- When I was 11 years old I convinced my parents to let me learn to play guitar. Santa brought a Sears steel string acoustic with a 2 x 4” neck and black painted back and sides along with a Mel Bay Easy Guitar Method book.  It was slow going – in hindsight I can’t believe I stuck it out, but eventually I learned a few chords.  My neighborhood friends and I would tear the “Words and Chords” songs out of the Chicago Tribune’s Arts & Fun section every Sunday and try to play them.  I remember specifically the Guess Who’s “American Woman” and Dr. Hook’s “Cover of the Rolling Stone.”

I started my first garage band in 8th grade (think: Smoke on the Water) and also joined the jazz band, but acoustic guitar was my first love.  It was a great time in music.  My main acoustic influences were Neil Young and John Prine, which explains my delicate style. My first acoustic performance was at the high school talent show my sophomore year – my best friend and I played two Neil Young songs, “Old Man” and “Out on the Weekend” (photo).

I connected with another friend junior year and played with him through college at the University of Illinois – America, Eagles, John Denver, etc.  A friend’s mom had a Bridal Service, and had us playing a wedding ceremony, reception or both most weekends.  I also started another band that year; this time we got good enough to play private parties and sock hops at our school, kicking off every dance with Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” and wrapped up with “Twist and Shout.”  

I played coffee houses through college and got my picture in the University of Illinois basketball program one season jamming on the Quad with some friends.  After graduation I moved in with a friend at Four Lakes in Lisle and played a regular solo gig at The Saddle Club, a great local “joint” in Oak Brook that eventually got swallowed up by the McDonalds campus.

Life put playing out on hold for 10 years or so, but when I returned to the Chicago area in 1995 I picked up a Friday solo gig on the outdoor patio of a friend’s restaurant in Wheaton (120 Ocean Place) plus the occasional gig at other local bars and restaurants.

 I’m not sure that this website is the place to give advice, but if you’ll humor me a bit . . . looking back, my folks were pretty firm about things like singing in church choir, piano lessons at home and a band instrument in the school band.  Each of these experiences contributed a lot in my musical development (choir = voice and ear/pitch development, band = playing with others), and I would strongly encourage all parents to make playing music part of your kids’ lives.

My IPOD is probably second only to Michael’s in its diversity – from classic rock to Delta blues (no disco, no hip-hop, no electronic beat).  My early rock & roll favorites were Joe Walsh and Thin Lizzy (the most under-rated band ever), but I’ve always had a real soft spot for singer-songwriters. I’ve listened endlessly to Jackson Browne, Dan Fogelberg, Cat Stevens, John Denver, John Prine, James Taylor, Neil Young, Karla Bonoff and more recently Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, John Gorka and Lucinda Williams.  And if you haven’t heard her yet, check out Chicago native singer-songwriter Alice Peacock.

My (listening) relationship with Jimmy Buffett dates back to 1978, when as a participant in a dance marathon (remember those?) I won a contest and was awarded a copy of Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.  I can practically sing that album from start to finish, from the title song through Landfall.  I stayed close to Jimmy’s music until about 1989, when the concert scene got a little too nutty (more about the party and less about the music) and the songwriting seemed a little diluted (with exceptions of brilliance, of course). I don’t hold it against Jimmy at all – he had put out 15 +/- great albums by then.  At last count I have 47 Jimmy Buffett songs in my solo repertoire, and I’m adding new ones all the time.  And I’ve started going back to his concerts – at Wrigley Field last summer he played “Woman Going Crazy on Caroline Street.”  I looked around me and everyone was singing along – I knew that I had been away too long.