My father is a drummer, so I've been playing probably since about the time I started walking. I was always breaking his heads and sticks. Not a good thing. I was in concert, marching and jazz band throughout elementary and high school. I was even the Jazz Band president in college. I also played in my father's various bands. I got to play the old standards from the 30's and 40's, polkas, waltzes, square dances, country-western (all my favorites) and even a few rock tunes. I sang Proud Mary one night at the Elks Club in town. That was the beginning and the end of my singing career. I should have known better.

I've been in alot of bands with horrible names over the years. In college, I was in a Southern Rock band in Northern Connecticut called The Uncle Tiller Band. One of the guitar players was a guy who was acquited of killing his mother (a very famous case in Connecticut). I did whatever he told me to do. When I moved to Southern Connecticut in the mid 80's, I was in an original band called Magnetic Push. We played a few gigs, but there were some "creative differences" (musician speak for someone was being an ass hole), so that was over.

Toward the end of the 80s, I was living in Bergen County New Jersey and joined a band call Soul Engines (yes, its a Springsteen reference). We were originally Boulevard East, but a local wedding band threatened to sue us so we picked a name that was so awful that surely no one else was using it. We played some really awesome original tunes at clubs in NYC and Jersey (including the Stone Pony in Asbury Park). No, Bruce never jumped up on stage with us. He was probably there, just in disguise.

I was in a cover band in Queens called Children of Chaos in the mid 90's. We didn't gig much, but we had some really great rehearsals. Around 2000, I joined a blues band called The Hellhounds. That lasted about three years. We made it all the way to BB King's in Times Square. OK, we didn't get to play in the big room where the has-been's from the 70s and 80s play. We played in the restaurant where the other never-were's play. Still, its a great place to play if you're a blues band. My last band, The Czars, played older metal covers (Priest, Sabbath, GnR, AC/DC). The lead singer was amazing and they let me play as loud as I wanted, which is fun for a drummer. Damn "creative differences". I've been playing with Plain Jane since 2005. At least its not another band with a stupid name.