The Backstory
Every musician has a unique journey. Here's mine, illustrated with pictures and videos.
It was 2024...
...when I decided to self-produce an album. It was the culmination (so far) of a journey that started about 50 years ago.
I think it was 1974...
...as a passenger in my Mom's car, when she said, "You seem to know the lyrics to all the songs on the radio." Embarrassed, I apologized for always singing along. "No, it sounds good," she said. "I like it." Sounds good? Hmm.
I think it was 1977...
...and my Mom asked if I might be interested in piano lessons. As a scrappy little athlete, the question surprised me. "You always seem to enjoy it when your sisters and your brother-in-law play," she said. She was right, and before I knew it, I was learning jazz classics by Scott Joplin and Thelonious Monk. I really enjoyed it, but I felt a strange dissonance, as I learned jazz while spending my free time listening to rock -- Boston, Cheap Trick, The Eagles, Queen, Gerry Rafferty, Wings... I couldn't get enough.
I think it was 1979...
...and a friend said, "You have to listen to this!" and put the needle down to play Eruption by Van Halen. Thus began a growing obsession with heavier music, especially VH, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Rush. It became clear that jazz piano was not my passion, so I sheepishly asked my parents if I could quit piano lessons. They didn't seem surprised, and simply encouraged me to try not to waste everything I had learned.
It was 1981-1982...
...and whenever I wasn't at school or playing sports, I was listening to hard rock and heavy metal. I got up the nerve to ask my parents, "If I do extra projects to earn extra allowance, would you split the cost of an electric guitar as a Christmas present?" The answer was yes, and believe it or not, we ordered a guitar from the J.C. Penny catalog!
Within a year, my first-ever band practice happened in my parents' living room, amidst my Mom's many hanging plants, That's me on the far right.
It was 1983-1985...
...and life was getting busy. Schoolwork, student council, 3 sports, and a dishwashing job weren't enough to keep me away from my passion: playing heavy metal with my buds in a band we called Warhawk. With a new guitar & amp (not from JC Penny), we practiced weekly in the old 1880s cellar carved from bedrock under my house. Things were getting loud. We gigged occasionally, but were more than happy to just play our assess off in that old cellar. p.s. - my parents were saints
It was 1986...
...and I was a attending SUNY Buffalo. I was invited to be the lead vocalist in a hard-rock band, after the bass player heard me absent-mindedly singing along with Deep Purple's "Highway Star" at a loud party. The band featured some great players, but gigs seemed hard to come by and eventually we folded.
In parallel, my new best friends in my dorm introduced me to the Grateful Dead. I didn't "get it" at first -- my favorite metal bands were tight and aggressive, whereas the Dead were loose and relaxed. But I was increasingly captivated by Jerry Garcia's flights of fancy on the guitar. On Easter Sunday 1986, I attended my first Dead show in Hartford, CT, and I was hooked.
It was 1987-1988...
...and I was a Deadhead through and through. I still loved to listen to hard rock and heavy metal, but I spent my school breaks touring with the Dead, and my weekends jamming in the house band for arguably the best non-frat party house at UB (my house). One mic hanging from the beam, one bare incandescent bulb, and many hours of musical exploration and growth. That's me on the right. In the center is the one and only John Yakovou.
It was 1989...
...and I saw a flyer announcing auditions for an upcoming production of "Hair" at UB. The flyer said "looking for dancers, singers, and rock singers with no prior theatre experience." That last part fit me to a T, with a bonus being that I wouldn't even have to wear a wig! I was among a small handful of non-theatre-kids cast in the ensemble, and I was given several lead-vocal parts which showcased my non-show-tunes singing style. The rigors of daily rehearsals and the coaching by a fantastic musical director led me to understand the physical mechanics of singing better than ever before. And the show frickin' rocked.
It was 1989-1990...
...and I was attending grad school at Cornell. Within weeks of arriving, I became fast friends with a like-minded musician, Ben Diamond, and we formed the band Diamond & Wood. We gigged regularly around Ithaca, playing a mixture of hippie rock and a growing repertoire of folk-rock originals, cheered on by a raucous (drunk) core of friends/fans. Occasionally we were joined on harmonica by Ben's friend Jesse Harris, who went on to win a Grammy for writing "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones.
It was early 1991...
...and with our respective graduations looming, Ben and I hired a professional studio to produce a Diamond & Wood album. A friend shot some grainy video on a VHS camera (displaying the wrong date -- a common occurrence back then). Only one full song was captured on video, presented here with the final mix of the song from the album. This is "Institution," with lyrics by Ben and music by me.
The album was released on cassette tape. Remember how cassettes had that paper fold-out, with the album cover on the front and the liner notes tucked inside the case? With 1991 technology (i.e., lack thereof), creating this was harder than it looks!
It was spring 1991...
...and graduation was imminent. I accepted a job in San Franciso, which seemed like destiny. A year earlier, I landed an internship interview with a company in San Francisco. After my interview, I realized that the Jerry Garcia Band was playing the Warfield that night. I made a bee-line for the Warfield and found a friendly Head to sell me a ticket. Once inside the Warfield, I ran into two friends from Buffalo. It was meant to be.
When I told my parents that I was going to move to San Francisco after graduation, my mother half-joked that I was moving to the Bay because of Jerry. She wasn't half-wrong. Years later, Jerry released the live album pictured here, which features songs recorded that fateful night.
It was 1994...
...and I was Jonesing to be in band again. Back then the main way to find collaborators was through bi-weekly want-ads in Bay Area Music magazine (aka "BAM"). I was stoked to see an ad seeking musicians for a Dead cover band. I replied, and was asked to audition for "the Bobby parts" on vocals and guitar. I figured this would be a slam dunk, because I knew most the Dead catalog, and my voice is more suited to Weir's than Garcia's.
I was sorely mistaken. When I sat down to prep for the audition, my mind was blown when I really really listened to Bobby Weir's guitar parts. All this time I thought I understood the Dead... but Bobby's playing is unlike anyone on the planet. I passed the audition, and quickly climbed a steep learning curve which completely transformed my relationship with the guitar. RIP, Bobby -- your impact was profound.
The band was Terrapin Flyer (formed in 1994 in Menlo Park, not to be confused with the later/current band of the same name). Amazing players -- L-to-R is Scott Fernandez on "Brent" keys, me on "Bobby" guitar & vocals, Phil Coulson on "Jerry" guitar & vocals, and Duane Day on "Phil" bass & vocals.
It was early 1996...
...and Jerry had recently passed away. We were all still pretty shaken up, but we quickly learned that our gigs were therapeutic for our fans. Lots of collective grieving, and a whole different energy.
We decided to channel our efforts into self-producing two shows, with me as the (novice) producer/cat-herder. It was a ton of work but was tremendously rewarding. For both gigs, we rented a beautiful space at Fort Mason on the SF waterfront. The video from the gigs is choppy (probably from my amateur conversion) but this snippet should give you a feel for the band and these particular gigs.
It was the mid 2000s...
...and life was complicated. I was raising kids, huffin' and puffin' to keep pace with the Corporate Rat Race, and navigating several massively stressful live events. I forced myself to make a little time to make a little music. Regular jams with my friends David Baer (bass) and Alex Kamages (drums) turned into a few gigs under the name Redwood Groove, pictured here at a fundraiser for my son's preschool (that's his pic on my mic stand). RIP David Baer -- I miss you very much.
It was 2013...
...and I got a call from Scott Fernandez, whom I first met at my Terrapin Flyer audition, and who had become one of my closest friends. He asked if I'd be interested in putting together a band. He listed the other musicians he had in mind, and it was an easy decision. What a joy to collaborate with Scott on keys & vocals, Justin Wooster on drums & vocals, Matt Hartle on lead guitar & vocals, and Rob Wenig on bass. Together we formed Greenhouse, a true jam band covering the Dead, Allman Brothers, Phish, Widespread Panic, and on and on. Even better, we all brought originals to the band, including "Nowhere Fast" featured in the accompanying video.
It was 2020...
...and you know what that means. Cooped up at home, wondering what fresh hell would be awaiting us every day. I turned my attention to a handful of songs I had written and recorded, and decided to start releasing them one by one. Those old releases have now been removed from the various platforms, to make room for the new album, which really is a tribute to everything I learned from those first releases. (Translation: I made a lot of mistakes!)
The insanity of 2020 is also the origin-story of the Cover Videos section of this website.
It was 2025...
...and I set a goal to release an album by the end of the year. I picked 5 of my favorite songs and fiddled with them endlessly, learning by leaps and bounds as a producer along the way. On December 19, 2025, I decided the songs were ready. I uploaded the songs to my distributor, and clicked the "Submit" button at 11:11 a.m. (IYKYK)