My mom bought me a guitar at a garage sale; a Tysco I believe. Sold by western auto maybe. I remember the first band was with my friend Fulton; we called ourselves PINK ELEPHANTS.

Eventually I had to get a real job, as we all do, and purchased a real guitar and amp. I remember one band during high school I played with; they were out of Victoria Kansas. We played at proms and sock hops and the like. We rehearsed at the drummer’s house in his back yard in an old chicken shed. Yes, we were in western Kansas. When we got the chance to play at venues that served alcohol we always had to come in and out of the back door as none of us were old enough to be there. My parents ran a club, at the time, called the Wagon Wheel and they would let us rehearse there on Sunday afternoons. We never got the chance to play there as we were way too loud…hey it was the 70’s!

I eventually moved way out to Western Kansas and hooked up with a band out of Colorado called “Wildebeast” where we rented an old gas station to rehearse in. This was quite a good band. We did a lot of traveling throughout Kansas and Colorado. By now I had been through many different guitars and amps and I, along with the rest of the band, was getting bigger and better. This band also had a Hammond player and we all drove vans with shag carpet and 8-track stereos to haul our gear around.

We were just starting to get quite a name for ourselves when I moved to Wichita and was blessed with three wonderful children; Christopher, Jacob and Emily.

Several bands and players later, I hooked up with Jay Cape and he introduced me to his band, “StraitJack” and played with Jay for several years. We did a lot of traveling throughout Kansas and Missouri. Strait Jack was the first band to ever play on the west bank stage and the first band to play the Oz Fest. We also opened up for Rick Derringer and other popular acts.
My heart and soul always has a special place for the Blues, so I started playing with Steve Jordon who introduced me to a whole new concept. Steve and I played music together for many years. With a couple of band names and personnel changes we finally got the right concept. Steve and I had grown quite a reputation for ourselves thru the years. We played many big venues and performed for large crowds. Yes. The blues scene was happening.

We won the title of the best unsigned blues band in Kansas two years in a row under the band name of GRAVY FROM THE HIP and then as the shortened GRAVY, after Steve departed to be replaced by Rocky Heyen. By winning these two titles, we had the privilege of representing The Wichita Blues Society and the State of Kansas for the International Blues Competition down on the legendary Beale Street, in Memphis Tennessee. What great memories I have of those two years!

After the departure of local Hammond legend Tommy Carlyle from Gravy and the arrival of Randy & Gary we got into the current Rain lineup. My oh my, I could not ask for a better group of chaps and fine musicians. This project has been a long time coming and I know that it will be around for a long time. It just feels right, you know?

I guess this kind of gives you an insight to my growing up and musical upbringing in a nutshell. My Dad plays mandolin, my brother played guitar and my other brother played accordion and piano.

Influences

Growing up, most people my age were listening to Kiss and Nugent while I was enjoying Clapton, Savoy Brown, Zeppelin and of course al the great Motown artists.

The greatest influence and my favorite guitar player is Eric Clapton.

My favorite and best band in the whole wide world is of course…THE BEATLES. You just can’t beat THE BEATLES. I believe they are the best there was and still are. I could go on and on and on and on and on about how absolutely great they are.

Have to also mention Stevie Ray Vaughn. I think he saved us from all the metal speed players and brought us back to where guitar playing ought to be…from the heart.

A lot has happened in my life, and hopefully this provides an insight as to what went on, in a nut shell. But it goes to show that after many garage bands and jam sessions later a person will find his niche with his band mates. Ladies and gentlemen…let me introduce you to RAIN.