Both of my parents were musically inclined. My father was a working union musician, traveling across the country playing at Air Force bases and night clubs. My mother was a music teacher and choir director at school and church. As with a lot kids my age, when The Beatles hit in 1964 I was right there in the mix. I had my pretend band that I would front, and we would play along to all the songs on radio (KRLA AM). By the time I was starting school my parents had separated but they stayed in touch so I continued to visit my father regularly. When I turned 7 my father started giving me guitar lessons. He had connections with musical instrument manufacturers (including Fender and Gallagher amps) and found an acoustic guitar with a very small neck that I could get my fingers around. Within a few months I had the basic chords down and could begin to see myself actually playing in front of people. Meanwhile, I started taking clarinet classes at school and by the time I hit Jr. High I was in the school band.

Again, as with most of my peers, I wanted to move to the electric guitar because, after all, it was cooler than acoustic guitar. I managed to convince my mother that I really should have an electric guitar to further my musical progress. So I bought a used Mosrite ‘Ventures II’ electric and a used Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. Then at age 13 I found myself in my first  band. I was just me and another guy name Tom (Chan). The name of the band was ‘TNT’. At first I played guitar and he sang. Then Tom started picking up the guitar and got quite good quite quickly. So, both of us would play guitar and we both started singing. Over the next few years (about 3 or so) we also went through some name changes and added a drummer, then a piano player (Fender Rhodes). With the band as a 4 piece, Tom and I started experimenting with each of us trading off on bass and guitar. I was 16 at the time. Then when I was 17 I came to the realization that I was not a very good guitar player and I like playing bass. So Tom and I settled on me playing bass and him playing guitar, always. Then our piano player left the band. So we did what any other enterprising group of youngsters would do, we went 3 piece. Then I got my first bass guitar.

In September of 1974 I traded my Mosrite ‘Ventures II’ guitar and Fender Deluxe Reverb amp for a used Rickenbacker bass. Since then I have never seriously looked back to playing guitar. I still do play some guitar every once in a while, and the fret board logic I have learned from playing bass has helped me with some melodic adventures on regular guitar. Since 1974 I have bought (and sold) a few basses, but I still have that Rick and I sill play it every now and again. I have complete descriptions of all of my instruments here.

After high school I attended Whittier College to study music and perhaps become a music teacher (band director, maybe). I began to work in ‘wedding bands’ and other casual band settings part time and found the money to be quite good. While I enjoyed learning the theory of music and working with the concepts of harmony and counterpoint, I was less than enthusiastic with the rest of my studies. With the money I was making playing in the bands it seemed reasonable to me that I could take a break from the school thing and get some money ahead. After 2 years I stopped attending college and went to work full time doing a variety of jobs and continued playing in various bands. One of those bands was ‘Jester’. If you lived in Whittier CA from 1977 to 1980 you know the band Jester (and I probably know you!). Many people (including the band) felt that we were ahead of our time. We were a bunch of music majors from local colleges that wanted to make and share our own ‘brand’ of music. We got close to ‘The Big Time’, playing around the greater LA area and Hollywood (The Troubadour and Gazzarri’s). But then a contractual problem arose with our producer and I decided to step out before things got ugly. In 1982, the dismantling of Jester brought about the formation of ‘Native Tongue’ and I was asked to join that band after the bass player quit in an alcoholic fit. This began my full time music employment. Between 5 nights a week at clubs with NT, and writing/recording sessions 3 times a week with another band (Diphthongs, formed with Tom Chan and Matt Knight) I was working very steadily. Around this time (mid 1980’s) I started messing around with some very low tech recording technics called “sound-on-sound”. It was the closest thing to multi-track record that I could afford on

my own. And this is when the tunes started coming.

In 1988 I got married and considered setting the music thing aside. I had gotten to the point where I wanted a family and the stability that comes with one. This same year I became a Christian and a father. Almost immediately I was presented with another avenue for my music, the local church. 1990 saw the birth of what has become ‘Praise and Worship’ music within the Christian Evangelical church worldwide. I was part of one of the first church ‘Praise Bands’ in Cypress CA at Cypress Evangelical Free Church (now, Cypress Church). Since I was very comfortable singing and playing bass (a la Paul McCartney, Sting, Peter Cetera). I was a natural at leading the band and congregation in the praise and worship songs. I also continued to play part time in “secular” bands to supplement my family’s income. This did cause a little bit of an ethical dilemma. It wasn’t exactly proper for a church worship leader to go out on the weekends and play in bars. Or was it? (but, that’s another story). Since leading at Cypress EV Free I have had the honor of leading worship for a few other congregations in the greater Orange County area. I and my family are currently attending Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos, CA. I have not gotten involved with the worship team there yet, but it’s just a matter of time.

The recordings that are listed on the Audio page have all happened since I have been married and became a Christian. Advances and changes (and promotions) at my ‘day jobs’ have allowed me to expand my home recording setup from the simplistic ‘sound-on-sound’ to a computer based multi track rig complete with DAW. Along the way I have managed to pick up some gear that has helped me to realize my music. More information on this equipment can be found here. Please see the item <article> on the ‘About THM’ page for more information about my style of music and why I do what I do.

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