My History In Music:

My first music job was at 15. I got hired by a local band and worked 5 nights a week, earning $125.00 per week.

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The venue was the Dead Rat Saloon in Redbanks, California. It was a cowboy bar in the middle of nowhere.

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Far from a 5 star establishment, part of the floor in the bar was dirt and only the dance floor was wood.

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Ironically, its still in business, although its been fully renovated. Rudy Parris has been performing there recently...
 
Speaking of projects, I'm still waiting for the weather to clear up be able to make the drive up the hill. If you don't want to wait for the weather to clear up, we can speak over the phone to get your wife's project started. Text me if you wanna set up a time for a phone chat.
 
In 1988, i moved to SoCal with dreams of making it big. I got an apartment in Fullerton at 111 S. Acacia. Within a week, i had a job in Studio City working for a stage & lighting company. This opened many musical doors. Before long, i was playing in several different L.A. Bands including Tempest, Evil Empyre and Devastator. A conversation with a friend-of-a-friend at The Whisky one night, landed me a job as stage hand and guitar tech for Ratt.

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I also played bass and sang in Mom's country western band, quite a bit over the years, including paid session work during her 1978/1979 recording sessions at Buck Owen's Studios in Bakersfield.

In 1978, i was the youngest person ever assigned a BMI artist number.

Here's one of the only surviving videos. This was shot in 1989 during one of my home visits and this was a first-time run through of a then, brand new song by Clint Black called "A Better Man."



The guitarist in this video passed away in October 2018 after 40 years in my Mom's band. The videographer also passed away recently, as did Mom's drummer who was taking a break when we decided to film this video between rehearsal breaks.
 
The 1959 Sears Silvertone (by Danelectro) my Dad bought my Mom in 1960.

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Mom gave it to me in 1972 and i played it until 1982.

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I did my own paint job on it and installed a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in it.

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This guitar earned me $125.00/week beginning the summer of 1980, when i was 15, after i was recruited into an adult friend's, full-time bar band.

Mom allowed me to drop out of high school to follow my musical dreams.

At that time, $125.00/week was unheard of for a 15 year old kid. Several of my classmates had newspaper routes and were earning $40.00/month.
 
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Another wild, country music/southern rock venue was the Hoot-N-Holler in Terra Bella, California. A local family opened it up because there was nowhere to drink nearby.

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People still rode horses up to the bar from nearby ranches.
 
Fountain Springs, California was a stagecoach stop out in the boonies. The only restaurant/bar for 25 miles in any direction.

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It was tough and had a reputation for frequent fights and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office consudered it a mandatory 3 unit call, due to its remote location and openly-armed cowboys from local ranches.

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The Dutch Frontier Restaurant in Ducor, California, was slighlt more upscale.

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The town was originally called Dutch Corners, but the railroad shortened the name to Ducor in the 1880's.

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Nice music venue, much better paying and no armed cowboys.
 
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