Me and My Guitar
My music has roots in blues, old folk, outlaw country, and acoustic adaptations of 60s and early 70s tunes (I’m a genuine old fart, turned 75 a while back), as well as several dozen tunes I wrote myself.
I began performing in my teens and played regularly through the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s, starting up in the midwest with bands like Appaloosa, Pythea's Tribe, Briarwood Thyme, and the Smokin' Grays, and working as a solo artist, too.
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Upon moving to Tennessee in 1982 I put together a great blues and southern rock band, the Michael Brothers Band, with Knoxville lead guitar stalwart Michael Jordan. We rocked it till the early 90s, and after stints with Mojo and The Works, I kinda retired when son Jesse was born, and didn’t pick it back up till about 2014. But as soon as I started back, I started playing every day, actually more than when I played out so much.
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You’d think that somebody who’d been playing almost 60 years oughta be damn good by now, but I’m living proof that’s not always true. I consider myself fair to middling: I can hold a decent rhythm, know quite a few chord voicings, can forge my way through leads and fills, and play most of the parts on my recordings.
I’ve done hundreds of open mic performances over the past several years, along with dozens of gigs and house concerts. Jesse comes out to most of the shows and has almost as much fun as I do. Bottom line? I’m loving it all and intend to keep at it as long as I’m able.
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