Chicapah

I started out as a child. I was born and raised in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Texas and graduated in 1968 from Kimball High School. I started playing guitar when I was 15 and quickly became part of the garage band gang of that neighborhood that included such acquaintances and luminaries as Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughan.

I attended both Dallas Baptist College and North Texas State University, mainly in order to avoid the draft rather than the lure of higher education. Journalism was my major and one of the perks of working on the school newspaper at NTSU was the fact that my beat was covering the activities of the world famous One O'Clock Lab Band led by Leon Breeden. I was also a member of a rock roll band called Daniel from 1969 to 1975.

We were a Three Dog Night/Allman Brothers type outfit that played the club circuits of the southwest and midwest extensively, releasing a single on Paramount Records in 1974 called "Take Us to Heaven." When Paramount was bought out by ABC we were dropped along with Commander Cody and other bands. In 1976 I joined Texas Rose, a somewhat progressive rock group influenced by Yes and Steely Dan, and we put out a locally produced album called "Need Your Love" that failed to land us a major label contract.

I left them after seven months and formed a group called "Next" with Kenny Daniel of "Kenny and the Kasuals" fame. We moved to Hermosa Beach, CA in 1977 and pursued a record contract out there until 1980 when I moved back to Dallas. I got married and had 2 wonderful children and semi-retired from the "biz" in order to work various jobs and put meat on the table.

I continued to play in weekend/wedding bands until 2000 when I finally hung up the guitar strap for good. I am now in my second marriage, work in the investment business and reside in Forney, a suburb located east of Dallas. I have always loved listening to and discovering new music so finding this website was a godsend.

I have also always been a writer, creating everything from screenplays and stageplays to novels and children's stories so contributing reviews for albums is right up my alley. I recently became a published author when "Teardrops to Rainbows," an inspirational children's book about overcoming pain and sadness, became available on Amazon.com as well as Borders and Target.

I am very honored to be a member of this fraternity of proggers.