When I was 13 I picked up playing the guitar. Back then I was in Junior High (not Middle School) and bands like AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent etc. were extremely popular. AC/DC was easy to play so I learned all my chords and timing from them. During high school I played trumpet and guitar in Jazz band so I picked up an appreciation for that type of music as well as progressive rock/jazz fusion. In college I majored in Fine Arts so I got heavily into classical music and especially loved music from the Baroque era. All my earlier influences never left me though. I guess I learned to appreciate many forms of music as long as it rocked or was melodic or had a catchy riff or phrase....or funny. Some college guys got me into Frank Zappa, The Talking Heads, King Crimson.... Blues has always been #1 in my heart though. It brings me home!

And I've always loved Rush yeahhhh!!!