You might know me as “Sparky” – the name given
to me by the other Lost Cause members when we came up with names that would be printed on our Lost Cause Bowling Shirts. And
after my stepdaughter started calling me “Sparky” I rarely answer to anything else. Besides playing bass in the
band, and I’m in charge of the lighting and monitor systems.
I started playing guitar (the six-string kind) in 6th
grade, way back in 1975. When I showed up at a lessons with the two broken strings, the instructor said “You don’t
have a guitar, you have a bass!,” so he taught me a few simple bass lines. Soon afterwards I picked up the double bass
and electric bass, and bass has been my only instrument since then.
I’ve played in almost any kind of group imaginable, from groups
that wear tuxedos to groups that wear Smurf outfits, including symphony orchestras, jazz bands, country bands, ballroom dance
bands, musicals, classic rock party bands (including Lost Cause!) and even a few bands during my days at Marshall University
where we painted our faces blue, got drunk and made up filthy lyrics to popular songs (and yes, Whitney was a Smurf too….
we’ll search our archives and post a photo on the web).
I can’t think of a time in the past 30 years that I haven’t
been involved in a musical group. Somewhere along the line I learned when I put lots of energy in to my playing, that energy
goes out to the rest of the band and the crowd. While Lost Cause isn’t a “smash our guitars on stage” kind
of group, we do work hard on and off stage to give a high-energy show. If I’m wore out from playing hard by the end
of a gig, I think I’ve done my job well.
My choice of basses has changed little over the years; I still have
the same Fender Jazz Bass that I stumbled on when I started playing (and I just brought it back from a 15 year retirement),
but my main instruments are a late 1980s MusicMan Stingray and an early 1970s Fender Precision fretless bass. My amplifier
choice has come full-circle: I started out playing through “meat lockers” (big, heavy amps with several speakers)
then moved to much smaller amps. But now I’m back to big amps – Ampeg and SWR, because there is nothing like standing
on front of a “pulsating mountain of pure bass muscle” with the sound waves bouncing off you.
Besides playing music, I’ve been an avid bicycle rider
for 25 years. And I have a wonderful home with my wife Brandi and stepdaughter Sarah.
