Disclaimer

Below is a collection of memories from my adventures in music.  I am not famous, nor are any of these memories particularly spectactular.    Their purpose is to document events that occured and provide points of discussion for my music students.   

1970's - My parents listened to KLAC, Los Angles - "California Country" on the AM radio.  Sometimes in an old Rambler, sometimes in a Ford pickup truck.  My musical experiences begin with listening to Country Music in the back seat...... no seat belts yet.

1972 - My first visit to the Hollywood Bowl - July 24, Peter and the Wolf narrated by Ralph Story (most recent visit - July 10, 2010 - Sting)

1973 - My mother bought me a Magnus Chord Organ.  It was a quirky little device that sounded like a giant harmonica.  My cousin (Ricky or Guy) taught me to play my first Rock n Roll song - Smoke on the Water.

1974 - I received my first music lesson at Rustic Lane Elementary School.  This was back when every elementary school had a band.  Since I did not have money for my own instrument, I was offered a loaner.  The only choice..... trombone.   That's why I am a trombone player today.

1974 - My first radio was a hand held AM radio.  I listened to KFI in Los Angeles.  They played Rock n Roll (if you consider 10CC and Foriegner rock).

1976 - Afternoon Delight.  When I was 10, I played little league baseball and the catcher for our team was a girl whose name was Charlie Herbert.   During the baseball season, there was an adult party at her parents house and Charlie was in charge of entertaining all the kids that came along.  She played a 45 of Afternoon Delight and then took great pleasure in explaining to all of us what the lyrics meant.  Lookng back - she was really cool. 

1977 - Elvis Presley dies - Everyone was freaked out. 

1978 - My first Rock & Roll 45 - Queen - We Are The Champions & We Will Rock You

1979 - My dear mother took me to see a touring production of the Music Man at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.  Dick Van Dyke played the lead.  It was the 1st time I saw a broadway show.  I was allowed to go up to the orchestra pit and look around..... cool!

1980 - My family is staying at a KOA campground in Eureka, California while my mother looks for a place to rent.  During this time, my brother and I would hang out in the clubhouse.  The caretake had control of the jukebox and he played The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue over and over and over and over.  So much, that the song still haunts me.  They're not all good music memories.

Circa 1980

I saw Count Basie and his orchestra at Disneyland.  Disneyland hosted big bands in the Carnation Plaza for the old folks to dance.  To their surprise, many young jazz musicians came to see living legends perform.  Some listeners brought small recording setups to document the events.  Count Basie performed 3 sets and they let “non-dancers” sit on their bottoms near the lip of the stage.  After every set, they cleared the venue and all the hardcore jazz listeners dutifully lined up to be re-admitted 15 minuets later. We went to the lip of the stage and sat on the ground.  I literally sat about 5 feet from this jazz legend all evening.  Just as important, I positioned myself so I could see guitar great Freddie Green.  After the last set, my brother and I met and talked with Count Basie and Freddie Green We listened to them joke about pretty women, cigars, and teenage white boys wanting to play jazz.

1981 - The cable company in Eureka, California did not carry MTV and most houses could not even get cable.  So, on weekends, we would gather at a friends house and watch VHS tapes of MTV that were made in San Francisco.

1982 - My first guitar - no-name Japanese Les Paul copy - bought at a yard sale.  I wrote the names of the notes all over the neck. 

Mid 1980's - Performing 5 nights a week in a bar called the "Black Moon".  I made 250.00 a week, which was great money for the time in Eureka.  We started at 9:30 (bar time), played 4 sets, and ended about 1:50 AM.   After the gig, I went home and showered to get the smoke smell off my body.  I kept my performing clothes in a seperate closet.  I woke up the next morning classes.   (yes, staying up all night hurt my GPA)

1983 - My first drum machine - It was a card that went into an Apple II computer.   It sounded TERRIBLE! cost $250.00

1983 - My first formal ear training and music theory lessons.  I was 16, a bit late.  I started teaching my children such skills at 2 & 3 years old.

1984 - Played a gig on the Queen Mary in L.A.

1984 - 1988 - Humboldt State University - Music & Computer Science

1984 - Created my 1st work on Electronic Music by cutting and splicing tape - Musique Concrete - at HSU in a studio equiped with (2) 2-track analog decks, and (1) 4-track analog deck (an Otari MX-5050)

1985 - My second drum machine - Roland TR707 - Cost 500.00

1985 - This first time I heard my music broadcast on the radio.

 1985 - One of those moments every musician needs - I had stopped practicing my trombone.  Gil Cline, director of the HSU big band moved me from 2nd to 3rd chair...... during rehearsal... in front of the whole band.  It was so embarrasing, but it was necessary and I needed the reality-check.

1985 - KHSU FM 90.5 - My first radio DJ gig.  My time slot, Sunday 2am - 6am.  This is called paying your dues.  Can you show up every Sunday at two in the morning.  My next shift, Monday 8pm - midnight playing jazz.

1986 -  I saw drumming legend Buddy Rich and his big band at the Old Town Bar & Grill in Eureka, CA.  I sat at the sound booth with sound guy Shawn.  We where taping the show from the tape output, but the tape recording was adding an intermittent buzz into the PA…. we had to disconnect.  Buddy was almost 70 and wore a t-shirt that said, “Dirty Old Drummer”

1986 - Saw The Smiths in the lobby as they checked into their hotel in San Diego.  It was crazy.  I did not know what to do or say.  Watched them get into the elevator and disappear.

1986 - Bought my 1st CD player.  My mother and I saw the product demo at Macy's in San Francisco and we had to have one.  It was 150.00.  My mother and I pooled our money.  There were only 11 CD titles available for purchase.  One of them, The Pet Shop Boys, my first CD.  The music was crap, but the sound quality was AWESOME!  My mother bought The Broadway Album by Barbara Streisand.  There was a punk rock title as well, The Dead Milkmen.  Punk Rock on CD!

1987 - During my first solo live sound gig in a big theater, a low humming feedback kept ringing during the 1st song.  I couldn't EQ it out and I started to panic.  The band stopped.  The lead singer told the 1,200 audience members, "Do you hear that ringing?  Well, we are not going to play another note until it gets fixed!"  1,200 people and an angry band staring at me.  A local pro happened to be in the audience and came to my rescue.  The rest of the show sounded great.  Thank you Russ, for saving me!

1987 – I was shopping for a Emulator E-Max II sampling keyboard at West LA music.  West LA music was the coolest music store, located on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles.  My salesman’s name was Johnny Aloha (the quintessential cheesey big-city music store salesman).  While I was playing the keyboard, Sally Field came into the store to shop for a guitar for her son.  Everyone in the store ran to see and we all walked around watching this poor lady try to shop. 

1987 - I'm in a cover band called Backstreet.  On one of the posters promoting our gigs, someone writes BACKWASH - it was a fair criticism.

1987 - The Smiths break up - My favorite band of ALL TIME!

1987 - I perform at Lumberjack Days - A weekend of drinking and debauchery at Humboldt State University.  It was a techno duo with Patricia Knittel.  I brought out my drum machines, computers, and keyboards and we did our thing.  We stole our name from Patrick McCrea - "Shleiffen plan".  It was German - perfect for Euro Synth Pop.  Name protested as anti-Semitic.  The shleiffen plan is actually part of WWI history - a plan to invade France in 1914.  Some folks need to read more history books before they get pissed off.  An early example of the power and ignorance of Political Correctness.  

1988 - Dizzy Gillespie - saw him perform - got a glimpse of him after the show - almost pee-ed my pants.

1088 - I help my roommate do live sound for a reggae show at the Jambalaya in Arcata.  during a break between setes, the band invites us behind the club to smoke some weed, but this was hardcore Humboldt reggae weed.  The rest of the gig went well, I think, maybe.  Ok, all I remember is we having a great time behind the board.  I hope the sound was good.  We got paid.. so

1988 - While in L.A. for Thanksgiving, I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers do a show in the multi-purpose room of Cal State Long Beach.  Yep - a cafeteria with the tables that folded up into the wall and everything.  Great show!

1989 - Mike Patton is on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.  I went to school with Mike in Eureka/Arcata, CA., saw his band many times, ran in same circle of musicians and friends.  I was excited and crushed at the same time.  It was just wierd. 

1989 - Took a leak next to Pete Townsend in a bathroom in the South Street neighborhood of Philadelphia.

1989 - Briefly in a band called, "Lane King and the Fire Eaters".  Lane King was a singing fireman who was famous in East Sac for his pet duck.  What was I thinking.  After playing a show at a club called Marlarkeys, I received my cut of the door..... 17 bucks.  I was flat broke.  So, at 1 am, I went to the grocery store and bought toilet paper, tooth paste, and LIQOUR!

1989 - I was invited up to Lake Tahoe to gamble with my brother.  I don't gamble, but to please him I played an old slot machine in the lobby (he gave me a roll of quarters).  Well, I actually won some money.   I emptied all the quarters into a bucket and noticed that Rip Taylor and Carol Laurence were doing Sugar Babies, so I bought a ticket (with my bucket) and saw an awesome musical.  My brother thought I had wasted my (his) money.  I still don't get the who "gambling thing."

1989 - After spending Christmas Eve with my family in Los Aneles, my brother and I went to small club in Hollywood to see DEVO.  After the show, my brother and I argued in the car and he hit me in the face with his cast (yes, hard white perminant bandage thing).  I actually saw stars... just like a cartoon.

1990 - I was playing in a top40 group with a older, but still sexy, skinny blonde female lead singer.  During the breaks and after the gig, she took great delight in being mean to any man who approached her.  "what makes you think you can just come over her and talk to me", etc. It eventually, cost us a couple of gigs and she was quickly replaced, with a chubby lead singer with an amazing voice and sweet disposition.

1990 - Drummer's advice for picking up women during a gig.  He picks out a lady and stares at her the whole night (usually 4 hours for a cover band).  No matter what happens on stage or who she is dancing with, he never loses eye contact.  After the show, we packed the gear in the van and guess who walks up to introduce herself to the drummer after ditching her date.

Some shows I have seen at the Filmore (before & after the LP Earthquake 1989) in San Franciso: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Willie Nelson, The B-52's, DEVO, The Call, The Dead Milkmen, Morrissey, They Might Be Giants, Janes Addiction, Elvis Costello, Fishbone, The Beat Farmers, The Violent Femmes, Frank Black, Lila Downs, Oingo Boingo.

1991 - Rick Edwards from Pounded Clown hosted a jam session on Saturday or Sunday mornings in the basement of an old house in Alkali Flats.  It was a totally fire hazzard.   It was a great way to spend the morning/afternoon.  I met some great people and played some cool music.   The house was eventually torn down and replaced with a Dominos Pizza.

1991 - Put my future wife on the guest list for a show at the Hogs Head Brew Pub in Old Town Sacramento.  She did not show.  It was the last top 40 cover gig I ever played.

1991 - 1998 - CSU, Sacramento - Music

1991 - Freddie Mercury of Queen dies.  I really wish I could have seen him live.  Although I have always been a fan, the more I see recording of his stage performances, I regard him as one of the greats of Rock n Roll.

1992 - The first concert I attended with my wife was "The Cure" at Cal Expo amphitheater on July 5.  We are going to go see The Cure again in May 2016.

1993 - My wife and I buy our first house and most Sunday's in the Summer we would eat dinner outside on the patio and listen to 93.7 (93 Rock).  They would play an album in its entirety and we would listen and eat.  Sometimes I miss that house, the food,  and the music.... I still have Susan.

1993 - I am out shopping at Denios flea market and I see a guy who has all 7 Seconds stuff for sale.... including Kevin Second's leather jacket.  I talked to Kevin later and he had lost a storage unit.  Rock n Roll is a tough business.

1994 - Kurt Cobain kills himself and i was crushed.  This is the man who brough punk rock to the radio and knocked Michael Jackson's pop of the top of the charts and replaced it with Rock 'n Roll.

1994 - Mickey Rat of the Secretions joined me and Denise Hodnet for an open mike at the Capital Garage.  The event was hosted by Kevin Seconds.  At the end of the set, Denise starts screaming and rolling on the ground.  Mickey starts to stab at her with the head of his bass over and over.  I unsuccessfully tried to smash my guitar against the ground.  My Ibenez strat-copy was more durable than I thought...... I miss punk rock open mike night.

1994 - I'm driving a big rig truck through the streets of Philadelphia and I accidentally get onto the Walt Whitman Bridge heading toward Trenton, NJ.  If I get to Trenton, I owe a crazy toll for my big truck.  So I stop, hang a 3 point U turn in the middle of the bridge.  I scare a whole bunch of people,  but no ticket, no damage, no one hurt.  Not a music memory, but I can't help but brag about this colossal achievement in truck driving on the East Coast.

1995 - Dutch Falconi Orchestra performs at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.  While unloading the gear, most of the band stands around.  My wife, Susan, starts moving stands and amps.  She mocks those who are too slow.  She even helped set up the giant cages for the go-go dancers.  That's the kind of woman a musician should marry... oh, and she had a good job, too.

1995 - Received Bachelor of Music degree from CSU, Sacramento. 

1996 - Dutch Falconi and his Twisted Orchestra performing a week long gig at the Oregon State Fair.  Right across from the venue was Harley the GIANT HOG.  The band eventually paid the 50 cents a head to go see the pig.  Our small performance space was attached to the big amphitheater, so one night we were playing opposite Foriegner.  All during our set you could hear the thumping bass drum and screaming middle-aged ladies.  One the way home, the bus breaks down.  Dutch and I hitch hike to Brookings, Oregon and buy a wreck of a car (for 600.00) to drive home.

1996 - BEST GIG EVER - Dutch Falconi and his Twisted Orchestra performed at the Sierra Nevada Christmas party in Chico, California.  All the beer we could drink, special beers that were not available to the public, and they had 25 cases of beer delivered to us in Sacramento after the show..... I think we got paid, though I'm sure it wasn't necessary.

1996 - During a recording session at Studio Z in Sacramento with Dutch Falconi and his Twisted Orchestra, tenor sax player, Gene Avery turns to me and says, "John, I'm going to have to sit this one out."  Gene then passes out and falls onto the floor.  Turns out, had been drinking fortified wine all morning (inside a 7-up bottle) during the session.

1997 - Slam dancing in the snow at Boreal to NOFX (it's the name of a band - a great band).

1997 - May 7, 1997 - My sobriety date.

1997 - Accepted to ASCAP (classical music division).

1997 - During a vocal overdub session at Studio Z, trumpet player Dean Alleger, drops his pants and shows everybody is bare ass.  I took a picture.  Why?  I don't know.... but I still have the picture.

1997 - Performed on the last night cigarette smoking was allowed in bars in California.  Our show included dancing cirgarette boxes and free smokes thown from stage. 

1998 - Received Master of Music degree from CSU, Sacramento

1998 - Dutch Falconi CD is on display (and for sale) at Tower Records in Sacramento.  I start visiting any Tower Records I encounter in my travels across the US to find (and marval) at the CD for sale.

1998 - Bimbos 365 in San Francisco  with Dutch Falconi and his Twisted Orchestra - One of my favortie gigs of all time.... every jazz player wants walk though the back door of this venue.

 1998 – PhD Audition at the ManhattanSchool of Music. I sat in a big rehearsal studio with wood floors and tall windows.  It was straight out of a movie.  Three famous composers sat at a table and I sat in a chair facing them.  Elias Tannenbaum (father of guitarist David Tannebaum) looks at my music, and starts to rub his face with his hands. He takes off his glasses and rubs his face.  Puts his glasses on, looks at my music again and sighs….. more face rubbing…..  he looks bored, then irritated, he rubs his face..... No, I was not admitted.

1998 – PhD audition at the Peabody conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD.  This time a classroom with all the composers sitting at student desks.  Chen Yi (she is famous, trust me) was there  and two other composers with whom I was not familiar.  The group opens a package with my scores.  Someone shouts, “let’s find the mistakes!”  Then, the three composers proceed to find every notation error in every score.  They question my incompetence at notation and orchestration. …. Yes, I was admitted, but did not accept.  Later, the president of the conservatory calls me on the phone to hassle me for not accepting..... I think they needed the money.

1998 - Opened for comedian Sarah Barnhardt.  She was mean and wierd (bad combo).  Amonst other rules, we had to stay out fo the hallways backstage when she was walking about.

1998 - Performed for a DeMolay regional conference.  This is a young men's Masonic group.  Crazy rituals and hyped security.  Later, I upset a Mason by mearly mentioning that I had been at such an event.  Don't step on the toes of crazy people in secret societies.

1998 - Performed at the Exotic Erotic Ball in San Franciso.... those folks were WEIRD! .... naked weird.  I wore a dress and a wig.  NOTE:  wigs on stage are crazy warm - don't do it.

1998 - Received my 1st ASCAP royalty check for $6.25

 1998 - I was a participating composer at the Ernest Bloch Festival in Newport, Oregon.  After hearing my work, someone commented that they liked my piece.  Another composer overhearing the complement said, “Of course they liked it …. Your music is EASY to like.”  It wasn’t a complement.

1998  - Played my last professional gig on the trombone - New Year's Eve  in Grass Valley, CA.  (The U of O made me play a few free gigs 1999 - 2001)

1999 - I was in Miami as part of the New Music Miami Festival.  I met a great student composer, Craig Walsh.  He is now composition faculty in Arizona.  The master compoers were Donald Erb, Bernard Rands, and Orlando Garcia.   During a small group with Donald Erb, I played a computer (MIDI) version of an orchestral work.  After a few minutes, Donald Erb stopped the recording and says, "sounds great, but thats not whats written on the paper."  He was right.  My notation SUCKED!  

1999 - Accepted into the PhD program at the University of Oregon for Music Composition and Electronic Music.  In addition to music, I studied art, filmmaking, and the US constitution.

1999 – I had birthday cake with George Crumb at his 70^th birthday party.  I studied composition and orchestration with his son David Crumb while at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

1990's - Cool and Crazy places I performed: The Great American Music Hall, Binbos 365, Cafe du Nord, Red Devil Lounge, The Asparagus Festival, The Oregon State Fair (in beautiful Salem, OR), UC Santa Cruz, a trailor park in Walnut Grove, KVIE, Harlows, The Press Club, Fox and Goose, Old Ironsides, The Town House, an Indian Resturant in Portland, Ship a Shore (a bar in a ship wreck at the California-Oregon border), The Arena Theater, The San Franciso Maritime Hall, Hogs Head Brew Pub, Golden Gate Park, the Coloma Club, El Dorado County Fair Grounds.

2000 - Dr. Robert Kyr gives me great advice, "... if you don't expect to make money from your music, YOU WON'T."  I immediatly change my attitude start expecting to earn a living from my musical endevors.

2000 - ASCAP Checks break $100.00

2001 - Return to Sacramento after 2 years in residence at the University of Oregon

2001 - A bum approaches me and my wife on Capitol Avenue in Sacramento.  He is selling CDs for 1.00 each.  I look through the handful of CDs and see one of MY albums!  I was temped to buy it.  Susan said, "no."

2001 - Start teaching music at an elementary school.  Every morning, I pushed a cart full of small percussion and materials from room to room delivering 30 minute class music lessons.  In the afternoon, I taught music lessons to an entire grade level (100 - 150 students at a time) in the cafeteria.  It was choas and crying.  Most of the kids wern't interested.  It was an awful gig.  I hated every minute.  Maybe not the best job for a person who loves music.

2001 - 9/11 - While driving to work, northbound on I-5, near the Del Paso Blvd. exit,  I started listening to KWOD 106.5 is sacramento.  The morning crew were two guys, Shawn and Jeff.  They were describing the events in New York and saying things like, "you've got to get to a TV and see this ...."  

2001 - My birthday was 3 days after 9/11.  My wife and I already had tickets to see Lewis Black at Cobbs comedy club in San Franciso.  Lewis Black actually showed and tried to do a comedy show.  He told jokes ... no one laughed..... somehow we all got though the experience and smiled at the end.  It takes and amazing performer to get up on stage 3 days after nation tragedy and try to be funny.  He almost pulled it off.  He wished me happy birthday after the show and talk to any else who wanted to say, "hi."

2001 - One more 9/11 story.  They Might Be Giants, unable to get plane flights, piled into a car and drove all the way to Sacramento from New York to do a show at CSUS a week after 9/11.  Under the circumstances, they could have easily cancelled, but they did not.  They told stories and sang songs about New York.  It was fun and theraputic.  Wow, what a work ethic!

2002 - Joined music faculty at Sacramento City College.

2002 - I taught ONE semestet of high school music.... more choas and crying.  Did I mention how much I love my college gigs?

2002 - Received California Teaching Credential from National University

2003 - ASCAP Checks break $1000.00

2003 - After a joint concert at CSU, Sacramento, Electronic Music pioneer, Allen Strange, is a guest in my house.  I bought him his favorte drink which was Johnny Walker Black Label.  He drank a bit of the bottle and I saved the rest for "next time".  Allen has since passed on, but I still have his bottle of whiskey waiting for him.

2004 - My picture is on the cover of the Sacramento News and Review.  This was exciting, but here is the funny part.  After a few days, copies of the SNR start ending up on the sidewalks as litter.  As we walked though the streets of Sacrmamento, my wife felt compelled to pick up every copy she found on the ground.  After all it had my picture on it.  It was strange to see my picture just laying around on the street.

2005 - While I was assiting Jeffery Stolet with the SEAMUS national convention at the University of Oregon, I got to spend the day with Max Matthews.  He was a pioneer of electronic music and he patiently answered all my stupid questions and even let me take his picture.

2006 - Joined the music faculty at San Joaquin Delta College

2007 - ASCAP royalties exceed $5000.00 

2009 - Behind the console in Budapest - no one spoke English - crazy!

2009 - While in Eastern Europe, Michael Jackson dies.  Every street corner had a shrine and devoted fan/caretaker.  The main square in Prague was littered with these shrines.  It was just plain weird!

2010 - My wife and I saw Cher at Cesar's Palace in Las Vegas.  We sat so close to the stage, you could see the tattoos on her ass.

2010 - ASCAP goes direct deposit.  No more checks in the mail box.  An email is not the same as an envelope.  :(

2010 - I'm doing sound for blue legend Charlie Musselwhite at the Arena Theater.   During the sound check, it becomes obvious that he is pretty much deaf.  I am asked to put his amplifier up on a stool so it blasts right into his ear.... it was a BIG amplifier.  Great performer, great show, but this gig reminded me to why I wear ear protection.

2011 -Watched a drunk and surly Maria Muldar (Midnight at the Oasis)  insult fans after a show, then asked the stage crew where one could find a liquor store in Point Arena.  Her band did not like her either.  She was completely deaf (see Charlie Musselwhite) and wanted me to crank the monitors to insane volumes.  In addition, her agent is a total dick who chewed me out on the phone before the show because I wouldn't agree to his crazy demands for sound reinforcement.

2012 - I was told by a show promoter that I did not know anyting about the music business and ignored all of my advice about a New Year's Eve show.  Turned out the promoter was really a dog groomer, the acts drove the fans from the venue, the supporting act stole a microphone from the DJ, the headliner put out his blunts into the top of your piano, the show lost a lot of money, and the dog groomer has never promoted another show (I hope).

2012 - During the Festival of New American Music, I was invited to the orchestral premiere of a work by my friend Dr. Stephen Blumberg.  The concet was at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis.  While inside, I noticed a DECCA Tree recording setup of the stage.  I took a picture with my iphone to show my students.  Apparently, there is no photography allowed inside.  An usher asked for my iphone - NO, asked me to delete the pictures - NO, followed me around the venue, sat next to me after the music started, followed me out of the venue during intermission..... I ran for my car.  I still have the pics and Mondavi Center SUCKS!!!!!

2013 - Loaned my PA and expertise to a couple of SCC students so they could do sound for a bar/road house on Garden Highway.  The shows took place in a corn field.  However, the cornfield shows were being run by Stan Goman and Russ Solomon of Tower Records fame..... the shows ended about as gracefully as Tower Records.

2014 - I was doing sound at club in Sacramento called Harlow's.  I have done shows here many times over the past 20 years, but I had never done sound. During the show, there was a terrible thunder storm and a heavy downpour of rain.  Suddenly, the roof starts to leak and a stream of water is falling on top of the drive rack and splashing onto the mixer.... the show is still going.  One of my student helpers runs for help and returns with an ice bucket and towels.  We wipe down all of the VERY wet electronic gear and start to capture the water in the ice bucket.  As I look at the stage, a stream of water starts to fall on the keyboard player.  We spent the next 90 minutes swapping out ice buckets, wiping the splashing water off the gear, and looking at a wet and panicked keyboard player.  Sometimes the rain would pick up and the stream of water falling on the stage and gear would become a torrent!  I was worried the entire time about getting electrocuted.  The band kept playing.  The gear kept working.  I kept the sound going.  The show ended and I had aged..... a lot.

2015 - A random streaming service goes bankrupt and I receive a royalty check as part of the settlement.  $0.04 - yep 4 cents.  Kept the check as a souvenir.

2016 -  Another streaming service goes bankrupt and I recieve a check for $0.01 - Kept that check too.

2016 - Live sound for Louden Wainwright III - He's the Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road guy.  My 2 year-old Jasper sings this song all the time.  No, Louden did not sing the dead skunk song, but he did take a picture with me to show Jasper.

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