Album Notes

The two solo recordings I’ve made very accurately reflect my work as a solo artist, which has focused on originals and blues. My first CD, Originals and Blues (cut in 2000) offers just that. Surface Butterfly, recorded at a live show in 2002, is a collection of originals.

I first learned to play guitar because of my love for Joni Mitchell. Before that, I had played only classical flute. As I developed as a guitar player in the late eighties, I spent a lot of time learning to play finger style blues, which over the years has developed into a love of open tunings and playing slide guitar. My interest in Joni had me using open tunings, and then my progression to traditional blues naturally took me toward slide.

As a performer, my early work was mostly as a bass player and back-up vocalist in dance bands (I played with a working band for a few years called Tow Jam, and sat in with Blues Traveler and Wide Spread Panic in a great twist of fate...actually, they sat in with us). I also tried my hand as a bass player in a couple of jazz trios and had the occasional gig as a reggae flute player.

In 1995, when I started to create performance art and compose for choreographers, I also started writing more alternative folk songs (in the Joni/Dar vein) and focusing on performing as an acoustic artist in duos and trios. In 2000, as my collection of original music grew, I decided to start performing as a solo acoustic artist, focusing on blues and originals. If you see me solo, that’s mostly what you’ll hear, with the occasional great ballad thrown in as a cover tune. I also have a full show of Joni Mitchell songs, which I perform every few years or by request. Gotta love Joni...