Hollywood, Fl 1999-2004
where it all started...
Moving to Broward County Florida in 1995 was eye opening in many ways. 1st, there was money everywhere. You don't see that in Rochester, NY. 2nd, there were start up business' everywhere. 3rd, lots of nightlife. I was young and barely getting by in my new home city of Hollywood. But I would go to bars in town and see solo musicians all over (guitar/vocals w/backing tracks).
The more I saw them, the more I thought 'I could do that'. So by '98 I started putting a plan together. I traded musical equipment for backing tracks at a local store and began practicing my singing at a rehearsal spot I had every night for 9 months before going out and landing my first pro gig on Hollywood Beach. I was off and running. I wasn't very good but I was getting work. Eventually quit my job and went for it full time. It was about a 9-10 month run before I was mentally beat up by the business side of it and stopped. Took a job managing ice rinks and loved that while playing part time on the side here and there. But in 2003 I was offered cruise ship opportunities and eventually worked out a contract after a 2004 tryout. This is the only photo I have from that time sadly......
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Carnival Cruise Lines 2005
Carnival Legend Nov 2004 (2 week try out) ~ Carnival Miracle Dec 2004-June 2005
Carnival Glory July 2005-Oct 2005 ~ Carnival Valor Nov 2005-Jan 2006
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​In November of 2004 I was given an opportunity to try out for Carnival Cruise Lines and perform aboard the Carnival Legend for two weeks. I did well enough and signed a 3 month contract to perform on the Carnival Miracle. That ended up becoming a 6 month contract. Upon completion I was offered a 4 month contract on the Carnival Glory followed by a 4 month contract on the Carnival Valor. What an amazing experience for young musician trying to find his way. Made lifelong friendships with people I met aboard as well.
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the Guitar Coach 2006-2019
So after 3 ships, I accepted a 4th contract for the Carnival Valor very hesitantly. I was over the whole experience at this point and well, I lasted 2 months out of a 4 month contract before I marched into the musical directors cabin and quit. But in that two months time I developed a plan. My brother was in Orlando, which had developed a reputation of its own as a town where music was a big part of the night life. So the plan was quit, move in with my brother, become a guitar instructor for money while trying to build a kick ass band. It was a brilliant plan and I executed it fully. Cannot begin to tell you how teaching enriched my life between the people I met and helped and the friendships I developed while also making myself a better musician,
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3's a Crowd duo 2006-2010
While getting my lessons business up and running and still new in Orlando I searched craigslist for any performance opportunities and found an ad for a rock duo situation in need of a guitarist/singer. And I met what would become a very close friend for a time in Brian Perry. We played mostly Brevard County Florida for years! I gave his young son guitar lessons. Brian had bought a mini van just for driving to gigs. And boy did he get gigs! He was a great friend to me in those days. And I always appreciated how good he and his family were to me
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the Chris Dupre Trio 2006
So it took 9 months of auditioning and searching but I finally got a band going with some decent players in Ryan Fridley and Don Goda on drums. It was my first ever cover band "experiment" having only ever played as a solo performer. Our first gig was actually a dealership haha. The band was kind of a typical classic rock/blues band doing SRV, Hendrix, Petty and a lot of standards. This line up lasted about 6 months before it was time for a change and evolution.
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Daytona Bike Week 2007
So in March of 2007 the band was in transition. We had parted ways with Don as our drummer and I was trying to rebrand as I wasn't completely comfortable with the band being named after me and/or the reputation you can acquire when you do that. I saw a Craigslist ad looking for a guitarist and bassist for Bikeweek gig. So I inquired and met with a Russian drummer out of Daytona and he had the afternoon slot at Cabbage Patch in New Smyrna, Fl a popular campground area for bike week. So we played everyday for 7 days straight. And the drummer wasn't the kindest person to be honest. But I waited to get paid before letting him know that. This would be pretty much the only time I ever played bike week. Great experience though...
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Triple Octane cover band 2007-2010
So after bike week. My bass player Ryan Fridley and I go on the hunt for a new drummer and once again rely on Craigslist. We met up with fresh faced Ryan McVeigh, an actor from Vermont who took a job at Disney performing as Indiana Jones in the "Epic Stunt Spectacular" show. Oh yeah, he played drums too... He was 25 I was 35 and we became the best of buds almost right away. He played an electronic kit which interested me. I think other cover bands looked down on us at first for that but I loved the volume control and being able to hear myself sing in almost any venue or situation. And believe me the clubs didn't mind the volume control either! We had some fun and made some money. Thank you gentlemen it was quite a ride.
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Solo in Orlando 2009-2019
So as the band had its struggles and countless member changes and fill in players, I decided to go back to solo performing. Which I had swore off after the bad experience with cruise ships. But this time I was gonna go all acoustic. A challenge which would only further develop me as a musician. I realized it was the only source of income that I could count on consistently because I could always trust myself to do the job. So I did that while jumping in and out of bands over the next 10 years in Orlando...
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the Junky's cover band 2011
So 2011 rolls around and I've now been in town for 5 years made a small name for myself as a working player. There was the emergence of a young and highly talented trio called Ghettobox playing around town that was amazing. They played such different versions of standard cover songs in almost a punk fashion. Well they split up and I jumped at the chance to work with their bass player Jason Hubbard. And we landed veteran area drummer Mike Oakley to the mix and we were off and running for a brief time. This is the only footage I could find of us and it's just me masturbating with extremely long and redundant soloing....
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VooDoo cover band 2012-2013
Soooo early 2012ish I became part of a jam band night at the Green Parrot in Casselberry, Fl. Recruited by the band Tri-Maris which was run by long time friend and veteran CFL bassist Keith Bevington. The host band imploded shortly after I entered the mix and Keith kept me on for the jam and recruited a drummer who was new in town and who played and sang amazing named Scott Seaton. We were a true power trio for sure until I grew frustrated with the progress and decided to exit the situation.
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Orlando Solar Bears
ECHL Hockey Club 2012-2013
​I am a huge hockey fan (Go Rangers!) so when I heard that an Orlando ownership group got approved to acquire a ECHL team I immediately began contacting them in efforts to contribute anyway I could. I wrote them a goal celebration song and they used it for many years as more of a crowd chant. They also provided me an opportunity to perform the national anthem on guitar at a game in early 2013. It wasn't a very lucrative business deal by any means. I was paid nothing for the song or performance. I was "compensated" with half season tickets and a custom jersey.
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Muldoons Acoustic Open Mic Night
2013-2019
So I was asked to host the Acoustic Open Mic night at Muldoons on Sunday nights in 2013. When I started that I barely knew what I was doing. 6 years later I called the bar manager to say I was moving to St. Pete. This was the hardest thing to leave behind. I loved doing this gig. The COUNTLESS memories I have from some crazy fucking nights there and the amazing friendships I made and debauchery that ensued throughout 6 years of Jager fueled fun times will forever be a major part of my musical journey. From Sean Adkins the lifelong barback to the many bartenders I worked with over the years and of course the many musicians, I thank all of you for the memories!
Muldoons YouTube playlist here
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Mr. Somebody Else album 2014
A young studio owner showed up at one of my open mics one night played and dropped biz cards. And I took him up on his package deal of 8 songs. Began in Jan and the whole process was printed and packaged by May. And it was a process that required a lot of patience. Some of the songs weren't even finished products when this began. Very proud of these songs and I continue to create music videos for them all viewable here
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Sinister cover band Orlando 2014
So in late 2014 local Orlando cover band Sinister had a falling out with their guitar player and it played out on social media. I had tremendous respect for the remaining members talents so inquired about the position. They were as excited to have me as I was to play with them. And things were going good or so I thought. One night the singer and bassist had a fight and we limped through the rest of the year with fill ins before they ultimately brought back a bass player from their previous band, who then talked them in to bringing back their former guitar player behind my back. Prior to all that, I had tried to help with the bands business side of things and I think that rubbed the singer the wrong way despite the positives I brought in. So eventually I was given a bullshit excuse from the singer and I was out. He then lied to the rest of the band about it all and to this day I don't think at least the drummer (who I thought was a friend) knows the truth about any of it but that's how it goes in a band sometimes. They will never understand how difficult it was getting let go basically from my job when I had committed to them full time and had no other solo work lined up. That took time to recover from but I overcame it and that's what separates a full timer and a part timer. But it would not be the last time I would have to over come such a thing.
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Tales from the Shoreline album 2015
For the second consecutive January I began recording another album with the same studio engineer named Tom Camp at Gigasound studios. This time with 10 songs and at 43 years old. There were much more personal songs involved with this record and initially I was not happy with the finished product but as I listen to them even now I have a great deal of pride in the structure, melody's and riffs that I believe truly showed artistic creativity from the overall product. Please go here to see more self produced music videos from me. It was completed pressed and packaged by July.
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My music on local radio station
WMMO 98.9 Orlando 2015-2019
So on a whim I went to the 98.9 WMMO radio stations website to inquire about my music getting on their show Sunday Morning Acoustic. They actually responded positively and thus began an amazing friendship with popular DJ and on air personality Hildi Brooks and program director Joetta Raylots. Two amazing women who were all about local musicians. They stopped in to gigs on occasion and also helped me get some higher paying shows around town. They continued to play various selections from my albums up until the time I left Orlando in 2019. Thank you so much ladies!
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WJRR rock radio stations
National Anthem Contest 2015
Oh where do I start with this one... These fucking idiots. First of all I kind of figured that I would be a shoe in for this by submitting the Solar Bears video and I was right. I was one of 5 contestants chosen for this. It was a contest for any local guitarist to play the national anthem Jimi Hendrix style on guitar for chance to open up their annual Earthday Birthday rock festival. I show the day of as instructed (and only instructed) with my guitar only. It was being held at a Harley dealership along I-4. Only then do I find out I was supposed to bring an amp. Nobody told me that. I frequented many open mics at the time and was prepared to plug into whatever they had. But they had nothing. Now I'm pressed for time as I leave to get an amp. I rush to my studio to get my amp. Get back in time. As I am rolling my amp up, a representative comes to me and says "we drew straws to see who goes first and well you lost". So now I have to get on stage immediately after rushing to get my amp. I do so. Amp (brand new btw) decides not to work. Are you kidding me? That would be the second of MANY problems I would continue to have with that amp. Anyway, another contestant out of Cocoa beach named Russ Coe very graciously allowed me to plug into his Marshall stack and jam. I did so without any problem. Now a few things took place following my performance. First I realized there was only one other working pro in the contest, Shy Singh a fantastic guitarist. So I was only really worried about him. Second, Fat Pat Lynch one of the on air personalities who was running it assured me personally that some of the contestants brought props and effect but that they were judging on SOUND ALONE. Now I proceeded to watch the rest of the contestants performances and just like I thought, Shy was the best of the remaining guys BUT he screwed up during his performance. And the final young guy brought 6 of his friends on stage dressed patriotically and he PLAYED TO A TRACK followed by some light fireworks for effect. So after what Fat Pat Lynch told me I knew that wasn't gonna win. Or so I thought. So I joined the contestants on stage feeling pretty confident I'd won it. They selected the kid with the friends, track and effects. FUCKING IDIOTS! Fuck WJRR!
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Solaris Rock/Reggae band 2016
I've been a fan of reggae music ever since moving to Florida in 1995. Even began lifting weights on my brothers back porch in 2001 to the sounds of Sublime. That music just always put me in a good mood. But also I learned to appreciate the rhythmic styling and the use of time and space in the groove. And also to respect the notion that bass guitar is truly the lead instrument in that music. So I always wanted to have a band similar to Sublime and FINALLY was able to find like minded and talented individuals in Steve Taylor (bass) and Tim Dippel (drums). And we began to play around town a few spots, most notably a show at the West end Trading Co. in Sanford, for a very short lived time.
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GUITARMAGEDDON
Local Guitarist Showcase
2016-2018
Full GTMGN YouTube playlist here
For a few years, myself and a younger guitarist would get together and discuss forming some kind of show or organization for the working guitar players around town. But then I went and saw Steve Vai's Generation Axe tour in early 2016, I literally got to watch my idea play out. My idea was always a show with a single rhythm section backing up different guitar players one after the other as they came out and displayed their capabilities. It was NEVER intended to be a competition between local players. But rather to simply help draw attention from local guitar "enthusiasts" to the wealth of guitar talent that they may or may not even know is in town. I had a connection with the then bass player for Yngwie Malmsteen, Ralph Ciavolino who had told me that if he was free he'd do a show with me. Buchanans was a new and large room club. Elements were there for me to make a cool event. So I went for it.. I created guitarmageddon and worked night and day. Securing 5 guitarists, creating all the promotional material: posters, tickets, T-shirts, custom guitar picks. Someone suggested I try a local news station and THAT worked. I went on channel 9 Orlando early morning for them to tape a segment with myself and another guitarist and talked about the event and we played a little. It was huge for us and helped pack the place that first night. The following two years were not quite as successful but it was a great experience and am proud that I saw it through. Thanks so much to the guitarists who made it happen with me: Alex Ivanov, Bill Peck, Chris Peters, Joe Stump, Dale Stephens, Shy Singh, Mark Swetland, Bruce Coale, Mario Ticlea, Dave Martin, Donny Novigato, David Dean. And Levi Soto and Rene Flores for helping out with drums and bass!
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Voodoo Band (part 2) 2018
Scott and I decided to give it another go as we both were between bands. He and Keith weren't exactly getting along and Keith was otherwise obligated so we opted for Tracy McCracken on bass and vocals. Second time was NOT the charm and it lasted a few gigs before I moved on.
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CO 2 Duo Orlando 2018
I met Courtney at my Sunday open mic and we instantly connected and began dating. She was a very talented singer so we of course made plans to form a duo together. I also had just come back from an amazing trip to Colorado in which I was kind of infatuated with their state logo. So in coming up with our name I figured it could work with her name being Courtney. It could've been something quite good had we lasted longer than two months. Last I heard she was playing solo in Daytona. I wish her luck. But not that much...
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St. Pete/Tampa Solo/ Acoustic 2019-Present
A lot of people already know this story but, I was always frustrated living in Orlando. It was too far from the greatest attribute this state has and that is its beaches. And I am about that life. For years I wanted to live near the beach especially after spending 10 years near the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale! The closest beach to Orlando was Cocoa beach and I definitely spent some time there! And I would be sad when I had to leave it each time to go home. Anyway the story goes..... After a break up with my gf in 2016 just before thanksgiving I decided to do something special for myself since I had no one to celebrate with. So I bought tickets to a TB Lightning game for the Wed before turkey day. And found out that a round trip train ride to Tampa was a whopping $35 dollars. So I booked a room in dt Tampa next to the arena and went. Was a great little solo adventure. Now, fast forward to 2018 Thanksgiving and I decide to do it again. But this time I get an Air B n B and go the prior Monday and Tuesday as well thinking, I'll check out the scene and go to some open mics. Well that would be a life changing trip. I went to three different open mics on that tue and made an impression on a few of the working musicians in attendance and they approached me and said I could be playing a LOT there. So that put my mental wheels in motion and by the new year I was putting a plan in motion which I almost perfectly (and quietly) executed. For six months I made trips back and forth to St Pete making contacts with clubs and musicians before finally going for it in June.
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DTSP Songwriters Festival 2019
I'm freshly planted in Pinellas County now and I hit the ground running going anywhere and everywhere looking for gigs. As I am in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg going from club to club dropping biz cards and introducing myself, I keep seeing murals all over town regarding a songwriter showcase intended for the first weekend of November where all downtown clubs would feature local original music musicians. I decided to go home and inquire as to availability. Submitted my self made vids of my music and they responded and added me to the roster. And within just 5 months of living in Pinellas County I found myself performing my own music on the areas most well known stage in Jannus Live! This was a fantastic opportunity that I jumped on and just another MAJOR indication that I had made the right decision to move there.
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Jiniya/ Dupre duo 2019
Well in networking around town and meeting different people my name ended up being mentioned to Damond Jiniya of Savatage fame, as a possible guitarist candidate for an open mic gig he was offered. We connected on social media and we began working together and he wanted to make a duo out of it. After knowing what he was capable of I was all in. We'd only managed to do a few shows together before the pandemic hit and he headed north to Tennesseee. He is a tremendous talent who I have a ton of respect for and I'm glad we got to know each other and perform together.
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the Nick and Chris duo 2020-2023
Damond, who I was originally in a duo with, left town when the pandemic hit but with good gigs still pending for us and suggested his longtime friend and singer partner Nick Conrad to take his spot and continue on. So that's what I did. Nick and I became pretty good friends in the time since and definitely played our share of gigs before he got too busy with other projects. He's a fantastic singer and is widely known for his spot on David Lee Roth voice. Even performed in multiple Van Halen tribute situations.
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D-Rail cover band 2020
So in hosting the open jam with Damond Jiniya at Mr. Joe's I met a lot of the long time local musicians in the area and one of which being Mark Welsh who suggested we start a trio and I was having a serious deficit of electric guitar in my life so I was on board with that. We played a lot of classic rock standards for a few gigs but the Pandemic did a good job of "derailing" any progress. That and we never landed a full time drummer. So I carried on mostly as a solo guy and with Nick Conrad in our duo while occasionally picking up guitar fill in work with different groups.
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Soul Serene cover band 2021
I came across an ad for a trio in need of a guitarist so I looked into the band and the drummer was a blind guy who was a great drummer and phenomenal singer in Jason Kistler. His wife's son Graham Hastings was the bassist. So I auditioned and got the job and we proceeded to play around town for a few months before ultimately I was looking for something with a bit more of an edge to it so I opted out od the situation
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American Mayhem cover band
2022-present
In late 2021 Paul Buck, a drummer bud, who I would see at the Daiquiri Shack jam night on Sundays suggested we make a band. So we worked out a direction, style and name and proceeded to try and find bass players. That process took months and way longer than it should have. I was booking gigs for an incomplete group before we landed Rick Kalway on bass just one week before our very first gig. Gig went well and we were off and running but Paul departed shortly after citing a difference in music styles. In that time I've been through countless drummers and occasional fill in bass players. Running a band is way more work than it should be but it is just way more fun for me than the solo gigs have been and I do want a healthy balanced diet of Acoustic guitar and Electric guitar in my life.
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"Turn It On Again" Phil Collins tribute
4/5/25 fill in gig at Budha Live Ft. Myers
One of the many fill in drummers we had come through American Mayhem was a very motivated musician named Antonio Kofoed. This young man found a guy who looks and sounds very much like Phil Collins in singer Nick Brydon and the two of them formed Turn It On Again a Phill Collins experience. Shortly after Antonio asked me to design a logo for them based on the original design/font used by Genesis which I did and is the logo you see here. Shortly after that he asked if I could fill in a few months down the road for their guitar player at a club in Ft Myers called Budha Live. I accepted. And I was looking forward to playing those songs as I loved Phil Collins as a young kid. Until I had to actually learn them. It was quite an uphill battle to find anything online that could show you what his guitar player was doing in these songs. Which often times wasn't much as the music was predominantly keyboards but their guitarist Darryl Stuermer, as I learned, was a beast of a player when he needed to be. It was a huge challenge that I spent weeks learning songs for. But man what a show. Packed house and the crowd was awesome!
check out their website
https://turnitonagaintribute.com/home
