Gender:	Male
Years Drumming:	50
Skill Level:
Drum Type:	Concert tom old
Drum Model:	Played, Ludwig, Rogers, Gretch, Premier, DW,
Location:	Colfax, CA
Country:	USA

Adopted into a very musical family. Grandmother was a piano teacher and exposed me to free form jazz, Duke E, etc at a very early age. Pots and pans were my tools of the trade at 5. Whenever Buddy Rich, Gene K or other jazz greats were on Jack Parr my parents would get me up to watch. I got my first real snare and stand at 7. It was gold sparkle and came from the police chiefs wife who had bought a new one. Fontana was a very small and close knit town. My father being a dentist could afford to start me on lessons at 7 and I went every Monday religiously. I wasn't very good but I really wanted to be so I just immersed myself into listening to every kind of music from Ferantee and Tiecher to anythig "Persuasive Percusion" which were the Blue Man Goup of it;s era. I was good in sports so I got injuted, am still paying for it but am trying to use my muscle memory to bring my mind and body back together. There is nothing like being at the core of a great rock band and hearing it just role through your stomach. Nothing in the world like it. The people at the Holbrooke Hotel In Grass Valley have been very tollerant of my limitations and I have been able to play a few songs. Please young drummers, your health is the most preciuos thing, take care of yourself mentally and physically. It will pay major dividends in your drumming future. Always ask questions and learn any nuance and timbre, pitch, power and pace you possibly can. Expand your horizons. Listen to the earth. Love Drumming.

As much as I could cram into the amount of time I had and have. Played with know and knew some very, very good musicians over the years. I was blessed with Jim Gastenau, the drummer from a 60's band best known for there song "Listen to the rythym of the falling rain" in the early sixties. He was also a studio musician for CBS and played a lot of tv commercial work. As patient as Job and his favorite drummer when he came back from Viet Nam was David Garabaldi. THe right hand sixteenth notes were way ahead of there time. Played most of my career in the LA area. Lots of large live shows and I wrote most of the lyrics and music with the help of a fantastic group of guitar, bass and keyboard players.

Carl Palmer, Billy Cobham, Chris Layton, Ringo, Ian Paice, Charlie W, Bobby Caldwell, Chad Smith, Alex V, Neale P. Mitch Mitchell, Aynsley Dunbar, Terry Bozzio, Bill Ward, Buddy Rich, Chester Thompson, Carmine Appice, John B, Simon Wright, Portnoy. Etc

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