Bio last updated on  -  7/7/2006

Music started for me at a young age. My sister Vicky listened to records for as long as I can remember. I distinctly remember bands like Rush, Chicago and singers like Billy Squier. At age 11, the album “Rush 2112” (a loose adaptation of an Ayn Rand book that has oftened been touted as the emergence of libertarianism) was the first sound that implanted the idea of just how rock music can seem larger than life. From the moment, I was sold. I memorized all of the words to side “A” of that album and would sing along while rocking out and dreaming of being a cool Rock and Roll star. I really looked up to my cousin Randy. He was about the same age as my sister Vicky and he played guitar and was a very cool guy. Tragedy struck when he died in a motorcycle accident. That year, his very first guitar and amp was passed along to me as a Christmas gift. I never really took official lessons. Rather, I went a purchased a book of songs by Rush. They had chord diagrams in it and I figured out how to play chords from that very book. It was always interesting because though Rush does use basic chords, I was also able to learn more advanced chords. During my adolescent years, I primarily played music by myself. Around the age of 15, I did meet up with fellow classmate and friend Adam Jefferds for some jamming. We would play “Born to be wild” for hours. After years of learning, I finally started my first serious band with Adam. We were 20 and love to party and play rock music. We started a bar band though it was short lived, it sure was fun. We called it “Miss Demeanor”.. Yeah… I know.. Stupid name.. But hey, We were young.. This band was my first shot at singing. I sang ~70% of the songs. After the demise of “Miss Demeanor”, Adam and I went separate ways. I played with a few different local bar bands but never found much solace in it.. Since I was not much of a guitar player, I always ended up playing rhythm guitar (not a very glorious role). I meandered about for a few years having fun and playing when and where I could. I came across a girl named Danielle Payne. She came from a very musical family and was an extremely talented piano player, singer and writer. I spent about 6 months working on a project that consisted of 6 songs. 5 of these songs were songs that she wrote and 1 of them was a song that I wrote. We had a great time putting them together and we attained an interesting sound for a group of 4 young musicians. Alas, our goal was met and we disbanded for the sake of pursuing different interests.. A few months after that band, I decided that writing music was what I wanted to do. I met up with a long time Hornell talent (and an old jam partner from the “Adolescent days”) named Keith Guthrie (and his band Faint Grace).. I was familiar with their work and since I seemed to be a better acoustic guitar player. I switched focus to playing Acoustic guitar. We wrote ~13 songs of a truly avante garde nature. Most of the writing seemed to stem from lyrical poetry that Keith wrote.. I would come up with some guitar ideas and we would piece together some interesting compositions. We managed to record a 3 song cassette (it was still cool then) demo called “Extended Dance Trax”. The three songs recorded were titled Acid, Stones and Sage, Rhythm of the moon, and Garden Child. Though a shift of interest gradually occurred to playing more cover songs, I still feel that the early stages of writing were some of my most enlightening musical experiences. We went through several incarnations but at the end of its existence the line-up included Keith, Shawn Cox, Mark Kean, Bill “Big Daddy” Schultze” and myself. Bill “Big Daddy” Schultze was an acquaintance that I had met at my day job at “The Music Loft” in Hornell. I had heard him play bass and guitar before and suggested to the band that we add him as a guitar player. It indeed changed our sound and approach and I had made a new musical comrade. Towards the end of the Faint Grace (and I knew the end was near).. I had been doing some creative jamming with a fellow named Josh Remy. Josh had moved here from Michigan and had a creative spirit that I had longed for. He introduced me to some eccentric Alfred artist/musicians and we produced lots of esoteric improvisational originals. I thank Josh for introducing me to the world of digital recording.. He is a creative spirit that I have missed since he left. Where ever you may be Josh, I do hope life is treating you well.. Another project I was working on with my old friend Adam Jefferds. He was playing with a couple from Alfred named Jim and Mary Ruch. They were writing songs and needed a bass player. I had jammed some bass with Josh so I thought “I will give it a try”.. It turns out that they were very happy with my offerings. I suggested including Bill “Big Daddy” Schultze to the mix and the five of us formed an interesting quintet named “Honeyslide”. We played a few original songs and learned covers by various jam bands. It was very much fun, Big Daddy and I switched off playing guitar and bass. I had an idea after HoneySlide started that Adam, Big Daddy and I should do a trio consisting of a small drum set, two acoustic guitars, two fretless basses and with all of us singing. The idea was to be able to play smaller places that Honeyslide had difficulty fitting into. I was very happy because it gave me more of a chance to sing. I had come to realize that singing was truly what I enjoyed most in all of my musical exploration. Real Butter Cookies was a success.. People loved our super charged musical renditions of songs.. From Jesus Christ Superstar numbers to Long improvisational jam band numbers. We had many a great times! I count Real Butter Cookies as a milestone in my musical success. We had an excellent little act that was easy to set up, was not too loud, and had diversity that appealed to many different groups of listeners. We did everything from family parties to rocking hill parties (and many different venues from Allegany, NY to as far east as Binghamton). This act lasted for five years until we finally parted ways with some differences of musical interests (The story of every band).. During the time of Real Butter Cookies, We had a few opportunities to perform that Adam and Bill could not do. I finally got the nerve up to try to perform a full four hours by myself. I offer special thanks to Mr Sam Bonfe for his encouragement and the chance to prove myself. It became apparent to me that I had grown as a guitar player, singer and performer enough to entertain people for a whole night. It was VERY DIFFICULT the first few times.. It became very apparent that when you are playing by yourself, that nobody is there to interact musically (and likewise, to cover your ass!).. Still, I barreled on and became comfortable with it enough to start gigging regularly by myself. After a short while, My longing to be a musical writer returned so I began writing my own songs. After Real Butter Coookies Split up, My good friend Jeff Kinney came to me asking me if I would fill a vacant position in his rock band “Foolin”. Jeff had been a friend of a few years and I had played many solo acoustic numbers during the breaks of Foolin Shows. So since I was not doing anything, I happily accepted the role as Bass player.. We gigged regularly for ~1 ˝ years and we had a blast. The songs were all pretty much standard classic rock numbers but it was apparent that as a band, we had a chemistry that people really seemed to enjoy. Once again, times change, I moved back to Alfred Area and it was apparent that I would need to leave the band to once again pursue my aspirations of being a writer. Lots of great things came from my stint in the Wellsville music scene. I met fellow writer named “Rick Whitwood” from the band Zoar. Rick was writing an album of material and his friend George Cretekos was recording it for them. Rick asked If I would mind recording a few bass tracks for the album. I happily accepted and was very excited about being involved in an original project. They were so happy with the four bass tracks I recorded, They asked me to do four more bass tracks, An acoustic guitar track and several background vocals. In addition, I became a full fledged member of the Rick Whitwood band and performed all of the songs of his release “Desperate Hours” for all of his performances. Desperate Hours received all sorts of great reviews on www.broadjam.com (Click here for the direct link to his artist portfolio http://www.broadjam.com/artists/artist_home.asp?artistID=18517 ). Though they are currently on hiatus, He still has plans of promoting his CD independently. I met a great piano player by the name of Jim Knapp at a community theater production that we were both playing in the pit for. We began to jam independently and I quickly realized that he was a musical genius and an extremely insightful fellow. We played as a duo (and sometime as a trio with The talented Mr Adam Jefferds) for quite a while. Jim is a special person because through many conversations, he offered me insight that I needed in musical business for a long while. It brings us to the current.. (As of January 2006). Currently, I have been recruited by a band called “Hill Steet All Stars”. They are a group of talented musicians from Hornell area. The original line-up includes Dominic Gallichio (bass - I occasionally do acoustic gigs with Dominic), Tony Gallichio (Keyboards), Steve Brown (Monster Huge Drum set) and Eric Carlin (guitar Extraordinaire). Eric Took a hiatus to play in Florida for the spring and during that time has been accepted to Eastman School of Music for Classical Guitar. It became apparent when he returned that his new schedule would not permit him to perform as much with the All Stars so I agreed on being a full-fledged member of The band. Perhaps I will be able to learn some of the "Gallichio Mojo" now.. I also still perform quite regularly at local establishments by myself and sometimes with special guest musicians. I am working on a CD of material that I have written and hope to have it released sometime in 2006. The CD will include performances by local drumming legend Jamie Briggs. Jamie is a talented drummer from Andover NY who is currently residing in Philadelphia and playing with a band named “Let go Beautiful”. Once my CD is released, I have plans of making a leap to doing more of my original music in venues suited for it. I am sure I will still bar gig but I have felt the urge to release this CD for a long time and am finally getting closer to leaving my musical legacy. I am very excited as to what the future holds for me.