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Bio...

Part 1: The first step being the hardest journey...
it's easier to just listen to the music because...

SPOT has never been able to adequately describe his music to those who ask; there are too many seeming contradictions. At this stage of the game, however, he considers himself an "American Guitarist" or, more precisely, an "American Musician." But we're not speaking of the vanilla-esque style that folks have come to call "americana." No, there's a a much deeper meaning to this. Please consider that the man learned to play music back in the early 60's when there was no such thing as an "alternative" scene. This was in the days when surf music and pre-Beatles pop ruled, and the likes of the Tijuana Brass, Johnny Cash, Dave Brubeck and Lesley Gore shared the Top 40 airwaves (and folks like John Coltrane, Dave Van Ronk, Howlin' Wolf and John Cage shared the Bottom 40 underground). It was right at that juncture where the initial rush of Rock & Roll launched itself undeniably into the Space Age and left most denizens of the USA in the expectant pause that followed—waiting for Johnny B. Goode to pass the torch to the Street Fighting Man.

In this world the crisp strains emanating from country and pop music radios blended effortlessly with the sounds of post-Bop jazz records played at backyard barbecues, and with the secret Opera broadcasts and Warner Bros. cartoon soundtracks. Yet, through it all, Rock & Roll reigned supreme and in those days if you were lucky enough to have a guitar you simply learned to play whatever you heard. No one had a fuzzbox—at least, not yet—but everyone lived in America. So... who is really entitled to define a term like "americana" when you grow up in a neighborhood that harbors such unknowns as Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and Chico Hamilton? SPOT's first band was in 1965 when he played drums behind schoolmates George and Louis Johnson, and, in later bands, would rehearse in living rooms adjacent to some of James Brown's favorite soul food cafes. Eventually, there was the British Invasion, the Freak Flag of Psychedelia, the Folk Revival and, of course, the entire late-60's combo plate of musical Detente. Americana, indeed!

Part 2: So let's cut to the chase...
did you listen to the music?

In today's world you'd have to say that if musical styles were mountains, SPOT has climbed both the "Rockies" and the "Folkies." A most impressive guitarist, tenor banjoist, multi-instrumentalist, he's become known as a two-fisted picker who backs it up with outstanding composition and writing. Definitely not the usual singer-songwriter fare—in fact, he does not consider himself a songwriter at all—here is an accomplished performer with some pretty striking original songs and tunes that cover a wide range of out-of-the-ordinary styles. This is music that goes beyond the usual limitations of the solo acoustic genre at the hands of someone who has played before a wide variety of audiences.

Defying any and all of the easy categorizations, his roots reach down firmly in the soils of rock, jazz, country, avant-garde, folk, traditional and, notably, Celtic styles. So, really, SPOT plows a fertile musical territory that yields sounds ranging from the "traditional & acoustic" to the "trashy & electric" to the "studied & classical" to the "soulful & bold." And it should be mentioned that for too many years he was identified mostly with the "alternative" music world as a producer (see below*) but the old dog knew way more tricks than the rock world could ever imagine.

Part 3: Why try to explain when you can just listen to the music?

SPOT has:

• done numerous solo tours (in ancient Toyota warhorses) since the late 1990s;

• toured with Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Porno for Pyros, Stooges) as an opening act (spring 2002);

• done a songwriters' tour with Jen Hamel of the late Celtic band Clandestine—once tourmates with the Chieftains (late 2001);

• shared stages with folks like Sonic Youth, Devotchka, Drive-by Truckers, Guitar Wolf, Cherry Valence, Eugene Chadbourne, Bad Livers, Gaza Strippers, The Woggles, Poison 13, Arthur Dodge & Horsefeathers, The Sadies, Fugazi, Bob Mould and with more traditional artists such as Alejandro Escovedo, Clandestine, Jean-Michel Veillon & Yvon Riou, Michael Hurley, Ed Miller, Michael Fracasso;

• played festivals such as North Texas Irish Festival (Dallas, TX—largest in the southwest), CelticFest (Jackson, MS), Austin Celtic Festival, Old Settlers' Bluegrass Festival (Austin, TX);

• performed at events like Garage Shock (the granddaddy of all garage band fests), Sleazefest (a similar bash), Lollapalooza;

• teamed up with bodhran (Irish frame drum) player Albert Alfonso, whom the legendary Mick Moloney once deemed "the Celtic-Cuban Connection." Together they recently completed their first tour and released a new album.

• performed in the 2005 collaboration project of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) with playwright Dan Dietz and dramaturg D.J. Hopkins.

All in all, a pretty damned versatile performer.

Recently affiliated with the O&O/Upland label (Ft. Collins, CO), SPOT is currently an independent artist. His two latest releases, "In The Bag" and "Nae Plumb Nor Square," wear the No Auditions brand—his own label.
Currently in back burner status are albums from two bands that never made it past the recording studio. One is an album of hot-rodded and electrified reels and jigs to be titled "DeLorean Mechanics." The other, an earlier effort, documents his bold leap from the burning outhouse of punk/alternative and into a mire dominated by traditional Irish styles.

In his own words, and pithily so:
"I can guarantee that no two people who have heard me play describe the music the same way. So get over it!"

*(check the Billboard Encyclopedia of Record Producers for the discography because, yes, once upon a time he created a kinda legendary body of recordings from artists such as the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Descendents, Big Boys and many more. but please don't be influenced by that..... here we're considering a fine musician)