My Music


(also found on FACEBOOK & MYSPACE)

This album is now available for sale on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, etc...

1. Miles and Miles
2. Dragonfly*
3. La Ventana (instrumental improv)
4. The Mirror
5. California
6. Forever Left to Roam
7. Autumn
8. The Hook (instrumental improv)
9. Oh Captain, My Captain**
10. Stay Awhile into > 11. Old Coyote Moon

* - grew from a Gary Snyder short poem of the same name published in the collection called Left Out in The Rain.

** - is my musical rendering of the classic Walt Whitman poem from Leaves of Grass.

In response to a month spent along the California coast, and the gift of an empty house, I set up my microphones and recorded, mixed, and mastered this entire new album, all previously unrecorded songs, mostly new tunes and instrumental improvisations in just one week...it was a crazy week but it's true, I did the whole thing myself, no guest musicians, no recording engineers, just me and the coast of california, the oaks hanging in the fog out the window, rainfall recorded during takes...

The album is titled EMPIRE GRADE and was released at The Stellar Brew Coffee Shop on 4/20/2010 in my hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California...You can order a hard copy complete with good photography, that shows where the album was recorded directly from me if you'd like, (it's a relatively eco friendly CD package with no plastic wrap, and a recycled plastic tray produced by OasisCD.com) just PayPal me $12 bucks or something using the email address at the bottom of the page, and send me your mailing address.....

Almost all the tracks were multi-tracked, but without click tracks, and no sampling, with several songs featuring single take tracks (for instance the cello track on Dragonfly was a single take, start to finish, and the same for the electric guitar track for The Mirror, while California was a true "live" take around a single mic singing and playing at the same time just under the eaves outside, during a rainy night)...so despite the better, more studio type quality of the recording, there's a very organic feel to the songs and the jams as they take place. The instrumentals were purely improvisations, with a funky tuned banjo on La Ventana, and an effected cello on The Hook.

Anyways, it's my response to all the other cellists out there putting out solo albums who grab a bunch of other guest musicians to fill out their songs - my album is all me, no guest musicians for anything, just me playing and creating everything. All the percussive sounds were created live start to finish using kitchenware (a wooden spoon and cookpot run through a wild panning effect called Big Wheels), and I might as well give Apple a little nod here and acknowledge that I did it all with their GarageBand software on my laptop......so anyways - lots of variety on this one, very different from the previous album below, basically every song is different stylistically than the one preceeding it.

These albums are available for sale on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, etc...

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON ITUNES, AMAZON, NAPSTER, EMUSIC, ETC...
This self-produced debut album was recorded at home on Red Fir Street in Mammoth Lakes, California in September of 2009. The first track was recorded on a rainy day and sounds of the rain, passing cars, bird calls and thunder are layered over the cello music to recreate the meditational experience of that day - the only multi-tracking on the entire album. The rest of the tracks are stereo single takes recorded start to finish in a "live" fashion using only a single MXL4000 large diaphram condenser mic. The album was professionally printed and duplicated by Mixonic.com and is for sale online directly from me via the PayPal button above if you'd like an actual hard copy, or is available for digital download for 9.99 from iTunes and Amazon and others.

Upcoming Solo Shows:
TBA...

In addition to performing solo, I'm also an active musician in two completely different bands.

OLD COYOTE MOON performs my original music in a rock'n roll, jam influenced fashion. Much of what I write fits this arrangement beautifully. Long time friend and guitarist, Jon Carlton's leads have inspired my music since the first day we played together down at Red's Meadow. His soulful melodies and style begged for a band to back them up, and over time we've assembled a fantastic group of musicians, with Alex Clayton on the drums, Eric Christian on 5-string bass and vocals, and Bruce Medhurst on didgeridoo, guitar, and vocals.

We perform regularly in Mammoth and the Eastern Sierra, and are hoping to begin work on a studio album this year.

Visit Our Website

Upcoming Shows:
AUGUST 26th, Thursday, MOBIL MART, LEE VINING
SEPTEMBER 19th, 11am Sunday, Millpond Music Festival, Bishop, CA
September 26, Private Party, Erewhon Ranch, Nevada.

SWEETWATER STRING BAND is an acoustic group with it's own unique blend of bluegrass and rock'n roll inspired sounds. We perform some original music, written by mandolin player and lead singer Scott Roberts as well as myself, and complement that with a host of bluegrass traditionals and country classics. We've got Jeff Meadway on guitar and Todd Ronan on upright bass. We've performed steadily in the Eastern Sierra, and have traveled to play shows outside of the area as well. This past year was highlighted by a performance on the main stage at Millpond Music Festival in Bishop, California.

Visit Our Myspace

Upcoming Shows: Sept. 16th, Thursday, Mobil Mart, Lee Vining


Also to be added here are the latest collborations coming out of this summer, which is a four piece old time band calling ourselves the Ragged Spurs, and a two piece folk/old time collboration with banjo player and singer Sharon Martinson called The Littlest Birds.