Solo acoustic fingerstyle guitar - Gospel, Worship, Classicalesque, new age, blues, jazz, country, "genre-bending" which is the defining character of fingerstyle guitar.

10 MP3 Songs
GOSPEL: Contemporary Gospel, CLASSICAL: New Age



Details:
At the age of 10, the pursuit of a lifelong dream began. I got home from school one day and my big brother Edgar had the Flamenco styled intro to "La Villa Strangiato" by RUSH cranked through his new stereo...I was floored and was instantly hooked on guitar! I had my Mom listen to it and I told her that I wanted to play guitar like that. She liked the song too, that is until the intro ended and the Rock started.... but I loved it all! So she enrolled me in guitar lessons with local classical guitarist Brent Weaver. I spent the next 4 years in lessons learning classical guitar. My brother-in-law Scott was a big influence as well, teaching me my first chords to 70's rock classics like "Born on The Bayou", just to bug my big sister Mimi who hated CCR...ahhh, good times!

During highschool or "The Wasted Years" as I call them, I played and wrote original material with local prog metal power trio "Spontaneous Reaction" who's career highlight was opening for Ronnie Montrose in 1989. During this time I learned how to play rhythm & lead in a band setting and continued to hone my overall style. After becoming a Christian in 1992, I dedicated my music and my playing to God and I returned to my solo fingerstyle acoustic roots and switched from nylon string to steel string as my main sound. I create my own arrangements of popular gospel, worship and standard tunes as well as composing my own music. I've never really been into learning the songs or licks of my influences because my goal has always been to have my own distinct, signature style. I tend to absorb elements of tonality and technique from my favorite players and apply them to my own playing. I also listen to a wide variety of musical styles. Choosing a genre to describe my music is difficult, Fingerstyle is a non-genre and it's every genre, I love many styles of music and I think that it reflects in the music that I play.

My goal is to be able to play full time, wherever the Lord may lead me, to share my music with others and to tell them the good news...I once was lost, but now I'm found!