I always had a love for music. When I was in first grade I remember wanting to play the triangle really bad, but they would only briefly tease us with the instruments in those days during "music class". Having a piano in the house, however, led to figuring out many Christmas songs, commercials and Journey tunes. My first album: Journey Escape. I was in 2nd Grade. Favorite song: "Don't Stop Believin'" By the time I was in fifth grade I was playing many songs off the radio by ear and my dad decided to buy me a guitar. I got a black Washburn with red lightning pattern all over it! With a guitar of this caliber in 1987 you could only guess as soon as I got it home I was playing Poison tunes! I took lessons with a guy who sat me in a tiny room and blew smoke at my face while he wailed on blues scales over my pathetic rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" showing off his "Diarrhea fingers". Needless to say that was the end of my formal training! (Diarrhea fingers = people who obviously show off in guitar stores beyond any necessity) It wasn't until college when I would discover Dave Matthews Band and the wonders of the acoustic guitar!
I loved the sounds that I could make with the acoustic! It can be so much more percussive and versitile than an electric! I decided to see how good I could get at the guitar if I practiced every day. I would record myself doing Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam covers until I was satisfied. People who lived down the hall from me at UMass would hear me and say, "Hey you should play in some of the bars in town!" So thats what I did. I played to some packed bars in Amherst for free...(I wasn't too good at the negotiating part early on!) When I graduated I decided I needed to go somewhere where I could make a living and find a good music scene.
For some reason I can't really explain...I was drawn to Boston. I didn't know where to go to get gigs so I played an open mic after reading an interview on a musician's website where Sarah McLauchlan explained how if you don't go out and try to make something happen for yourself, someone else will take the place you could possibly have. I reluctantly decided to go out and play at an open mic in Norwood, MA and hold nothing back! All my butterflies and nervousness were finally dispelled by this need to go out and play no matter what! A member of a local Boston band who was also a student at Berklee School of Music approached me and told me I should be playing in Boston. He said he would introduce me to the owner of the Somer's Pubs in Boston. I was a little skeptical and scared to jump from doing my first open mic to a whole night of thirty songs in a busy bar in a tourist area, but I decided I had to do it. I was welcomed back weekly by Hennessey's of Boston for a Monday night spot which has been bringing a growing crowd every week! This experience quickly led to other gigs; Thursdays at Kennedy's in Downtown Boston and Fridays at "Q" Nightclub near Fanueil Hall in Boston.
It's amazing the people I've met just from going out and playing. I've played with a great band called Entrain as well as opening for some great local bands like Stereo Soul Future! I've also gotten to meet some of my heroes on their way to fame while staying involved in the independent music scene. I've been lucky to meet John Mayer, Howie Day and Matt Nathanson who each started out playing clubs with only a guitar and some great songs!
