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Although I loved music as a child I was never particularly musical and I couldn't (still can't) sing and although I wanted to, they wouldn't let me study violin. I was bought a pretty cheap steel string guitar when I was about 11 and I learnt a few chords etc I toyed with the idea of playing Santana but not too successfully but none of my friends played so it sort of took a back seat. It wasn't until I left school that I bought myself a nylon strung guitar (not too expensive) and tried to teach myself. It was in my mid twenties when I first started taking lessons and took a few exams but then family, work and other commitments (through my sons I somehow became a scout leader for 10 years) took up a lot of time and although I still tried to play I couldn't devote as much time as I would have liked. I did start studying for a diploma (which I never actually achieved - it's still an ongoing fantasy) and had a few duet concerts with on of my teacher's other students.  I still harboured a dream to study music and in my late forties noticed that a university about 40 miles from Kendal where I live had a contemporary music course. At the time I was working 50 miles from home and went past the town on my way to and from work so I managed to work and do the course part time so I got a Batchelor's degree in Contemporary Music although to be honest I didn't do anything with it - I don't think Kendal, where I live has a big avante-garde population. A long story but I bought myself a bass guitar and then somehow got invited to join a local band. Unfortunately the band started taking too much time and my classical guitar was suffering so I stopped the band to concentrate on the classical guitar. I've now retired and at last I can spend more time playing guitar - although other things keep appearing to take up my time (grandchildren) and I have to get up really early to get enough time to do the daily exercises and studies. Up until the pandemic, for the last few years I have been having occasional lessons with a retired concert guitarist - Neil Smith who studied with Brouwer in Canada and has performed with Sir Simon Rattle so I am hoping to resume studies with him soon (if he is still willing to do it) and who knows - maybe get that diploma eventually.

It's interesting that quite a few of you are involved in IT as that was also my profession - nearly 40 years in programming and analysis!

I am a bit slow in participating in this. I am also going to defy the CG/IT connection – being a devout IT luddite.

I began guitar at 11 (1962!!!)  learning (very slowly) folk music and pop tunes. I  became interested in electric guitar a couple of years later and played rock guitar for about 8 – 10 years (Clapton
(Cream, solo), Jeff Beck (Yardbirds, solo) and Hendrix were my idols - having seen all of them in concert). After I began college I was no longer playing in a band and sitting on my bed trying to play rock guitar solos by myself had lost its appeal. I decided to change and thought I would try Jazz. I went to a guitar store in Dallas, Tx (where I am from) to sign up with a guitar teacher to learn jazz. When I met with the teacher he told me he no longer taught jazz but he taught classical guitar instead. I thought, ‘oh well, why not’. On the way home from my first lesson I stopped at a record store (!) and bought a classical guitar album to hear what I had signed up for. The album was John Williams Variations.  I remember listening to Bach’s Chaconne and thinking, WOW! I am going to learn to play THIS?!!! (45 years later I’m still thinking “I’m going to learn to play this?!”). Other than a few months with that teacher I have been on my own. I would alternate between being very involved to not touching the guitar for periods of time. 

In 1977 or so, I was in Austin, TX and decided to sit in on music classes at UT. I got thru about 2 years before I moved to Tennessee (to live in a log cabin in the Smoky Mountains). While attending UT I started working at a restaurant. Those 2 interests have pretty much defined me since. I continued to work in restaurants and study music and guitar on my own. While living in Seattle I again sat in on music classes, this time at UW. After a couple of classes I was accepted as a graduate student in music history. I studied for 2+ years but did not complete my graduate degree. 

Around this time I had the classic midlife crisis and decided to go on a big adventure. I spent 9 months bicycling solo from Hong Kong to Singapore. I had never toured on a bicycle before though I was riding fairly regularly at that time. That was an amazing trip. In China, I met a Chinese photographer that was planning a trip to Tibet with a couple of other people and decided to join them. I put my bike in storage when I got to Bangkok and flew to Sichuan, then to Lhasa where we rented a car and drove a cross Tibet to Katmandu, Nepal. From there I took a bus across India to Calcutta before flying back to Bangkok and continuing my bike trip to Singapore. When I flew back to the US I landed in SF and decided to stay in the bay area. I resumed my work in restaurants and began studying photography (something I picked up in my travels) I also met my wife who was also studying photography. We moved to Oakland, had a daughter and about 15 years later decided to get married. We opened a restaurant (Aunt Mary's Cafe) in Oakland in 2008. I decided to retire with the pandemic, though my wife has continued as owner. With retirement I have decided to once again to focus on becoming a better guitarist and musician. I discovered Tonebase and feel it has been very good for me. 

I apologize for the ramblings …. But then, I am old.