Featured Artist of
July 18, 2019
with
the song: Face in the Crowd
My story is a difficult one. At 18 years of age I saw Pink Floyd live in my
hometown of Portland, Oregon. To put it mildly, I was
completely
blown away by how great they were live. I wanted to be like them, and I was
especially inspired by Roger Waters' creative brilliance. But at the same
time I was drinking beer every night at a high level. Although I wrote songs
and recorded them whenever I could, underneath the self-medicating was a
very fractured young soul. When I was very young I had endured several
traumatic experiences dealing with the deaths of close family and friends. I
saw some things no little boy should ever have to see. When I got my first
job working in a funeral home at age 17, my mental state started to fray and
I basically fell to the ground in pieces. I was so off-center that I could
not memorize my songs, therefore when I would join or put together rock
bands, I couldn't focus or play live. And the loud noise from the drums and
the amplifiers shook my nervous system to the core. I would literally start
shaking, and became very agitated. All I could do was compose music and
record it, though the recording sessions were very loud and distressing. It
wasn't until years later that I was diagnosed with multiple traumatic stress
disorder. I was put on medications that basically saved my life. Also, at
this time I was
married to my soulmate Suzanne, and we had two wonderful children, Katie and
Andrew, who are now grown and have their own families. I function fairly
normally today, although I still can't memorize my songs. I continue to
write and record, but I still don't perform live. I would love to perform
live, but it would be a huge challenge for me. So I feel lucky to be alive
and to have a very close-knit, loving family around me.
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