Playing guitar began as a love for me at the age of 15, when I was taught to play the opening lick to "Johnny Be Good" at a parking lot swap meet at my old grade school.  I had an old Mexican guitar from my parents' house that had (in Arizona, mind you) spent at least a few summers in the garage.  After four lessons, Al refused to teach me anything else until I got a better guitar, and so with the support of my parents then, I did.  It was a Sigma copy of the Martin D-28 I own today.  I would say I played it 'til my fingers bled, but that would be hyperbole, plus it's already been said before.

My first electric guitar came along some time later.  It was a Stinger with a knock-off of the red and white paint job of Eddie Van Halen's famous "Frankenstein" guitar.  It had single coil pickups and I was playing it through an Alamo (yes, I've never heard of them either) 15W amplifier with a silver/chrome refrigerator handle on top.  I kid you not.

But what could I do?  I was infected.  I had to play.  The first set of chords I learned was the infamous 1 - 4 - 5 in A that everybody learns - Wild Thing, or Louie, Louie, depending on how many times you strum the A.  I learned a lot of songs in that time frame, covering old Zepplin to the bands of the '80s era when I was cutting my teeth in playing - Joe Satriani, Extreme, Winger, White Lion, Cinderella, Queensryrche, King's X, and a host of other big hair bands.  It's great stuff and it's influence is indelible in my playing until this day.  There were times improvizing in the studio I can remember Bryan chiming in with "no (two handed) tapping, please."

Then I went off to college and among the eclectic styles I was exposed to, I found a folk streak, picking up on artists such as Shawn Colvin and Indigo Girls.  Back in the early '90s, their music was mostly about non-political themes, so the stark contrast between them and I today may make it difficult to see how our paths could have crossed musically.  Nonetheless, they did, back with their self-titled, Strange Fire, all the way through All That We Let In.  Amazing songwriting and vocal harmonies.  Again, a big influence on me, particularly the things I've written that don't end up in the band's material.  The same time period was my first crack at playing, recording, and even (very briefly) touring with a group of musicians - Chris, John, and Kathleen, I will never forget those days.  It also is the same time frame in which I met Jen, and playing guitar was a part of what became the romance of my lifetime.  Still every now and then we spend a little time going over the Indigo Girls covers just for old times sake.

After I graduated and settled into music ministry at the Church of the Holy Spirit, I met another group of musicians I had no idea would profoundly influence my music.  Mike and Joe in particular have challenged me to open my ears to music I'd never expected.  Before those two, I'd never heard of the Dave Matthews Band, but have grown to love them.  A little bit of metal roots, thrown into the blender with (of all things) rap influences, I found myself enjoying Linkin Park and most recently Incubus.  It should be interesting to see where these newest influences take my playing.

20 years of music in 5 paragraphs seems like a bit of a short sale, but the one that was here before I was informed was not enough.  I hope to live to continue to have my eyes and ears reopened to music that is as soul-touching as what I've heard so far.  Music is distilling the emotion of the human condition in a way others can feel it.  My hope is to feel a lot more of it before my time is up.