i come from a musical family so music has always been a big part of who i am. the first time i composed a song most certainly precedes any memory i have of making up little ditties on the fly--something i did often throughout my childhood.

1980 - the year Mt. St. Helen erupted - my mom, dad, sisters and i saw Heart at the Coliseum in Seattle (k/n/a Key Arena--bleh). i was 12 and my sisters were 20 and 8. my folks smuggled in a bottle of vodka and other party favors.

we live across Puget Sound from Seattle, so we took a ferry to get there. about halfway across the Sound, the cap'n slowed the boat and announced over the loudspeaker that an ash plume had just erupted from the mountain, which could be seen looking out the windows on the East side of the boat. the sight was breathtaking!

the concert was of course also awesome. this was before the days of "what about love" and all that Wilson Phillips-type stuff they churned out later on--i don't mean to offend or be a "hater" but, honestly, that stuff was awful in comparison to Dreamboat Annie, Magazine, Little Queen, etc.

My Takamine G Series acoustic/electric guitar is my fav. it has the sweetest action and sounds beautiful acoustically, but it is in desperate need of a better pickup. I also have a Washburn acoustic/electric that was a great buy for a less-expensive guitar, and it sounds great when J-Mac plays the blues on it. then, there's the 100-year-old upright grand piano downstairs that has been sorely neglected, but that's another story...

my dad, who was a musician in every sense of the word. though he never hit the Big Time, he was - and still is - extremely well known by those who dig the local live music scene--a musician's musician, if you will. and my mother, who loved all kinds of music and played two songs on the piano every Christmas season: "walking in a winter wonderland" and "the old rugged cross"

i am in a band called Stella Lovina. we play my original music. we play local shows occasionally. there isn't enough beer on the table to go into how we all met and came to form a band. let's just say it's all very jenesaisquoi--6 degrees and all.

are you kidding? can i make a list or do i have to pick just one? sheesh, well here's the first thing that came to my mind: i would love to hear Emmylou Harris sing harmony to one of my tunes.

i guess it was the SK High Christmas concert sometime in the early 80's--there were maybe a few hundred people in the audience. i sang with the choir and played bass guitar on the opening song called Jazz Gloria (weird the shit you remember). this was also one of my most memorable performances because i played piano accompaniment as the choir sang a Christmas song that i wrote.

Abbey Road. it is a masterpiece. i've no idea when i first heard it, but very possibly was turned onto it by my bass player, who is also my cousin (i told you there wasn't enough beer on the table...). when we were kids that guy had every Beatles record ever put out. family gatherings at his house were awesome =)