Here's a little drivel about my musical side.
I started playing guitar when I was about ten and was initially taught by my good friend Butch Dieterich. My parents bought me an acoustic guitar for Christmas but I promptly saved up $75 and bought my first electric guitar. I was in heaven and played for hours every day. In high school I bought my first "real" guitar, a brand new Gibson SG. I bought it after hearing the fantastic tone that the lead guitarist for Blue Oyster Cult, Buck Dharma, got from his SG. Around this time I also got my first "real" amp, a Marshall stack. I bought it from an amazing singer and guitarist, Derek St. Holmes, who was playing locally in Birmingham, Michigan. Derek later gained the fame he deserved when he teamed up with Ted Nugent as Ted's lead vocalist and recorded classic songs such as "Stranglehold."
My live set up is as follows:
My Steinberger is an amazing collector's edition guitar. Most people immediately notice that it is "headless." It's great because the intonation is perfect, it rarely goes out of tune, and it's super versatile in that it can sound like many other guitars.
Over the years I've had the best musical toys that money can buy (e.g., custom made guitars, Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp, etc.) but my current set up tops them all for versatility and great sound.
Kevin and I met around 2003 when both of our daughters were on the same soccer team. Immediately I knew that Kevin was a pro-class musician and we pretty rapidly developed the idea of forming a band. We then recruited my good buddy, Don Morris, as our drummer. I knew Don had a lot of raw talent because he was a classically trained drummer. However, unlike Kevin and me, Don had never really played in a serious rock band and didn't know what level of commitment was going to be required.
Suffice to say that Don has a large family and a very busy life and we swiftly burned him out with our over-the-top zeal. At that point we brought in Eric Merhoff as our drummer. We met Eric through Kevin's work band and were immediately impressed with his pro style that he had developed playing with many bands over the years. We also hooked up with another "Soccer Dad", Mitch Ah-Tye, whose great vocals and keyboard abilities really filled out our sound in a big way.
As Sliding Sideways started to gig more (a lot more!), the increased frequency took a toll on Eric's and Mitch's family lives. After extensive auditions we finally landed with Kevin Clark (aka K2) on drums and Jerry Williams on bass. Both are good singers, talented experienced musicians, quick learners and great guys. K2 was with us for over a year but had to bow out when he achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming a Sheriff and started working nights and weekends. After lots of auditions we found Rob Murtey whose a great guy and an equally great drummer.
The name Sliding Sideways came from Eric who had heard a similar band name many years ago. We asked many people their opinions on various band names and Sliding Sideways was always the winner. After we agreed on the name, we discovered that the phrase "sliding sideways" refers to a new car racing sport called drifting.
My philosophy in playing live is that I try to "nail" the exact vibe of the original recording. Authenticity is the key to making these songs come alive. It often takes me a very long time to learn all the nuances of the solos in a song like "La Grange." To do this, I use specialized software to learn the super fast solos by slowing the song down to 1/2 or 1/3 speed without changing the pitch. After I've learned the notes and the perfomance techniques I slowly start speeding up the playback until I can play the solo at full speed. The benefit of this time consuming method is that, once learned, I can play "La Grange" note-for-note with Billy Gibbons. This approach is much harder than just improvising my own solos because I'm called upon to recreate a wide variety of styles in the toughest recorded solos in rock and roll. But, then again, that's why I earn the big bucks...