Music has been a vital part of my life since before I can remember. My mom, before she passed, used to love telling people how I would cry at the flute solo in The Moody Blues' "Nights In White Satin" before I was old enough to talk. I started playing violin at age 7, and drums at age 8, and have picked up a bit of guitar and singing along the way, but not enough to talk about.
While much of my "favorite" music is in about the range you'd expect it to be in, looking at me - heavy, blues-based rock, "grunge," classic rock, etc. - I listen to and enjoy many kinds of music from Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam to artists like Chisu and Katie Melua, 70's singer-songwriters such as Dan Fogelberg and Jim Croce, and even esoterica such as Tibetan throat singers Hun Huur Tuu.
Over time I'll build up a much larger series of reviews, shares, video embeds, and maybe even some NPR-style audio reviews for your pleasure. For now (Dec 2011) though, let's get started with some original work.
My Music
I wish I had even a hundredth of all the music I've recorded and played on over the years, but unfortunately I don't. I do have a few snippets, though...and I'm not dead yet, so I may well do some more in the future.
The Actors
The Actors was a band I was part of in Raleigh, NC in the early 00's. They were kind of a Stones-Kinks dirty vibe sometimes, although my presence in the band definitely brought more of an arena-rock feel to some of their songs. These four tracks were recorded in a studio in Wake Forest, NC in early 2002 (if I remember right). I've given them each their own page, where you can listen to the music as well as read my thoughts on each track
Gypsy Blue
One of the best bands I was ever in, in terms of energy and groove. Unfortunately it didn't last and I have VERY little in the way of recordings, but this brief snippet on YouTube recorded in 1994 might give you some sense of what it was about
- Gypsy Blue - Scraps (about 40 seconds of "Gacy's Crime"), 1994
Drum Stuff
As my regular readers know, I'm in a pretty seriously broke period of my life right now, which means I don't actually own drums. However, my good friend Dan has been kind enough to let me fiddle around on his set a few times, so there are some videos for those as well as a couple of quick snippets of me practicing at my old rehearsal space in Raleigh, NC in the mid-1990's. Please note that these are not showcases of amazing percussive talent or anything, just some clips that I put up for my own amusement more than anything else.
- Me & Dan (Moe B. Dix) - Elephant Seizure
- Me & Dan (Moe B. Dix) - Alpha
- Me, 1995 or so - "Drum Crap 1" 18 seconds of "Outta Love Again" by Van Halen. Muddy as hell.
- Me, around the same time - "Drum Crap 2," 13 seconds of a warmup exercise I used to do.