAC died about
a year ago, and I just don't listen to rock radio. The only rock
radio I listen to are oldies stations, or ARROW,
being classic rock. I used to listen to KSCA Album-Alternative
in the morings, but sadly, they went off-air. Another one bites
the dust.
I've played in a small number of bands; the first being a hard
rock band which was looking for a bassist -- no experience necessary.
Just what I needed. We started out as Pavlov's Dog, until we discovered
there already was one, then it mutated into Alcohol Dog. A tongue-in-cheek
name that we couldn't shake. That lasted less than a year. One
thing I learned is that good drummers and singers are hard to
come by.
The next band, which actually was concurrent, was The
Blues Boys, which I'm still a part of. Good stuff. I like
the music and the band members.
During my time in The Blues Boys I also joined The
Un-named Band. Not really a name, but I've got to call it
something. It started as the guitarist and drummer who jammed
with another bassist. They wanted to give me a try and it worked
out. We never did find a singer, but instrumentally, it was challenging
and enjoyable. The guitarist (Shiro) has a masters in classical
music and was a flamenco guitarist. A hard act to follow.
The last band I was a part of was another no-name band. I found
a guitarist looking for a band, grabbed Bill, someone I grew up
with and was in the previous no-name band, and got together. That
gig really died fast. The first jam was great, but the buzz went
away pretty quick.
I'm now also in a blues/rock/Top 40 cover band, The
Hurricane Band. It's a fun band and I'm glad to be getting
the extra experience.
As of May 8th, I've started with a jam
band. It's a fun group of musicians, and I'm glad to be a
part of it.
The latest project is just another jam band with one member of
the above jam band. This is just with a couple of guys from another
band that wanted to do something different on occasion. This has
now back-mutated to the first jam band where the jam band drummer
replaced an old jam band guitarist. The differences are the drummer
and the singer.
(3/4/98) Near the end of '97, the Jamband vocalist and I with
his drummer friend lucked out and found a singer to form 50
Hungry Uncles. The singer has a really busy work schedule,
so we're off to a slow start. Watch the 50HU page here for the
latest.
(2/13/99) Well, it's been a while since I've updated this. The
singer's schedule never did ease up, and the guitarist moved up
north. Another (good) band bites the dust.
(2/13/99) But there's good news. I joined the Sonic
Fonics several months ago. They're an easy going group, and
in the short time we've been with them, we've had singers come
and go. Now we have one, and are looking for another.
(2/13/99) And in other good news, The Hurricane Band is back,
in a way. We're The DeSotos
now. I really like working with Al, the guitarist, and we've picked
up a shiny new drummer, Gil. Check our webpage for the latest.