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Band contributions: Any kind of guitars I'm asked to play. I sing a little too.
Curriculum Vitae: Educated in Fine Arts including Visual Communications & Theater. I've acted in live theater, TV, radio and have performed in 3 movies. I've always played in bands since I was a teenager. In fact, where most people playing in bands have a 'real job' to fall back on, I've always had music to fall back on when anything bad happens in whatever I do for a 'real job'. I consider music a real job. If you don't agree try doing it for a living sometime.
Other past or current working & recording bands: The Reflections, Cherry Red, White Raven, Krystal Axxe, Chain Reaction, Ivory, The Few Hoodoo, Little Brother, The Vibe, Dirty Ernie & tons of 'hired gun' stints with bands like Cool Hand Luke, Sector 3 & others who need a guitarist or singer at the last minute. I have never been without a band for more than a few months at a stretch since 1974. I also like to hit open jams to keep my chops sharp. Nothing makes you think faster on your feet like getting on stage with total strangers & playing tunes you've never heard before in front of an audience.
Other instruments: I play guitars, bass, banjo, mandolin, keys, bouzouki & pretty much anything with strings I can get my hands on. I also sing - I'm a tenor with close to a 3 octave range, but that's not my main job in Pink Houses.
What I do most weekdays: I'm in Powersports Sales. Waverunners, motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATV's, generators, snowmobiles & more. If it turns gas into motion, I sell it. I try to hit the gym at least a couple times a week too - I like working out but I don't make it a vocation.
Favorite music: I'm a rocker but have always leaned heavy into the Blues. The Beatles were in my opinion the greatest band ever assembled and even when listening to them I'm drawn to more of the later songs like 'Oh! Darlin', 'Hey Bulldog' & 'She's so Heavy' which are heavily blues-based. Other influences include The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Robin Trower, Foghat, Joe Walsh (especially James Gang & his other early stuff), early Aerosmith, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Ronnie Montrose, Rick Derringer (listen to 'Comes a Woman' if you can find it), Badfinger, Leslie West & Mountain, Clapton (any era) + any & all old or modern blues based rock or Chicago style Blues. I love hitting the Chicago Blues clubs for the real deal whenever I can.
Biggest single musical influence: I was screwing around on guitar and really diggin' it in my early teens but when Robin Trower's 'Bridge of Sighs' album  came out I was about 15 or 16. A friend played it for me and I was completely mezmerized by it. I went right out, bought a copy and promptly wore it out learning every song on it note for note.
Favorite Mellencamp song: At the moment it would probably be 'Martha Say'. Pink Houses does a very 'concert' version of it and I really dig it! It's the one song in the band I get to toss all formal structure out the window and play completely off the cuff during my guitar solo. I never know what direction I'll go, but that's a challenge I live for!
Fun things I do that aren't music-related: Riding & building motorcycles, music electronics (I build, repair & mod tube amps & have built most of the effects I use onstage), web design and graphic arts & visual design.
Guilty Pleasure: I brew my own beer once in a while. My specialties are a light pumpkin steam & a wheat ale. I'm also appreciative of a good Scotch & maybe a few times a year, a really good cigar.
Hometown: Currently Fort Atkinson, WI. I was born in Milwaukee, grew up in Oconomowoc, WI, moved to the Twin Cities, MN for 10 years while playing in bands & touring, moved to South Dakota where I was only based for tax reasons (no state tax) while touring full time, moved to CA for another 13 years playing and teaching, then moved back to WI in 2001 to be closer to my family.
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