I was born in 1964, the year the Beatles first came to America. What does that mean? Nothing. I just think it's cool.
In the 1970s, when I was finally tall enough to reach the keys of the piano, I started figuring out how to play the songs I heard on the radio. At 16 I got my first guitar and would sit on the bed for hours figuring out the chords to my favorite songs. (Sometimes I still do.)
In the 80s, lip-sync contests were all the rage, and I had won enough contests doing a mean Bruce Springsteen to save up and buy myself a keyboard. I even got called to be on the 80s lipsync show "Puttin' On the Hits", but I didn't want to be known as a lip-sync act, so I passed. (And to think I could have been the next Milli Vanilli.)
I started writing songs on my keyboard, and my friend John Portuondo and I composed a song chosen for the commissioning of a WWII battleship, the U.S.S.Leyte Gulf. It was recorded and sung by Juan Secada (before he was known as Jon Secada), and performed by the U.S. Navy band on the day of the ship's commissioning. (That's pretty much my claim to fame.)
Since I didn't have a band, I wrote some songs and recorded my first home-made album "On My Way". The circuits and chips inside of my keyboard sparked my interest in computers, and this led to my day job as an I/T engineer for the next 30 years. I played music on the side and directed a couple of youth choirs at Church. John and I tried forming several bands at this time, but we had a knack for finding the most talented and irresponsible musicians in Florida. And so the music went into hibernation, until...
One fateful day in 2010 a friend and coworker asked if I would pull out the old 80s lipsync routine for a benefit show at work. I did it and it led to me playing in and directing the bands for the next 5 years (see videos and pics). I was asked to join several bands after that, but decided to go solo and have been ever since.
Over the years I got to play every type of event and place (you name it, I played it), and I currently play at Snook's in Key Largo. (Shout out to Frank, Fred, Karl, Connie and Ronnie for all the work and the love over the years!).
In 2010 I also won a nationwide Ovation Guitar contest, the grand prize of which was an Adamas guitar that I got to customize myself. It was truly a musical dream come true.
A year later another musical dream came true when I married my soulmate, Iris. How is that a musical dream? Ah! Like most musicians, I always dreamed of fame, fortune, and getting any girl I wanted. I may not have gotten the fame or fortune, but I sure got the girl I wanted! (The opening chords to "Drive" by Incubus proved more effective than any pickup line ;-).
I had co-written some songs with my friends from the band days, and I recorded my next home made album "D.I.Y.", playing the different parts. After this I recorded a handful of acoustic covers, "Look Ma, No Band!".
In 2015 I suffered a back injury that forced me to stop performing for 2 years. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise since I learned about mindbody healing, and it gave me time to compose a musical summary of the Bible that I had always wanted to put together since teaching the Bible to adult classes over the years. I finished writing it in 2017 and presented it to different churches to a great reception as my back began to heal.
From 2018 to 2020 I got to volunteer with Musicians On Call, an organization that brings live music to hospital patients. It was the most rewarding gig of my life. Music truly heals!
In 2020, unaware of the oncoming pandemic, the soulmate and I took a leap of faith, and I gave up my day job of 30 years to pursue being a full time musician, at the tender age of 55! Pandemic or no, I started living the dream. Business eventually picked up, and to this day I'm overwhelmed at being able to pay the bills with my guitar. I plan to continue doing so until that great gig in the sky.
Thanks for reading!
