ESP:

ESP was a great, fun band, and performed across Illinois and Indiana from 1994 until 2009. These tracks are from the CD "Eclipse", released in 2006 as a tribute to our long time bassist and great friend Gary Strater. Gary died of cancer at age 52 in 2004. Many of the tracks on this CD were released on an EP in 2000. Eclipse features remixed and mastered versions of these tunes, and also contains some live tracks, and a track by side project Electric Sky (see below). I wrote the ballad "The Only One I Need", and collaborated with Gary on his song "Who Will You Be". "Deep In The Night" was a song Gary brought to the band, originally written in the late '80's for a later version of his band Starcastle. All guitars are by me.

More info on ESP here and here. "Eclipse" available here.

Electric Sky:

This band was active 1995-2000, and was my Jimi Hendrix influenced project. Jimi was always my first inspiration, and this was my chance to play in that style. We did a lot of Hendrix, some Robin Trower, SRV, and some blues, as well as originals. I sang lead vocals, and in 1996 Gary Strater and Tommy Garza joined the band on bass and drums respectively. Gary and Tommy would join ESP later that year. This led to my longtime association and friendship with Gary, until his death. Electric Sky played lots of shows, and many openers including for Blue Oyster Cult, .38 Special, LA Guns, Quite Riot and more. The song "Black Light" was just a good time groove song, a little more SRV than Jimi. I am trying to unearth some old tapes to transfer to digital. I hope to post some more songs from the band soon.

Christmas songs:

These I really enjoy doing. "Joy To The World", "Faithful" and "Auld Lang Syne" were recorded with my good friend Doug Gherna. "Auld Lang Syne" was meant to sound like several different guitarists playing together, and each line was done in one take. We did not over analyze it. There is a note or two I would fix. The other two were with Doug's project Judy Powder, with vocals by Judy. "Deck The Halls" and "Jingle Bells" were quickies I did in my home studio with a simple drum track, and me on all bass and guitars.

Doug Gherna:

Doug is an extremely talented engineer, producer, songwriter, and multi instrumentalist, whom I have known and worked with since 1985. Doug has worked as Bonnie Raitt's on stage monitor mix soundman since 1989, and has also worked with Night Ranger extensively, as well as Cheap Trick and many more national acts. I recorded my CD 'The Axeman Cometh" at his place, and we did the remix/master of the ESP project there also. I have played lead and or rhythm guitar on many songs for Doug, these two I like a lot. "Jimmy Don't Mind" is a great rock song written by Doug, and the solo has a very "Aerosmith" feel to it. I heard the complete song, without a solo, and suggested the solo to Doug, and it worked out great! Outro solo is by Andy Baylor, who has done music for a couple Dragonball Z videos. Vocals by Jim Bean, great local singer. Jim, Andy and I were in an awesome and very poplular regional group "Toyzz" in 1985, and Doug was our soundman! The other selection, "The Darkness", is the lead solo only, it has a bit of an Yngwie style to it.

Instrumental:

My most recent full length solo realease, "The Axeman Cometh" was in 2005. I recorded this at Doug's place, all guitars and bass by me. I will post some more stuff here, including some songs from my first solo album "Pile-Up", released in 1994! The song "2 The Maxx" is in a little bit of a Satriani/Steve Vai style, a fun uptempo melodic track. "The Meeting" and "Warriors Ride" along with "Tribute 2005" actually form a neo-classical/metal trilogy, with lots of over the top free form improv, along with some nice harmonies and some cool lines. Some fun rhythm work on these tunes also. "Tribute 2005" is actually an update of a piece I originally wrote and released on Pile-Up. Tribute to Yngwie, can't you tell? LOL! I received many great reviews on the Axeman CD, and sold hundreds of CD's worldwide. More info on my "Axeman" era solo stuff here. Also at CD Baby and elsewhere on the web.

Cover Songs (Spring 2010):

Michael Schenker - "Armed And Ready" and "Into The Arena", two of my favorite Schenker tunes of all time. "Armed And Ready" was done in about 30 minutes, kind of rough with a very basic drum track, me on bass and guitars. I winged the vocal line. "Into The Arena" is me on all guitars with pro recorded backing track. This one came out pretty well, tried to cop the "Schenker" feel, with some note for note playing and some "in the style of".

Rick Derringer - "Rock'n'Roll Hoochie Koo", a classic classic rock tune, all instrumental with me on all guitars, and a great pro recorded backing track. Some of the vocal lines I played are not as tight as I might like, lead playing is all in the style of Rick, maybe amped up just a bit more. This was another fairly quick one.

Rush - "YYZ", my take on the Rush favorite, all me on guitars with a great backing track, I also played bass in the middle breakdown. Kept a lot of the Alex Liefson stuff, did my own solo, and particularly happy with the breakdown section in the middle.

Guns 'n Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine", a great song. Tried to capture a little of Axl's phrasing in the vocal lines, kept a lot of the really great Slash stuff, and played the solo "in the style of", did not try to copy totally note for note. The outro was a lot of fun too! All lead guitars are by me, and an extra rhythm track. The rest is a great sounding backing track. All covers recorded by me with Cubase, Amplitube for guitars.