I took a few guitar lessons when I was in the third grade. When I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, I knew I wanted to play in a band. I've been playing professionally since I was seventeen. My folks listened to a lot of good music. As a child, I listened to Ray Charles, Hank Williams, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Elvis, and a lot of Beatles.

The first really memorable show was Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. that was in July of 1966. They were playing on top of the ticket booth as you entered Wedgewood Amusement Park in Oklahoma City, OK. The next show I remember was "The Who". This show was also at Wedgewood. It was August 24th, 1968. "Magic Bus" had just hit the charts.

The next show I remember going to was the OKC Pop Festival at '89er Ball Park. This show was two weeks after "Woodstock" in the summer of '69. I was 14 years old. Grand Funk, The Grass Roots, Smith, Bloodrock and several really good local bands played. I didn't miss a concert in OKC for the next several years.

My number one is a '63 Gibson Reverse Body Firebird 3. That's the guitar I played as a young guitar slinger. Through the '80's and pretty much since, I've played mostly Strats. I have a '73 black Strat, an '88 sunburst Strat, '88 yellow Strat, Black Tele with a B Bender, '59 Vos Les Paul Cherry sunburst, '40's Kay acoustic with custom inlay, '39 Gibson L30 sunburst, Silvertone Sunburst from the '50's. My main guitar since 2004 has been a Maton (Australian), Tommy Emmanuel model acoustic.

On my live shows I play acoustic early and electric and acoustic later. I usually play in a duo these days. Sometimes I play with a sax player or a guitar or bass player. We use a few tracks on electric tunes sometimes. I use a looper on acoustic.

For electric I use a 30 watt tweed Peavey Classic with one 12, a 50 watt tweed Peavey Classic head with a 2-12 cabinet, a Bugera 5 watt class A and a Pod Pro rack mount. I use an antiquated retro pedal board with a real tube amp for shows with national acts and usually use a small amp or the Pod for my solo or duo shows.

I record at home using Pro Tools.

My first big influence on guitar was Eric Clapton. The first solo I learned was "Hideaway" from "The Bluesbreakers Featuring Eric Clapton". I woodshedded on Clapton solos until I saw Duane Allman live in Boston while on vacation as a sixteen year old picker. When I came home from Boston I tried to learn every Allman Brother tune and spent a lot of time playing slide. During that same time period I spent a lot of time learning Hendrix and Santana tunes. In '76 I started playing top 40 six nights a week. From then on it was mostly pop tunes.

My first band was in the early seventies. I played in an acoustic trio with Fred Rucker and Scott Crawford until joining the Oklahoma Harvesters around '74. The Harvesters were a Country/Blues/Rock band featuring Curtis Hays on Drums and Vocals, Jimmy Mac on bass and vocals and me on guitar.

In 1976 I joined the house band at the Hilton/Gusher Club. The band was called "Granddaddy". It featured some outstanding players. Joe Cates on Drums and vocals, Arlen Zumwalt on bass, Steve Holloway on keys and Mary Kay Holloway on vocals. We later were joined by Debbie Ferguson on vocals and Eddie Ferguson on drums. We used to alternate 18 weeks on and off with Maya at the Sportspage in the late '70's. We spent some time on the road and played every club around OKC and Tulsa. We spent a few weeks at the Don Quixote, The Arches, The Run of 89 in Lexington, Club Tiki Nook in Tulsa etc.

In 1980 I joined a band called Sailor. I played with Sailor for two years before leaving to join "Crossfire". I played with James Coffey, Sue Coffey, Jeff Wilder, Dennis Castleberry and Gary Ringwald in Crossfire. We rocked our socks off for a couple of years.

In '84 I joined back up with Sailor and stayed with them until leaving in 2004. Sailor was a successful band of fine musicians. Through the years we had a few personnel changes. David Held played second guitar until the early '90's. The drummers were Mike Henson in the '80's followed by John Benardello the rest of the way. Bass players John Wall, Phil Reimer and John Hamilton. Keyboard players Susan Wright Mogilka, Jimmy Butler, Mike Price and Rick Toops. Girl singers Mary Kay Holloway in the early years, Susan Wright for a few years in the middle and Stephanie Ward/Johnson for the last eight years. I've been so lucky over the years. I've played with some fine musicians.

Since 2004 I've played solo or with a duo. I play once a month at the Greens Country Club. Once a month at Rose Creek Golf Course. I play many Wednesday nights at the Avanti Bar and Grill filling in for my friend Edgar Cruz. I play most Saturdays at the Avanti with monster sax man Heath Jones. Sometimes I am joined by Steve Crossley, Jerry Wilson or Rick Toops.

I have played around 40 shows at the Oklahoma City Arts Festival since 1980. This year I will play a duo show on the Cafe Stage with Heath Jones. I will also play a solo show at the Paseo Arts Festival. I'll be playing the closing set at 5:00 on Memorial Day.

For a retired guitar player I stay pretty busy.

If I could jam with anyone it would be hard to choose just one. My ultimate jam would include Freddie King and Duane Allman on guitars, Jaco on bass, Mike Finnigan on the Hammond, Chuck Levell on piano, Steve Gadd on drums and the Tower of Power horn section.

I've played for a few pretty big audiences. A few of the Arts Festival shows at prime time on Saturday had thousands. I played two Governor's Balls in Oklahoma that were well attended. I played the first modern day Zoo Ampitheatre concert in '74 or '75 with the Oklahoma Harvesters. We opened for Willis Alan Ramsey to an audience of a few thousand. I played New Years Eve in 1999 at a Mall in Wichita Falls Texas. Not a great show. However, there were thousands of people.

One of my most memorable shows was being called up on stage from the audience by Vince Gill. Vince handed me his Telecaster and I played a couple of tunes with his band. It was pretty cool.

Another memorable show was opening for Joe Bonamassa on his 30th birthday.

Another was joining Tommy Emmanuel (the world's greatest guitarist IMHO) on stage to play on two different occasions.

I've played a lot of small shows over the years. Some of the most fun shows I ever played were for a few people that really cared. A small audience that's really engaged beats a large audience that can't pay attention.

It might be "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" by Traffic. That's the album we were listening to the night I met my future wife. That was in '73. I like it because it reminds me of that night.