When I was first asked to join LRM* they wanted some info for the website. My info was taken down the day after the last show, but I felt it was noteworthy enough to post on this site (which does not say much)... so here it is: Musical Background: I began fucking around with bands in various attics and garages around 1987... and started writing around that time as well. Moved to Austin in 1992 to write, and front a band on the side... but didn't take any of it seriously until collaborating with some friends back in OK in late 1992... under the name CAST OF SHADOWS (not the westcoast troupe that I believe was formed ex post facto). C.O.S. collapsed at the end of 1993 and being sick of band politics, I decided to learn guitar and began writing my own material. Luckily in early 1995, I met with a band looking for a singer and began a 10-year-to-date collaboration with the guitarist. We played in OK from spring 1995 - winter 1996 as SHAFT, moved to Southern California, rebuilt the rhythm section and continued as SHAFT until mid-1998. After a few months of hiatus, we re-formed with a different bass player in early 1999 as MUZZLELOADER and played Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside County bars and clubs until the end of 2003. At that point, I needed a change of scenery and behaviour, so I moved to Chicago... where I've played a little solo acoustic on the open mic scene, but not as much as I should have so far. I still collaborate with the boys in L.A. (now under the moniker BLAUDO) and am currently in the process of recording a new 12-plus collection of songs with them... In addition to all of this, I take pleasure in cutting up tapes, mixing together noises created on micro-cassettes, 1/4" reel-to-reels, answering machine tapes and any other nonsense I can get in the mix to make soundscapes that please my warped ear and mind... and I work with a 3-piece improv monster called BRANDY REPAIRS UTAH, where I read my notebooks from the last 17 years, while they bug out... Favorite Cult song and why: Dreamtime - It takes me back to a time of early freedoms and discovery. "I will wear my hair long... an extension of my heart..." ...those first few steps into adulthood with grandiose ideals... and a bit goofy as well. Musical Influences: Early hip-hop: Run DMC, UTFO, Egyptian Lover, Doug E Fresh, etc. Cheap Trick AC/DC - mainly albums with Bon Rush Pink Floyd Marillion - albums with Fish on vocals... and his solo work Jim Croce Pat Metheny Charlie Parker Nirvana N.W.A. and surrounding works Public Enemy Alice In Chains I could go on, but the oxygen is leaving the room... Favorite Cocktail: I tend to stick to beer. Shiner Bock is a favorite. There are others... many others. I drink wine on occasion as well: Kendall Jackson Chardonnay or anything by Rex Goliath or Smoking Loon. Balvanie DoubleWood Scotch rocks, but I try to stay away from liquor... as I have a tendency to call total strangers "square motherfuckers" and ask girls I don't know if they like anal... or take my pants off and other actions generally considered "inappropriate". Gear: Live: Typically a Shure SM-58 Beta, though I can work just as well with a straight 58. Recording: Hopefully something very tube-driven and very expensive. And a 1/2 drum cymbal stand + 1/2 mic stand frankenstein. 3 Cds on a desert Island, what would they be? Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Marillion - Clutching At Straws Pat Metheny Group - Pat Metheny Group