The piano was the instrument of choice (or rather there weren't any others, except that old beat up guitar my sister played, but more on that later). Aside from playing the piano, there also seemed to be an insatiable interest in GETTING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. Thus, my rendition of the Dating Game was born in the bay window ledge, complete with curtain opening (I would sing the theme song {Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass} as my family contestants took their places).

Piano lessons would soon become standard, and as my friends went to gym each Tuesday I would sit in the music room at school banging out attempts at classical music. Soon, much to my dad's reservation, an ultra cool Wurlitzer keyboard appeared on the scene. This happened to coincide with my infatuation with KC and the Sunshine Band. Of course, my first official band was called CH and the Boogie Band. We would have concerts in the basement - candy was 10 cents and CH autographs were a nickel.

Not too much later a $15.00 drum set from a yard sale entered into the picture and LOOK OUT!!!!!!! That drum set would soon turn into the silver 5 piece kit one snowy Christmas morning. This was at age 14, and the following 4 years were spent going to school, but mainly playing drums with the stereo and then in bands, the coolest of all being Headfirst. This band would prove to very pivotal for me, because of the guitar player in the band, Mike Snydor. I loved playing in that band, and this dude smoked on the guitar. He was so good that he ultimately got me off the kit and on to the guitar. I spent the next year making the transition to the electric guitar.

The guitar transition was extremely difficult for me. The piano and drums had come fairly easy, but the guitar proved to be a lot harder. My first electric was a Mako (never heard of 'em, right?), but I quickly moved to a black Kramer with the old classic one volume knob and Floyd Rose tremolo (ala Eddie Van Halen). I took lessons from Mike, and he showed me a lot of the basics and cool licks that I wanted to know. I must also tip my hat to Mike Maycock, one of my oldest friends who showed me a lot about music. I went off to college and started playing in bands, and in the meantime bought a 4 track recorder, which really helped me become a better player. Layering rhythm tracks and playing leads over those tracks was "instrumental" in my guitar development. Soon the massive purchase effort was on. Anyone reading this that has ever played guitar knows what I am talking about. Once you start buying guitars and gear, it takes a long time for it to slow down, and that's if it ever does!!

After I got out of college (St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, NC) I went to Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts in Orlando, Fla. I went to Full Sail so that I could learn how to work recording and live sound equipment, thus being able to make a living in the music business - HA!!!!! Anyway, after Full Sail I moved to Charlotte, NC to work at Reflection Sound Studios in 1991, a major label recording studio. While I was there I had the good fortune to work with an incredible engineer, Mark Williams. Mark has made over 78 ga-zillion records, and his experience and knowledge had a big influence on me. Ironically, the coolest thing Mark taught me was how to wrap a mic cable the right way. Believe me, this has saved me lots of money and time. I am still trying to make a record as good as Mark Williams. While in Charlotte I played in a couple of bands and acoustic acts - the acoustic duos and trios helped pay the bills.

In 1992, I suddenly picked up and moved back to Laurinburg to move into this awesome cabin out in the woods near a swamp with a winding black creek. This was a great year; I set up my first studio and worked at a music store in town, played a little here and there and started recording on my own.

In July 1993 I moved to Austin, Texas to see what I could make happen. Soon I had a studio set up there on 5th Street downtown. It was a hole in the wall studio called Lizard Tracks. Built inside a screenprinting warehouse, I found myself immersed in the centerfuge of the Austin punk rock sub-culture. Since my studio was right there and so cheap- $15.00 an hour - I got a lot of business from all these wacky bands: The Phantom Creeps, Squat Thrust, The Chumps and so on. I was getting a band together playing original music - rock with blues influence - the Austin vibe coming out - when a freaky thing happened. A couple of my friends and I realized we had a mutual interest in Dave-era Van Halen, and started jamming around in the studio. Soon this crazy guy named Jerry Mutchie was stepping in and "singing". Jerry was WILD - almost too wild for me to keep up with!! Soon we were out playing under the name of Romeo Delight. It was a lot of fun. Having to learn all those riffs and solos definitely put me in the woodshedding mode. There wasn't a lot of money to be made on the Austin scene, but we got to play some great shows. We were a novelty band, but it was at a time in the mid 1990's when there weren't any guitar solos or cool riffs going on, or for that matter high vocals!!!! So people were into us to lighten up a little. Soon, though, I grew tired of the scene there in Austin and decided to head home to the beautiful mountains of Sweet Virginia.

Upon arriving back in Va I spent some time figuring out my next move. I decided to continue the recording effort by opening a sparkling new 24 track digital studio in Downtown Roanoke, Dynamic Sound Studios. With a lot of guts, determination and high interest loans I was in business. The first couple of years were rough, but I managed to get through. Then I added a new job at a non profit after school music program called The Downtown Music Lab, located at the Jefferson Center. After some initial reluctance, I agreed to help out. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Working with the students in music and recording is something I truly enjoyed and it gave me a little more stabilityin a town with virtually no music scene at all!! So, the Lab has flourished and, in addition to playing regularly and doing independent recording and live sound production, I have found a way to make it all work. Pretty wild, huh?

UPDATE: As of 10/1/08, I retired from the Downtown Music Lab after 10 years of service to the kids and the community. I am still playing and writing music, and performing with many different groups. I have also recently enrolled in culinary school part time, and may consider one day pursuing the restaurant and hospitality industries.

UPDATE: 1/25/10 - I have finished culinary school, and am now catering and a free lance chef in addition to playing music. My new band The Maltese Falcons is recording a new album and will be touring on that record this summer. ROCKS is still playing shows, which is my 80s metal cover band. STAY TUNED!!