In The Beginning...
I was born on August 23, 1960 in Conroe, Texas and have lived in this area most of my life. I've been in music for 32 years now. I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was 14, and I played my first job a little over a year later. I wouldn't say that I was obsessed with the guitar, I just didn't do anything else.Like pretty much every other kid, I started off learning the Rock songs of the mid 70's, and that led me to the Blues. My first band was a horrible little Rock outfit that I can't even recall the name of. But it wasn't long before I met the man who changed my life, Blues Harp player Little Walter Price.
Playin' da Blues...
I guess he heard something in my playing that I didn't know was there, because I went to work for him in mid '76 and stayed until his death in '79.I travelled the country with him and played clubs, concerts and festivals from Toronto to Mexico City, Tuscon to Miami, and just about every city in between. I was having the time of my life! I was meeting and jamming with all my current and future heroes such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, B.B. King and many others.After his death, I joined up with a Blues horn band called Bluez Deluxe. I stayed with them for about 6 months, but a car accident from my acquired bad habits forced me to lay out for awhile.
Gone Country...
During my hiatus, a friend of mine kept coming over and playing me stuff by Willie, Waylon and Jerry Jeff Walker and I began to fall in love with Country music. My physical rehab was with a guitar in my hand.My first Country band was with a group called Jimmy Jordan and the Texas Outcast Band. I freely admit that I sucked for awhile. Going from the long, endless jam of a Blues lead ride to saying something melodical and meaningful in 30 seconds like you have to do in Country music took some time.I went to work with Jimbo Williamson and the Bootleg Country Band in '84 and got my first original song recorded, "Whiskey and Tears" on DTKE Records. I left the group in 1987 to pursue other projects. Since then, Jimbo and I have worked together many times and remains a close friend. Through the remainder of the '80's and early '90's, I worked with Phoenix, a popular local band in the Conroe area that played all over Texas. Throughout the '90's, I toured and recorded with Jeff Hord and the Texas Fullhouse Band and The Hatfield/McCoy Band (Houston's "93Q Band"), opening shows for Toby Keith, Johnny Rodriguez, the Dixie Chicks and others.
On My Own...
After another brief stint with Jimbo, I went out on my own in 2001, writing and recording my original songs and performing them solo. It was a lot of fun and quite a relief, in a way. After travelling and picking for others non-stop for more than 25 years, it was nice to just lay back and do my own songs in casual settings for awhile. I learned a lot about the internet music industry, recieved quite a bit of overseas radio airplay, and found whole new ways to get screwed in this business. But I still loved it.
Coming Full Circle...
I began to get the itch to really play again in '06. I spent the next year picking for both Rick Sousley and Kevin Robinson in a group working the Conroe area, including myself, Doyle Hayslip on fiddle and Dennis Goodman on drums as part of an interchangeable band. Or, as we were called, "the band whores". I went back to work with Jimbo Williamson in 2007 and I am enjoying myself immensely. I'm still writing and working on new projects on the side, but I'm back to enjoying the guitar more than ever. MA
