Bio
I think anyone reading this sort of website realizes the "bio" page actually means "music bio." I can't say I know anyone who has done nothing in life but write and play music. In fact, I could argue that it's the other stuff we do in our lives that fuel the drive to be some sort of musician and/or wordsmith. I would have a hard time listing all of the various ways I've made a living just to have some time left over for music-making. Everything from teaching, to commercial fishing, to videography, to owning small business that didn't always work.......but for me and most others I know, it's all been well worth it. So here ya go.........
My mother told me that I wrote my first song at the age of three: "The Meatball Song is the funniest song that ever was sung in the South." She's probably right - the ones I come up with now aren't that different! No one in my family played any instrument, but both parents knew many songs. Hers were from the British Isles and his were purely American. I didn't realize it at the time, but hey taught me that being a skilled vocalist was not a necessity - one simply had to be sort of nuts about a really good song. My mother loved The Road to the Isles, a Scottish tramping song, and my dad never tired of singing Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer.
When I turned twelve, I got my hands on a Silvertone guitar from Sears - not easy to play or to figure out, but I eventually got a grip on The Red River Valley, started studying Kingston Trio records, got turned on to Pete Seeger and Joan Baez by my English teacher, then discovered Bob Dylan, which really confirmed what my parents had taught me!
I managed to get some paying gigs in resort lounges in the summer of 1966, but mostly played with friends for fun till I found myself busking in the streets and subways of Europe in 1972. When I sailed away from Europe and headed down to West Africa, I tried to ship my guitar back to the States. This turned out to be the first of two Martins that would be stolen from me. I wrote a song about the second one, and the thievery seems to have stopped for now. I sure hope so.
Back in my hometown of Beaufort SC, I wound up finding old friends who were eager to pick, and my first real band was born - The Port Royal Sound. We played clubs from Savannah to Charleston. I also did my first performances for school kids at this time. In 1974, eager to get away from home, I decided to find out whether I could make it as a city "folksinger" and moved to Washington DC. This was a rich time there musically. I found myself facing an abundance of talented pickers, singers and songwriters, and was almost paralyzed by intimidation at first. It seemed that everyone could play and sing much better - but I wasn't always that impressed with their material. I realized that I could either just slither on out of town or start cooking up a different sort of repertoire - more goofy than cool. It worked! I soon had some gigs around the area and found myself playing with some outstanding musicians. I was able to hear many great performers, and even got to open up shows for some of them.
During my three years in the D.C. area I took two breaks from playing clubs - one was to serve as musical director/actor/composer in a "multi-media" presentation of Sartre's La Nausee. The other was to return to England and play the streets again. I was also lucky enough to get hired in a small chain of London "wine bars" that paid cash. (No work permit.) Back in D.C. I started yearning for the outdoor life - and worrying that I just might kill myself with so much nightlife. And one night in the throes of a mini-epiphany, I stayed up packing my things, aimed my Falcon south at sunrise, and settled in the Outer Banks of NC for three years. My friends and I played a lot of bluegrass and old time music in bands with names like The Moonpie String Band and Fresh Fish.
After shivering through my third Outer Banks winter, I decided that Florida was where I should be living. After driving around the Sunshine State, I arrived in St. Augustine in the spring of 1980. I'm still here, and don't expect to ever live anywhere else. I love to travel away from here for performing and adventure, but this place has everything I really need. There can't be many towns this size with such a diversity of musicians and artists in general. And of course we've got beaches, rivers, narrow streets, and a stimulating combination of genuine and sort of bogus history! Musical highlights of my life here have been: owning Old Favorites Record Shop for 14 years, playing bass in Salt Run Bluegrass Band for 10 years, having my own radio show (None of the Above) for a year on the Flagler College station, accompanying New England fiddler Allan Block for many years, performing at the Florida Folk Festival for almost 20 years, and the Gamble Rogers Memorial Festival since it's inception. Knowing Gamble from 1980 until his death in 1991 was a powerful influence on us all.
I was invited on stage at The Milltop Tavern my very first day in town, and I'm still playing there regularly, in addition to other clubs. When I team up with other musicians, you're watching The No See Ums - there are many. I plan to continue playing around Florida and other nearby states for as long as I live - maybe I'll even hit the streets of Europe again! Why not?