Birthplace

Meriden, Connecticut

First Band(S)

The Trolls, The Pro-Teens, and The Back Door Blues in CT - on my trusty red Combo Compact Farfisa organ (until it was unfortunately stolen) played through a Gibson Starfire Amp with a foot-pedal for both Reverb AND Tremolo. And then in Philly there was Buckwheat, Wax, & Baby Grand.

First Concert

The Byrds - Oakdale Music Tent, Wallingford CT

Best Concerts

The Police - Grendel's Lair, Philadelphia, PA

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Bijou Café & Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA

Paul McCartney - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

The Rolling Stones - any number of times, various venues, the world's greatest rock and roll band!

Top Ten Desert Island Albums

1. The Harder They Come - Original Soundtrack

2. Natty Dread - Bob Marley & The Wailers

3. The Cat - Jimmy Smith

4. A Salty Dog - Procol Harum (tied with their debut album)

5. Time Out - Dave Brubeck Quartet

6. Ska Authentic - The Skatalites & assorted artists

7. Forever Changes - Love

8. Taj Mahal (debut) or his second, The Natch'l Blues, both great!

9. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones

10. Bitches Brew or Miles In The Sky - Miles Davis

Runners-Up (!):

Original Rockers - Augustus Pablo

The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers

Funky Kingston - Toots & the Maytals

Music From Big Pink - The Band

Blackheart Man - Bunny Wailer

Below The Bassline - Ernest Ranglin

Eastern Sounds - Yusef Lateef

Blood and Fire: 1971-1972 - Niney & Friends

Mr. Tambourine Man or Turn Turn Turn! or Fifth Dimension - The Byrds

Right Time - The Mighty Diamonds

At Yankee Stadium - NRBQ

Oh yeah, throw some Beatles albums in there too!

Favorite or Most Influential Song/Single

"Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum still does it - that Hammond organ, whew...

Favorite Hooters Gig and/or Tour Stop

So many great ones, but our first taste of the big stage was pretty memorable - we opened for The Who, Clash, and Santana at JFK Stadium in Philly, Sept. '82. The other biggies were Live Aid ('85) Amnesty International @Giants Stadium ('86) and The Wall in Berlin ('90). What a thrill and an honor to play these shows.

A favorite tour stop overseas has to be Aschaffenburg outside of Frankfurt, Germany. We play a hot, sweaty club called "Colos-Saal" and stay in the same little hotel each time, family-run, kind of a "home away from home".

We also had an amazing run of shows at the Tower Theater in Philly '86-'87, and more recently we've been playing annual Fall "Homecoming" concerts at the Keswick in Glenside, fun gigs right before the Holidays.

Favorite Road Food

In the early days, we used to hit Sabatino's in Baltimore after a club gig down there - good Italian and open late! When we were really touring the States, a Waffle House would also hit the spot around 5am. And post-show in Germany, there's nothing like a good grilled Bratwurst with spicy mustard and a nice local Weizenbier.  

But the tastiest grub on the road now (and probably the most fun) might just be hanging out on a tour bus after a great gig making crappy leftover stale sandwiches somehow taste delicious on a panini-maker - it works! Again, best around 5am.

my back pages

Fortunately for me, I grew up with a small Baldwin spinet piano in our home. No one really played it so I'm not sure why it was even there, but as a kid I started plunking out some melodies by ear, trying to copy simple Top-40 songs from the radio. (Well, they sounded simple!). Took some piano lessons along the way but mainly just liked to improvise and make up stuff - I guess that led to songwriting.

I played in a bunch of local bands in Junior High and High School in Meriden, then moved to Philadelphia to go to UPenn. There I met a bunch of like-minded musicians - we almost all still keep in touch - starting with Rick Chertoff (drummer and then our producer) and the guys in "Wax" (wonderfully creative bunch!). I eventually partnered up and got Hooterized with Eric Bazilian and then the rest of our amazing gang of players and friends. And Philly has always been a big part of our story too - I don't think this band could have happened quite the same way anywhere else...

On the side, I enjoy growing very spicy, exotic chile peppers and making my own hot sauce. It goes wherever we go!

live Gear

Hohner Melodicas & Custom Bravo, Amica, and Concerto Accordions, Nord 5D-SW73 Piano-Organ-Synth, and Korg Triton Extreme-61 Synth