11 years old. Seeing Tito Jackson made every kid on my block want to be a musician
What was the first concert you ever went to?
James Brown in 1968 at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, Connecticut with my family. We got to go backstage and meet Mr. Brown.
What gear do you use?
Paul Reed Smith and Framus guitars
Fender, Crate, Mesa Boogie amps
Who was your biggest musical influence growing up?
I listened to ALL music growing up but Tito and Jermaine Jackson had a major influence on ALL the musicians/kids on the block
Are you in a band? Have you been in bands?
Original P founded by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Shady Grady Thomas (co-founded Parliament-Funkadelic with George Clinton)
Fast Lane
Chris McCarty
Munkeez Strikin Matchiz aka Wormwhole
If you could jam with anyone, who would it be?
I'd love to jam with Bo like in the old days, and Starkids...the next generation
What's the biggest audience you ever performed to? What's the smallest?
80-90,000 at the Richmond Folk Festival on October 15, 2011 with Original P and special guests Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey on drums and Ernest Williams (Wailers) on percussion
70,000 in 1982 when Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Rufus & Carla Thomas joined us (Bo Diddley & Offspring) onstage at the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival. November of 1996; playing with George Clinton & The P-Funk All-stars for the first time. Playing the Apollo Theater with Ecstasy and Madison Square Garden also with Ecstasy. Touring with CHIC, Teddy Pendergrass & Stephanie Mills, Bernie Worrell & The WOO Warriors and Bo Diddley.
You're stuck on a desert island and only get to bring one album with you. What do you pick?
As a musicologist, I'd have to sneak more than one album