I was a couple of weeks shy of 13 years old when the Beatles made their US debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in Feb. '64. They were my (and the rest of America's) favorite rock act for a couple of years, until I first heard Fresh Cream and the guitar wizardry of Eric Clapton. "Wow, what the heck is that?", I remember thinking. I'd never heard the guitar played like that before! I also acquired the Bluesbreakers Beano album to hear more of EC, and that was my first real exposure to blues. Shortly after, I picked up a guitar for the first time. I quickly developed an interest in the work of the other "guitar gods" of the late 60's, notably Hendrix, Jeff Beck (Truth) and Jimmy Page, with the first LZ album, all of whom had heavy blues influences. The Stones, Santana and the Who were also favorites, and the first Allman Bros. album made a huge impression on me. I really liked the early Marshall Tucker stuff, too; Toy Caldwell was a very gifted and original sounding guitarist. And I've been a big Springsteen fan since hearing The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle in fall of '73. The Eagles and Steely Dan were mid-70's favorites.

Late in the 70's and into the early 80's, I was heavily into Mark Knofpler/Dire Straits, Steve Morse/Dixie Dregs, and (of course!!) SRV when he broke big in '83. As you can see, I'm definitely a classic rock/blues type of guy. Which is probably why I liked the Black Crowes so much when they hit the scene in the early 90's. Lately, I've developed an interest in vintage Van Halen, which I had pretty much ignored the first time around. I listen to a pretty wide variety of stuff these days, both old and newer, but still concentrated in those genres.