music

7 years old. i went to my aunts. she had found a caselogic box of cassettes on the side of the road. she let me take whatever i wanted from it. that day pretty much changed my life. i remember it perfectly. 22 years have passed and i still remember pulling that iron maiden tape out. it had the coolest cover art i have ever seen. i think in the back of my head i knew that my sisters liked them, but 99% of me bets on the cover art. we also made gingerbread men that day. i made a penis on one. i think my aunt has pictures of that.

i was about 11. my dad got a cd player from the 7-up rep (cus he worked as a manager of a grocery story) for x-mas. my sister got nothings shocking by janes addiction on cd. she also got some crap called dread zeppelin. i remember janes addiction. that was all that happened in our house as far as discs go for a while. i figured that since there was a player there, and since my idol, damon, loved slayer, i should buy a slayer cd. i did, and the cd player became mine. i had two cds. slayer and janes addiction. life changes again.

i did what i could to save money and i asked for music on holidays. i grew my collection. i was pretty much only concerned with music. tool. holy shit do i rememer tool. i was just about 14 and sober was all over mtv. i walked from barbara collius' apartment all the way to bob a lous and bought the living shit out of tools cd undertow. life changed again. not only did i find a new, and still only, favourite band... i found a place to start my life working for music.

15 years old. i started applying for jobs. i mean, thats what real people do. they work when they can. i got a work permit from school and started looking for a way to make money. i went to source of my drug. bob a lous. i know i mentioned them with tool in 94ish, but i had been going to bob a lous for music since iron maiden put out no prayer.... like 91. i hung out there and bothered the living crap out of everyone that worked there non stop. i just needed to be around music and they were the best way. i was there for the midnight release of pearl jams vs. which came out the same day as sepulturas chaos a.d. and i bought them both. mom was mad cus i only asked permission for one and used her checks. seems as if she didnt have enough for the second disc and i cost her quite a bit more than she bargained for. enough with that... i applied there and sure as crap, they hired me. by the way dad, youre gonna wanna kill me for this..... before i worked there, i took 35 bucks worth of kennedy half dollars and rode my bike all the way there and bought the bee gees greatest hits double disc. i dont even have it anymore, but i wish i did.

i spent almost two years selling music to people. almost pushing it on them really. if i dude walked in looking like he even remotely liked heavy metal... he walked out with a disc by an artist he had never heard of. iced earth, nevermore, all bands that damon gave to me. (iced earth, i was helping set up my sisters xmas tree and damon had dantes inferno so loud that it blew a fuse in his speakers) i loved that job. i spent every cent i made buying music right back from the register i worked on everyday. it crushed me when they closed. i worked there til the very last day. to be honest with you, i randomly have dreams about that store re-opening to this day.

after that i was lost. i found some employment with my good friend tray at a dog kennel. it was horrible. im sure its why i cant stand animals. at the first chance, i got out. dogs were not for me. i had a love affair with music and i needed to chase it.

luke smith. god bless his soul. every day of my life i owe to him. i am a happy person, i feel accomplished and satisfied because of the things he did for my life. i met him at church. i remember the day i met him and how it went. i remember the conversation we had and i remember the outcome. i remember the first time he called me for something bigger and better than church. i remember the second time. the third time was another one of those life changers.

third eye blind was doing two dates in VA and for some reason it was in their tour managers plans to have the same local crew on both shows. a tour bus was reserved and a crew was assembled. out of richmond. i guess they were hard up for work. luke referred me for the job and i was called. i was 17. i hopped on a bus and took one gigantic step into the rest of my life. i lifted gear on two shows. i got gig balls for the first time, and so bad i was scared i wouldnt be able to work the second day. people talked about gear and life in ways i had no idea existed. i was a changed man with a new passion for a life in music on a different level. bob lipford was there too. man, some people just change everything and youll never ever be able to pay them back. bob, luke, i love you guys so much. i owe you my life.

i had sold music, now i was going to watch it be made.

i slipped into a trance and decided that i was not going to do anything unless it had to do with luke and his "in". it took about three more months for the next call. new years eve on 1998 into 99. he just needed someone to set up a drum kit for a disco cover band called grovespot. man... as a drummer, i was all over that. that was the night i met loring wiggins. another life changing moment. that night was the beginning of an almost 9 year professional relationship.

loring owns a sound company called omnitech. together we did club shows, frat parties, commercial installs, corporate events, sporting events, just about anything that had to do with making music louder. i learned almost everything i know from loring. from technical to ethical. the dude took me to get my drivers licence for christ sake. nothing would be what it is with out him. every bit of where i am is his to brag about. loring was the catalyst.

thru loring i met steve, thru steve i met paul, thru paul i met pat. paul.... so much more than they road to pat... well get back to him. pat. paul offered the chance to go on the road. said he would refer me. i got this call from his boss. pat mcgee. he called and i remember where i was in this world when i got that call. if they ever rip that part of the world in pieces i bet i could still find it. i took 18 days on the road with pat. 18 shows in a row. life changer. fully addicted.

over the years i spent my time back and forth between pat mcgee band and omnitech. then i fell into one tour that just took it all and changed everything. pat called me and asked for my help on a tour opening for hanson. sure as shit i took it, i loved touring. i met another important person on that one. rebecca, hansons tour manager.

not too long after that tour, maybe a year... rebecca called offering the opportunity to work for hanson. i took it, duh. unfortunately that ended the professional relationship with loring. hey dude, im sure you understand.

now here i am. almost three years in with hanson. that has lended me the chance to worth with an enormous amount of wonderful people. a list that i cant even start. stephan, steve, dave, matt, scott (yorn), zak, max, mario, dimitrius, will, paul (paul, i love you so much man, will never be able to to let you know how much) jordan, bob, luke, machine, tim, bex, lawson, ryan, binky, boots, kit, techno, chardy (creator of muff), buford, erin, evan, harris, jason, jeremy, jesse, jesse, jude, j mo, jessica, josh, j-dub, mango, ghegan, scott (steel train), sleeves, terry, chicken feed, and everyone else that has made it all so wonderful.

music has made my life since 1987. its made my bank account since 1995. i will never be able to explain to anyone how important this has all been to me. 11,000 songs later, from slayer to the indigo girls, from james taylor to tool, seal to the haunted... i couldnt live a day without hearing a note. thanks to everyone who has made it possible and made it better.

support, dont steal.