"Yeah, I'm a yankee".
I was born in Goshen, Indiana in August 1962 to be the oldest of three sons. I was raised in a very musical family, the result of my Dad having been the leader of a band as early as I can remember. Dad had me sing with his band for the first time when I was 6 years old. One of my fondest memories is that, when I was eight, I remember Dad's lead guitar player, Bill McCoullough, tuning my little Gretcsh flat-top with a pair of pliers because one of my tuning pegs was broken.
Over the next few years, I studied the guitar with influences like Jerry Reed, Roy Nichols, Roy Clark, Chet Atkins, and Don Rich.
When I was 11, my dad, Harper, had me on lead guitar, mom, Miriam, on bass, my brother Jess on Drums and we became a family band - The American Travelers. Our family played together as a band for 13 years. We weren't just a run-of-the-mill family band, AND WE WEREN'T JUST A LOCAL BAND...
In 1975, we began backing well known country artists for appearances mainly in northern Indiana but also in the Florida panhandle, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvainia, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan with artists including (but not limited to) Ferlin Husky, Kenny Price, the Hager Twins, the Wilburn Bros, Sylvia, Buddy Alan, John Anderson (before he had his own band), Buck Trent, Charlie Walker, and Ronnie Stoneman.
In 1988, I moved to Nashville and was employed within 2 months playing guitar for Rex Allen, Jr. Since then, I've worked for various artists including Steve Wariner, John Michael Montgomery (for 7 years), Tracy Lawrence, Billy Walker, Andy Griggs, and Tracy Byrd.
Many do not realize that in 1997 I earned my private pilot certificate and in 2001 I left the music business for a 5 year period to begin a career as a flight instructor. In March of 2006, and after 40 of my students successfully passed checkrides, I returned to the music business and now aviation is my hobby.
I now reside in Mt. Juliet, TN with my wife Jill, and 16 year old daughter Sarah. Oh... and we all share the same birthdate - August 25th! There's one for Ripley's Believe It or Not!
