Music & Me
I’m a huge music fan, in particular the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead. I heard my first Dead tapes when I was 15 through a happy accident, and became drawn into the culture fast. By 17 I had seen half a dozen shows (turns out there wouldn’t be any more!) and had a gigantic tape collection. I started touring with Phish that year and things have never been the same. I’ve seen 101 Phish shows, mostly from 1996-1999. My touring days ended, but I’ve always made it a habit to see and listen to as much live experimental and roots music as I can. That’s me on the left in the summer of 1997. Most of the people on tour are mellow. I was not…always goinggoinggoing…
I began playing guitar when I was 14. I begged my mom for an electric guitar, and cheated on my math tests to ensure I got the grades to make it happen. My first instrument was a korean strat copy, covered in wicked cool graphics depicting a snake crawling through a skull. Yeah, I was pretty awesome. Someone showed me how to play Black Sabbath’s Ironman and it was GAME OVER. I was hooked. My first acoustic came around the time I was discovering the Dead, Dylan and CSNY. To this day, I have fun when I get around electric gear, but my heart lies with wooden acoustic instruments. I’m not great at anything, but I can jam on guitar, mandolin, bass, hand drums and a little banjo.