Artist description Swampy soulful Dobro & lap steel

Music Style Americana (folk, rock, blues, country)

Musical Influences Dobro, slide guitar & lap steel guitar players, Chris Whitley, Danny O'Keefe, Tom Rush, Chris Rea, Robbie Krieger in the Doors Moonlight Drive, John Fogerty, R.E.M.

Similar Artists Dobro, slide guitar & lap steel guitar players, Chris Whitley, Danny O'Keefe, Tom Rush, Chris Rea, Robbie Krieger in the Doors Moonlight Drive, John Fogerty, R.E.M.

Artist History Since it’s just me it goes way back! I grew up in a small farming town where the local radio station played strictly German and Polish dance music so that’s what I heard. I still have this old memory of those tunes coming out of my mom’s table top Philco. The music was just in the air and it seemed to feel good. I was convinced at the time that I was tone deaf after I flunked out of the church choir – oh well - but then Elvis came along. Guess I must have been about 10 or so. I remember thinking that the music was pretty cool but wondered why everybody was so excited about the guy. There’s kind of a musical blank period then until I was sick in bed for about a week one time. I was listening to the radio and feeling bored when I came across a Chicago radio station playing rock n roll. Something really magical happened when I heard that music and I thought “wow, there’s a station that plays music just for kids!!!”. (It sure didn’t occur to me that I would still be listening to and playing that stuff as a 50 something geezer!) I think I must have been in Jr. high when I discovered guitar. My older sister’s boyfriend played guitar (a Rick just like John Lennon’s in those old pictures) and he gave my sister a little acoustic 6 string. She never really did pick it up but I looked at it and thought “this might be kind of fun to try”. I took it outside, put my fingers in an Em chord position and gave it a strum. Oh my God!!! I still get shivers remembering that moment. It was like every emotion I had ever felt came floating out of that thing. This was early on in the folk music craze in the early 60’s. Some nights when the skip was just right I could faintly tune in a Boston AM station that had a folk show. No stations that I could get in the Midwest were playing that kind of music then but I had to hear it. One night I got just a snatch of the most amazing voice I had ever heard singing something about a highway and then the skip faded out. I had no idea who it was and didn’t figure it out for at least another year but you know – Bob Dylan. I first started playing guitar in a folk group in high school. I wasn’t very good (still not that great either!) but there weren’t many guitarists then so they kept me. Guess I was kind of a geeky kid on the edge of the in click and getting hooked up with the artsy kids (definitely not in) really was great. I had also bought an old beat up Fender Strat around then and was starting to play electric. It was The Ventures and Dick Dale and the Deltones for me. I didn’t really get off on the Beatles but was blown away by the Rolling Stones, Animals and Yard Birds when they came along. That led to the blues and in college I started playing harp in pick up bands and felt like things were starting to roll the right way. Around then I heard this song called “Drivin’ Wheel” by Tom Rush and it had this most amazing slide guitar sound. I didn’t know what it was but that sound was like that 1st Em chord. The sound just stuck in my head. A long time later I realized that it was a Dobro and decided that I was going to play that thing someday. I actually got started when I found an old 1930’s Hawaiian guitar in my father in law’s attic. I realized that this was kind of like a Dobro and began playing old time music with a group of friends in Seattle. Well this is up to about 20 years ago now!! Back then I finally bought my Dobro and it felt just right. I never felt like I could really say what I wanted on guitar but on the Dobro it seemed like I finally had a voice. Since then I’ve played in a number of different amateur blue grass and old time bands but my heart has always been more in rock & blues. For about the last 10 years I’ve jammed and played occasional gigs with a folk rock band from Olympia Washington called “Dream Kitchen”. They’ve been my inspiration to start writing and recording so here I am on mp3.com. Click website for Dream Kitchen & cool Olympia music.

Group Members Abbott

Instruments acoustic & electric guitars, Dobro, lap steel guitar, slide guitar, bass

Albums Are you kidding? Maybe a DAM CD after a while.

Additional Info No hot Dobro licks here - just soulful slide playing

Location Vashon Island, WA - USA

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