I started playing drums in 1982 in my school band, taking lessons from my cousin over the summer. In 1983, I got my first snare drum and started saving money from doing odd jobs to buy my first full drum kit. In 1984, I purchased my first kit. Shortly after that, I started jamming with friends from school, forming garage bands and playing cover tunes. During my senior year in high school, I joined my first, working metal cover band, Stormbringer. We played all of the stuff you did not hear on the radio…Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, S.O.D., M.O.D. and some mainstream metal from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath…even throwing in some Sex Pistols just for good measure…eventually saving enough money to upgrade my kit to Tama Swingstars. In 1988, I joined the U.S. Marine Corps to go out and see the world. I continued to play drums in my spare time, jamming with fellow Marines from time to time. In 1990, I bought a new set of Tama Rockstars and a full set of cymbals…only to have to store them away when I was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After returning from the war, I met a great guitarist from Florida, Bro Lovelace, through a friend of mine. I packed up my kit and went to his house and jammed to his original tunes, making up drum grooves on the spot. He stopped playing, put his guitar in its stand and started making phone calls. About fifteen minutes later, Bassist, Paul Gillespie and Rhythm Guitarist/Keyboardist, James Bettin showed up and started jamming with us. That night, we formed “Lovelace”. We spent the summer of 1991 through fall of 1992 playing the San Diego area club scene, building a good fan base, appearing on local cable access music shows and even playing the 1992 San Diego Music Festival where we were one of the first openers for Foghat. I left the Lovelace just before Christmas of ’92 because things were getting out of control. After moving back to Pennsylvania, I joined the National Guard and worked crappy jobs in various factories, gas stations and automotive service garages. I lost two fingertips and severely damaged two others in a freak accident at work and I quit drumming because I did not believe I would be able to play ever again. Fast forward 17 years: Married, living in DeWitt, MI, freshly retired from the military after a tour in Iraq, I re-discovered my first, true passion in life: Music. With the help of the crew at DrummerConnection.com, I sold my motorcycle and bought a used drum set and cymbals and began to play again. I joined a classic rock cover band and mainly played the local biker bars and clubhouses. In July of 2010, I sold my kit and bought a new set of Tama Superstars and upgraded my cymbals. In February of 2011, I joined the Lansing based, original, rock band, “Fade To Black” and found myself in the recording studio less than two months later. We recorded 11 songs for our upcoming album “G-Street Panorama” and are currently in the process of mixing and mastering with a tentative release date of July 2013 on Lansing, MI based Silver Maple Kill Records. In 2012, we released a new song “Aliens and Beer” on the comp album “No F@%king Egos, This is Lansing Volume II: Electric Boogaloo” (Silver Maple Kill Records). In February of 2013, Fade To Black released our song and video for “Aliens and Beer” (available for viewing on YouTube) as a single as part of our Kickstarter campaign to finance the completion of the album. In March of 2013, we released a new song, “Gonna Rise up” on a new comp album “No F@%king Egos, This Is Lansing Volume III: The Wrath of Chaka Kahn” (Silver Maple Kill Records). And the story continues…