In 1973 I played at Frankenstein's in Portland, Oregon with bands like Providence, Sunnyland Band, Upepo, and Portland Cement. I had a manager named Dick Van Houten who got me on television KATU, Channel 8 as well as live on KINK radio. I played at the Arbuckle Flat as a folk singer in the mid 70's as well as the 9th Street Exit. My favorite Bands were Notary Sojac and Sand. My first large concert was at the PSU ballroom in 1973 where I opened for Providence and The Sunnyland Band. This was an encore performance for me and was the spark that got me into performing. Dan Ross of "Sand" who I recently have performed with was my favorite songwriter at that time locally. In 1978 I was the main draw at the East Avenue Tavern with the type of popularity that would get you signed today. I also played in the late 70's in a popular duo called "Frank and Smitty" primarily in Newport, Oregon.

    In 1978-79 my first single "The Terwilliger Bridge and I think I'm gonna rain tonight' was a local hit, receiving blanket local airplay for several months. It was on the playlist along with the likes of Elton John, and Rod Stewart. I did not get signed but Rick Danko liked 'Terwilliger Bridge' and Steve Bradley and the Sleezy Pieces covered "I think I'm gonna rain' which became a big bar hit. I went to Boston and played in bars and other events before returning to Portland. The years passed with 2 more singles "I was raised in Portland Town' w/ Flowerbeds and Fools' and 'I Can't Believe you Don't Love Me' and Honey in the Sun' ..both 45rpms received moderate local airplay.

    In 1982 I released my 1st LP 'Rain on the Marshlands" which had a blues/jazz folk feel ...loose and innovative for folk music at that time. It sold well with the punk crowd and received airplay and was picked up by the main distributor in the area. I moved to San Francisco in 1983-84 where I played in bars and restaurants in the Cotati, Sebastapol, Santa Rosa, Petaluma and the Duncan Mills area mostly. The mid 80's saw me move from folk music to rock, having completed my 2nd album "The last Sunset on a Treetop Serenade" I was ready to rock out with the primal truth of punk and hard rock. I played lead guitar for the Surf Cowboys for a brief spell thanks to Tim Otto. Tim was good at getting good gigs and had worked with Buddy Holly's producer Norman Petty during that time. My band played from 1986-1990 in many of the popular underground rooms in both Portland and Seattle, and more than held our own with other bands. We released 2 live 45rpms on Tombstone Records and a cassette called 'Somewhere on the West Coast.'" The drummer (Dennis Elmer) and I put out an album called 'Wild Einstein's Infinite Water' in 1990 that included rock songs with mandolin lead lines and saxophone licks.( leading to- in 1990 winning the 'Outstanding Folk Act' Crystal award from the PMA) We had several great shows as a band and probably the underground show at the Starry Night Club with the Young Fresh Fellows was one of the best crowd-wise and of personal importance. It was filmed and is somewhere in the Portland vaults. We did the power trio singer- songwriter thang before it broke so powerfully in Seattle. Still no music contract however.

    The other shows I remember that really cooked as a band were the ones at Satyricon, Starry Night, Key Largo, and The Pine Street Theatre. I shared these rooms with acts like The Dharma Bums, Terry Robb, Silkworm, Balancing Act, The White Front, Napalm Beach, Hitting Birth, Pond and others. In Seattle we played at the Central with Terry Lee Hale, The Squid Row with the Cunninghams, The Rainbow, Scoundrels Lair, The Owl, Two Bells etc. I also played in Seattle as a solo at Murphy's Pub, The Emerald Diner, The Rendezvous, The Lava Lounge, The Crocodile, Ok Hotel, Old Timers, The Colour Box, Latona, Red Hook Brewery, The Hopvine, Galway Arms, The Owl & Thistle, Paragon, Fiddler's Inn, Madison Cafe, and others. Farther north I would play in Victoria B.C. at the Java and Thursday's Bar... on the way back I would play at Portownsend at the Public House. This was when Sub Pop was emerging as a valid label via Jonathan Ponoman. Mr. Ponoman helped us in the beginning, getting us on the radio and clubs in the area. As a solo I opened for several national acts in the late 80's including Donovan, Ray Manzerak, Shawn Colvin, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Billy Rancher, The Ripptinktons, Danny o Keefe, John Stewart, Tower of Power (at the Bumbershoot under the Space Needle!) etc.

    In the 90's I continued to play my unusual solo gigs and weekend warrior rock gigs. I was fortunate enough to have Alec Burdon of the Confidentials as a free lancer ...We did a concert at the Belmont Inn that was filmed and with the help of Bassist Jon Wager, it was quite a super session. Film at the 11th hour someday. After floundering in several dead end relationships, I emerged in 1997 to tour Borders books throughout California, primarily Los Angeles. In 94, a collection of my work named Anthology was released by a Portland label named New Weave Records. So I made it to Hollywood, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs and San Diego thanks to Borders Books. This was also timed with my weirdest CD produced~ 'Apple River Diaries' which got either terrible reviews or great ones. The illustrious Andy Basil Walsh who produced Cheralee Dillon's Glitterhouse Record euro-smash Cd was at the helm. We took folk music where it had never gone before. The songs were all good and many of our ideas worked. We needed more money and time to really pull it off right however.

    In early 2000 I began work on my CD 'Sublimation' with Curt Cobain's mentor Jeremy Wilson from the Dharma Bums. That alone got the CD press. It was finished in late 2002 with a huge crowd at Conan's Pub. A media success and several songs radio ready to be hits. The other Cd released was a live acoustic set recorded by Josh Ellison of Living Room Records. It was called "American Folkie' and did very well with fans local and overseas thanks to the track "Summer's Ghost" which made The Rainbow Sampler aka Poet Man Records out of Kentucky. I received requests from Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and great deal of international airplay.

    In 2003 I opened for Buddy Guy and Los Lobos at the Maryhill Amphitheatre. During all this time I went to France, Germany, Switzerland, Greece and Turkey as well as Canada to play. Paris was my favorite especially the 2nd visit. I am currently working on Volume 2 of American Folkie and play weekends at various venues.     In 2004 I began to teach guitar at the Multnomah Art Center. I re-released 5 projects onto CD. In 2005 one of the projects The Last Sunset on a Treetop Serenade was received so well that the first song was included on the Rainbow Sampler Volume 23 soon to be out.