"Well, there's a young man in a t-shirt
Listenin' to a rockin' rollin' station
He's got greasy hair, greasy smile
He says, 'Lord, this must be my destination'"

– Pink Houses by John Mellencamp

That quote has always been completely, 100% me, locked in when rocked out by Mellencamp live on the Gulf Coast in my teens. And he is one of many talented troubadours who inspired me to create my own music – going all the way back to the mid-1980’s, as shown by my first, ever attempt at a studio, above – as I tried to learn from the slew of fantastic groups and individuals that I saw or engineered sound for over the past four-plus decades, artists from every genre imaginable, who inspired me on my journey of love discovering musical diversity.

As, when people ask me what kind of music I like, I say, “Good music. Just really good music.” I hope you find some, here.

“The time has come at last
To throw away this mask
Now everyone can see
My true identity”

– Mr Roboto by Styx

Before I get into sharing my completed songs or about my musical influences and journey, I'd like to give you a teaser of the fun tune for which I put a short demo together, called Funkenstein, as it best represents my funky desires. You see, when I started writing music, something awoke in me and, once awakened, the funk monster never dies ...

“Dancing is life”

– 11/22/63 by Stephen King

I have had a slew of musical influences in my life from going to live shows and my own audio-engineering, mixing career, from other band’s funky grooves to deep-reaching lyrics from showmanship musicality to heavenly vocals, more than I could ever list on this small site. As I tend to pick up pieces and ideas from every genre imaginable and I keep the parts I like and throw them all together in my musical blender to see how they come out ... hopefully as a sweet mix that makes you want to get up and groove.

But, there are a few, specific groups and individuals, that I'd like to praise for their musical genius and influence on me and my own musical creations: Panic Choir, Blue Traveler, Tower of Power, Tears for Fears, Indigo Girls, Steely Dan, Sir George Martin, Stevie Wonder, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, AC/DC, John Mellencamp, and Peter Gabriel.

"I wish those days could come back once more
Why did those days ever have to go
'Cause I love them so"

– I Wish by Stevie Wonder

In 1993, I met an Austin, Texas-based band purely by chance, a gift that would change my life forever. As I was mixing stage monitors for an outdoor music festival in Jackson, Mississippi, and this soulful hippy-rock group that was brought in to headline the show completely blew me away, even though I'd never heard of them. I was mesmerized from the first song, Freedom.

They played a long set of only original stuff and it was funky as hell with thoughtful, touching lyrics and fantastic musicianship. And they had an out-of-this-universe, captivating female lead singer, whose emotional presentation and raw vocal power reminded me of Janis Joplin; yeah, she was that good.

Panic Choir’s music hit me so strongly that day and created such an immediate emotional connection that I made sure I got their Soul and Luna debut CD after the show, and then I played it over and over, just loving ever bit of it, the songs, the players, the recording, everything.

Then, just a couple of days later, I drove up to their next show a few hours away in Oxford, Mississippi, and went just as an admirer and danced like the freak I am all night to their music with my dearest childhood friend, Allison, a former dance instructor and creative writing teacher who lived in town. It would be the only time I was just a fan for a show of theirs, as my life was about to change.

After Panic Choir finished playing that evening in Oxford, they invited us into their RV and we got to know each other and I told them – in my typically aggressive way! – that I just had to run front-of-house sound for them whenever they were in the area, and I'd do it for free; that's how much they impressed and touched me.

And that evening began a very long friendship and working relationship with the gang from Panic Choir – Carol, Kevin, Rob, Michael and Charles (who is dearly missed) – where we traveled all over the Southeast, Midwest, and Rocky mountains in the mid-1990's as six hippies in an old RV towing a U-Haul full of instruments and sound equipment, taking our turns driving all over the country in that monster – even through the icy mountains in winter! – playing their music – what eventually became "our" music, as they gave me free reign over mixing and using effects. It was purely an amazing time making the best music of my life

Panic Choir was the only band for which I offered to tour, as I enjoyed the variety of being a freelance engineer. But nothing I ever did was like working with them. Because it wasn’t just about making music, but about searching for spirituality. We became more than bandmates; we were brothers and sisters. People on a journey of not just music, but life.

And one of the most important things that they introduced to me – specifically, Kevin as my teacher and Carol as my never-say-die idol – Panic Choir introduced me to backcountry camping in the mountains and desert, where we took lengthy, grueling, spiritually demanding and enlightening treks into the national parks and monuments in the Rockies that were the most amazing experiences in my life.

As there is no way I could have gone on, much less survived, my 2012 Rocky Mt. Camping Trip – my two-month, solo, photography-and-writing backcountry adventure I took driving thousands of miles through the mountains – without their teaching me how to thrive in the backcountry.

And the physical and spiritual experiences I had traveling and exploring this gorgeous country, while making incredible, meaningful music with Panic Choir are the most rewarding, joyful and beautiful times I ever had in my life. I couldn't thank them nor love them more for the years we spent together, as it was just the best. Peace and love guys, peace and love.

“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”

– On Joy and Sorrow by Kahlil Gibrand

In the 1990's, whether it was touring with Panic Choir or freelance mixing in the Southeast – mostly stage monitors, as I had developed a pretty good reputation for tuning my stage – I was introduced to all kinds of amazing individuals and bands for whom I had the pleasure to do sound.

One group that I ran into on the road, whose music I was already totally into before I ever met them, was Blues Traveler, out of Princeton, New Jersey. In March of 1995, I had the opportunity to mix Panic Choir as part of a showcase for a South-by-Southwest Festival night in the famous Austin Music Hall, and the headliner was Blues Traveler, as their album, Four, had become a big hit..

When I got there for the install, I was allowed to setup my small, rack-mount case I traveled with for mixing Panic Choir which had some sweet, old, analog Roland effects processors in it and a foot pedal to tap out my delay timings. And Blues Traveler's front-of-house mixer got "big eyes" and said, "Oh, hey man. I asked for those units but didn't get them in this rental gear; may I use yours for our set, tonight?"

Of course I told him, "Yes," as I was enthusiastically staying for BT's show anyway to see them jam live. So, we immediately hit it off and hung out all night, and he even helped me dial in the sound when Panic Choir went on – there was no rehearsal for the warmup bands, so the first song you mixed for your band in situations like that was always complete, organized chaos as you tried to get the sound right on the fly, and the extra hands and experienced ears were much appreciated.

And I had an incredibly experience that night between mixing my band and enjoying others' great music as, when Blues Traveler came on, I left the front-of-house mixer position and spent the rest of the evening getting my freak on by dancing with no one and everyone at the same time, uncaringly, right in front of the main speaker stacks – referenced in Dance in Our Song on My Poems page.

I remember it as one of the most rewarding and endearing nights that I ever had on the road mixing sound and savoring others' music in my career. And, even though I was already hooked on their music, I was truly a fan of the guys of Blues Traveler for life and made new friends.

In 2009, I had another much appreciated experience with the cats in the band, this one touching me deeper than I could have ever imagined. Know that my baby brother, Jean, had committed suicide in early March of that year, and I wasn't handling it well, at all. On top of that, health issues and surgeries, which had ended my career, had knocked me down – see how bloated I was in the photos, above, from all the meds I was on.

But, just a couple of weeks after Jean's death, I found out that Blues Traveler was going to be in my hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi. I asked a TV engineering colleague from New York, Kevin, who knew the band well, about getting a backstage pass and darn if he wasn't nice enough to put me in touch with Blues Traveler's road manager, Gina – yes, the one from BT's song.

Sure enough, she gave me a backstage pass and I hung out all day with the engineering crew, got to meet the band on their bus and, unbelievably, got to watch them perform while I stood – danced, actually! – right off the side of the stage in the band's equipment truck that was backed up to stage-left, maybe like 20' from John wailing away on his harp, . Holy cow, it was amazing being so close to the band and at stage level watching those guys rock out like only they can.

And, goodness, did I groove my ass off, like only I can! For one night I was able to lock away the pain of losing Jean – and Blues Traveler understood that kind of pain from the death of their original base player, Bobby Sheehan, in a sudden, tragic accident four years after I saw them in Austin, yet the band moved forward, honoring Bobby by grabbing Tad and Ben and never giving up or stopping their music. I admire the hell out of that, and it has inspired and helped me, to this day.

The cool cats of Blues Traveler will always hold a special place in my heart for letting me escape the hell that I was going through by stopping the tears and showing me a slice of heaven – even if only for one day – in their music and friendship, as evidenced by my huge smiles, above. Peace out BT!

“Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away”

– More than a Feeling by Boston

A couple of years ago, while living on the Westbank of New Orleans, I built a decent, little studio in my place and got serious about writing some music for really the first time. I put together several ditties over my couple of years living there and had a lot of fun trying to see how funky I could get, as I found that I just love working on the rhythm sections.

As I get time, I'll share more of my music, but for right now, I'll start with Livin' on the Westbank, probably my favorite completed song. I played all of the percussion and instruments – except for some fantastic Apple loops and a bad-ass drumming AI that I could infinitely massage – using Apple's Logic Pro X software on my Mac Mini and my MIDI percussion pads and MIDI keyboard, as those five years of piano lessons as a kid finally paid off..

My favorite part of this composition is all of the syncopated instruments layered on top of each other in the long bridge, as their are 13 of them I’m playing stacked up by the end – including sub's and effects, this song has 51 tracks, some of them seen in the screenshot, above – and that there is no mixing automation turned on, as I used instrument dynamics, gates and compressors to make my songs mix themselves like a real engineer and band would do!

Thanks for listening. I sincerely hope I you thought of Nawlin’s, and got up to groove.

"Has anyone ever written anything for you ...
Have you ever heard me sing?"

– Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You by Stevie Nicks

The next song of mine is actually the first one that I completed in my studio – minus the vocals as I just don't have the breath capacity to sing how I'd like – and I wrote it for my son Noah's 18th birthday in 2018 – he is pictured above, at age 8, after taking lessons for a year – as my son is absolutely filled with untamed musical talent and I was trying to inspire him to write some of his own music by me putting down some cool-and-strange sounding, funky rhythms to drive his creativity.

And I especially was trying to show him different timings and instrumentations by jamming in another complicated bridge – this song has 49 tracks, not including my sub-standard vocals – as nothing rocks me like a little Walter Becker-style guitar playing, a poppin’ Fender Jazz, a crunchy, phased Hohner Clavinet, a TONTO synth for the strange shit and a Hammond B3 organ – my favorite instrument of all time – overdriven to the point the tubes are melting!

I wrote simple lyrics for the song, too, as I really wanted it to be meaningful to Noah, with what I was trying to accomplish. And they were actually a challenge for me, as I wanted to write them as a down-home, father-to-son conversation, instead of my normal over-the-top, flowery poetical hysterics – the lyrics are below the song's link – and I believe I succeeded in getting my message across.

I had a blast writing this, especially developing the rushing, chugging train-engine sound of the Apple loops combined with the funky instruments I was laying down. Although different than what you would think I would write, I hope you dig it anyway; what counted is Noah did. Goodness, I love my boy.

Thank you for exploring my love of music through my musical influences and deep spiritual connections – like Panic Choir – and my try behind the instruments. As with all I do, I hope you found it entertaining. Boogie on.

Blue skies

[VERSE 1]

I wanna show you my foundation of peace
What I can do with a piano and dreams
I wanna show you what’s been hiding inside
You've got it too if you will only decide

I wanna show you what got built-up in me
Through years of mixing others’ music for free
I’ve got some rhythms beating freaky in me
I wanna show you just how far that they reach

I wanna show you just how funky I am
Jam on these keys to make you get up and dance
I didn’t know I could compose shit like this
I put it down and I sure hope you will dig it

[CHORUS]

I’ll work it all night long
And write for you this song
To try to help you see
That you could outdo me

I’ve gotta rock this funk
And show you while you’re young
By following your heart
I think you’ll reach the stars

I do all this for you
For what I see in you
I wanna show you how
I gotta show you now

[VERSE 2]

I wanna show you just how much I can do
I'll test my talents I bestowed unto you
I want to tease those gifts that you don’t yet see
You are my son and you could shine beyond me

I wanna show you what I see inside you
All of the great musical things in your future
I saw it when you were just only a child
You really rocked it and brought tears to my life

[**BRIDGE**]

[VERSE 3]

I wanna show you just how much I love you
All of the great things that I think you can do
I know that I believe with all of my heart
Whatever you try you will shoot through the stars

[CHORUS]

I’ll work it all night long
And write for you this song
To try to help you see
That you could out do me

I’ve gotta rock this funk
And show you while you’re young
By following your heart
I think you’ll reach the stars

I do all this for you
For what I see in you
I wanna show you how
I gotta show you now

[VERSE 4]

I wanna show you just how funky I am
Jam on these keys to make you get up and dance
I wanna show you just how much I love you
All of the great things that I think you can do