I started playing guitar when I was 17 and living in Libby, Montana. My first band was a three piece 'Power' trio playing the Rock & Roll songs of the time. Music from groups like 'Cream' - Led Zepplin' - 'Grand Funk Railroad' - 3 Dog Night'. This band was called 'Cherry Brandy'. The other members were 'Allan Larson' on bass & vocals (he later went on to play with the coutry-rock group "Montana". Unfortunately the whole group died in a plane crash) and Dan Schnetter on drums & vocals. We took 3rd in the 'Montana State Battle of the Bands'. They also gave us kudos for the being the top trio.
We all moved to Spokane, Washington and worked with 'Freade Sounds' playing the northwest clubs and college circuits. When that band broke up I started my own band called 'Travelin Band' which played the same Northwest club and college circuit.
When this band broke up I decided I formed another band called 'Cherry Brandy'.
We traveled all over the USA playing Holiday Inns and many other types of
clubs. We eventually started doing little skits and shows, this led to being
a full blown 'Show Band'. When this band broke up I decided I wanted to try
the Nevada Show/Cabaret circuit and moved to the East Bay of San Francisco
thinking I would find show bands there. 
Well, there really weren't any 'show bands' in the bay but I found the single acoustic guitarist scene flourishing. I performed as a solo acoustic guitarists for a little over a year and then formed an acoustic duo that lasted about 9 months. I decided I wanted to go back to playing with a larger band so I started looking for a top 40 club gig.
It was here I met Louis Aisson, a very talented and multi-instrument person who introduced me to the correct way to play 'funk' music. We formed a band called 'Lickety Split' and played clubs throughout the Northwest and California.
When 'Lickety Split' broke up I joined 'The Prime Time Band'. 'Prime Time' was/is a very popular top 40 band playing all the great spots in the SF Bay area music scene. I ended up staying with them for 17 years. In 1992 we put out a song called 'Fall in Love in Outerspace' which made it to #69 on the national dance charts. In 1993 we released 'Gridlock'. This made it to #71 on the charts and was used as the Bay Area's theme song for 'Beat the Back-up' day for several years. We got to do a Far East tour going to Tokyo, Guam, Hawaii, and Okinawa.
Early in 1988 I was introduced to programming applications for PC's. I played around with this for a year or so and actually became a contractor in my spare time. There came a point when I was offered a full time job as a Systems Analyst, I was married, had kids, it seemed the thing to do, so I went to work on my first 'real' job. This was 1992. I eventually learned mainframe applications and the programming languages needed for this. I'm currently a Senior Systems Analyst/Programmer for Levi Strauss & CO.. I am also very involved in Web graphics and site design.
But I have never stopped playing music. I started seriously writing my own songs around 1995. That would be about the time my marriage and family life went away. I learned I like playing keyboards, learned some studio recording techniques, and started writing songs on guitar and piano. This CD and most of its songs came from the break up of my marriage. I call this my 'blue period', now I'm writing songs of love and happiness. Life is much better now...
The title of this CD is 'Thru the Night'. This comes from my view of the phases in ones personal life. As we go thru life we have phases of light, where everything looks bright and promising. We also have phases of darkness, where we don't feel happy or complete and things are not going well. If you notice, the CD cover is of someone opening a door to a bright light. The meaning to me is - I was finally coming out of the darkness, I realized I had made it thru the night and was going back into the light.
This music captures the many emotions of the 'Lost love syndrome' that we all have to go thru. "Music Editor for The Avante Arts Review"
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