Dayton City Paper Interview / September 2003 by Leslie Benson

When did you first begin playing guitar? Was that your first instrument?
Around the age of four, needless to say I was unable to properly hold the instrument but started the process of developing an 'intimacy' with the guitar long before I knew a legitimate chord.

If you are in a band, please give me the names of all musicians in the group and instruments / parts they play in the band?
I just perform solo now, a low budget operation. Gets creatively lonely at times, that's why I put together these shows so I, and the other players as well as the listeners can have the creative exchange with a variety of musicians emanating from different facets from the great jewel of musical inspiration .

How would you describe your musical sound?
Back in the mid-late eighties I coined the term "Modern Acoustic" trying to sidestep any negative, misleading or exclusive connotations. A word like 'new' can instantaneously paint you into that corner. My operative term is 'inclusive' stylistically, regionally and not allied with any era or 'movement'.

What sets you apart from other musicians and what state and area are you originally from?
I was born in Chicago, only lived there for a month but it looks good on the bio. My public musical life began in Cleveland in 1984.
What sets me apart from other musicians is that I'm me and they are who they are. The rest is details, DNA and such.

Who writes most of the music and lyrics you perform (are they originals
or covers?), and where do the ideas come from usually?
I write as well as perform covers, some of my best material was written by others. My lyrical output lags behind my musical output, my attention gravitates more to the music, it has it's own vocabulary and semantics that most listeners can more readily grok no matter what language they think and speak in. Where do ideas come from ? That's quite a philosophical and theosophical question. I better move on, I'm sure most of this communication has been edited anyway.

Your musical influences and why?
I could list the usual guitarists that many could relate to. My greatest influences have been players of other instruments like the sax, sitar, drums, piano, comb and tissue paper and so on. The ultimate phenomenon of Jimi Hendrix firstly that his guitar work, albeit based in the R&B format, conjured, emulated or simply eluded to sounds and styles that were not associated with the guitar, exponentially expanding the language of guitar as well as popular music across the board. What he was able to tap into and most importantly communicate then and to this day made him a musical avatar, if you will. His communication went way beyond the realm of 'musicianship'. Some of the heaviest jazz cats of the day, all vastly more 'schooled' than him were kneeling at his feet.

What is the theme and title of your most recent album?
"Blue Wheels…and Other Guitar Favorites" is all that is available to date.
It's a rolling rhythm of early, middle and present day influences infused with Asian, Spanish and middle eastern spices.

What are your most noteworthy, personal songs and what makes them stand out to you?
They change from time to time, mood to mood, but I must say that 'Blue Wheels' illustrates, in a nutshell what I'm about guitar-wise.

Musical goals for your music in the near future and long run? What can we expect from you musically in the future / projects or CDs
you are planning?
Like I said earlier, this winter I will be writing and recording. I am in the process of recording my shows, I've had so many requests for live recordings, and will be putting some of them on the web site as soon as I get them sorted out. All of this requires time and money which is not always readily available for most working musicians.

How'd you get started in the field of music as a young person? How did
you get started on the path of music? (As a child? As an adult? Please tell
me some story about your first encounters with music and musical
instruments.)
I was always around music for the word go. My first memory is sitting in front of a phonograph in our kitchen in Queens NY listening to Beatles 45's on the British VJ label that my parents friends had brought back from England.

Wildest / most enjoyable live show experience you have had?
After playing thousands of shows in hundreds of particular circumstances they all tend to blend into one long profound experience. The wildest part of this adventure is that I enjoy it more and more each day. I worry less and less about how I'm publicly received as I become more comfortable with who I am, what I do and how I do it.

What do you love most / dislike most about music and the music business?
Playing music is how I move, breathe, live and interact with my fellow humans. As soon as money is introduced into the artistic equation you have unleashed the potential for things to go very bad for you and others.

What goes through your mind when performing live onstage?
Anything ranging from technical and environmental annoyances to the bliss of 'oneness' with the listeners and feeling that we're making this music all together now then. Other times I will just think "mmm I think I'm getting the hang of this" or "that sucked " or "I wonder if I really did unplug the iron?" .

Why do you enjoy playing your style/genre of music most?
I like the fact that I am not trying to do what thousands of others are. The biggest mistake that aspiring artists can make is to try to following too closely in another artist's footsteps. If one is aliened too stringently with any particular artistic 'movement' or 'likeness' one's career is over as quickly as it begins.
An overnight success is the kiss of death.

Personal mottos / philosophies on life?
Have A Happy.

Any message for your fans?
Never ever compromise what you feel divinely driven and guided toward. Utilize written contracts ultimately approved by only you. If reticent or uncomfortable in any professional situation, say 'NO', get out, always provide a back door. Clearly define your 'comfort zone' environmentally and economically, stick to it and keep upping the ante. The muses and the listeners are the supreme agents a artist reports and supplicates to. As far as my listeners go, thank you all so much, without you I play only half an instrument.