Growing up in a family of seven, music and the arts were always a part of our home. My mother had been an opera singer before my arrival. It was very common to hear Harry Belafonte, “Fiddler on the Roof” or “South Pacific” playing on our record player.
However, when I started Junior High School, I became interested in two things: rock music and photography. From Grade Seven to my graduation from High School, I was able to merge these two interests as I photographed rock groups as a hobby and then for the magazine, Music Express.
This was a great opportunity to see some of the greatest performers of the day, including The Who, Eric Clapton, Queen, Lou Rawls, BTO and others. This world came to an end in 1978 when I decided to spend two years in Georgia.
Returning home in 1980, I began working for a courier company in downtown Calgary. One day, after receiving my pay cheque, I walked by a music store and ventured inside.
A few minutes later my cheque was gone but I had bought a brand new Vantage acoustic guitar.
In grade seven my parents gave me a trumpet along with lessons but I had little interest in any instrument that could not be plugged into an amplifier.
I learned the most basic of chords from books and tried to uncover the secrets of my favorite songs by ear. It was a few years later that I wrote my first song but I knew then that there would be others.
Calgary Concert Dates: |
15 June Hillcrest |
22 June Whitehorn |
In 1983 I lived in Mexico City and the following year I traveled to Lima, Peru where I perfected my Spanish and was exposed to the classical guitar and Latin music. My Mexican host family had an old recording of the renowned Spanish singer Rocio Durcal. This record included a gypsy flamenco song I found so haunting and mournful that I bought my first classical guitar before leaving Mexico. A few months later, I wrote my first song in a Spanish style, “First & Last Embrace”. However, while I had learned a number of chords, I lacked the skill to play with proficiency.
Years later, in 2000, I was in a mall with my family and sons when I heard the rumba Latin group “Los Morenos” promoting their first CD.
I decided that I was going to take lessons and learn how to play flamenco.
After a few years of studying both classical and flamenco styles with different teachers, I was fortunate to find the perfect teacher in Roberto Serpas. Coming from El Salvador, Roberto was familiar not only with Latin styles but he also enjoyed blues and rock.
In addition to holding a Masters in Music Composition from the University of Toronto, Roberto was recording his own compositions and critiqued my songs as I began learning the rudiments of recording.
While studying with Roberto, I wrote a classical guitar exam with the Royal Conservatory of Music and participated in two Kiwanis Music Festivals. It was after the second festival that I decided that I was not a classical guitarist and that it was time to use my talents to write my own songs as I had done during the past several years.
I compiled a repertoire that included folk, flamenco and inspirational songs and started giving concerts at senior homes, hospices and drop-in centers for the homeless. At the same time I purchased a 16 track digital recording system to record all my songs.
This Is The Day is my third release and includes What A Wonderful World, Old Man River, Greensleeves as well as my own compositions. Old Man River is a great American Classic written in 1927 for the musical Show Boat. It’s mournful message goes together beautifully with just the voice and a classical guitar. This Is The Day and Find My Way were both written a few days after attending a song writing workshop. They are a departure from the dark themes I usually write about but I am very happy with the result. I hope you will enjoy listening to them.
