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From 1985 to 1990, I played in a rock band. Although we went through multiple personnel changes through those years, the nucleus of the band remained vocalist Ed Snyder, drummer Ernie Woody, and myself on keyboards. We were originally called Breathe, but once the MOR band Breathe hit the scene in 1987, A&M records told us we had to change our band name. We then became Challenge the Light.  I wrote a blog post in October of 2018 about my […]

At the start of each new year, I create a post highlighting my favorite albums of the previous year. I generally pick a particular area of interest in the year’s releases to highlight. When I was perusing my picks for 2025, I noticed how many great collaborative duos there were this year. For me, one of the most inspiring aspects of music is the art of the collaboration. When multiple artist blend and mix their ideas and inspiration something truly […]

Back in late 2018, while reading Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Chandogya Upanishad (an ancient Hindu scripture), these words popped out at me: “As by knowing one lump of clay, dear one, We come to know all things made out of clay – That they differ only in name and form, While the stuff of which all are made is clay As by knowing one gold nugget, dear one, We come to know all things made out of gold – […]

Well,  my best of list for 2024 grew to the biggest number since I’ve been doing this – 92 albums! I listened to a whole lot of music this year and there was SO much great stuff! During the second half of December, when all the “best of” lists start coming out, I usually compare my list with all the others to see how “out of sync” or “in sync” my music taste is with the critics. This year, I […]

During the week of January 25th, 1964, When I was 6 months old, the Beatles had their first # 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. During November of 2023, when I was 60 years old, The Beatles again had a brand new song enter into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. “Now and Then” peaked at number 7 on the chart! When this remarkable thing happened, I decided to do something I NEVER do… Listen to the […]

Back in April of 2022, I published a blog post about the evolution of my band Tumble. This was written during the time that bassist Rob Holland was playing with us. Since that time, the band has continued to evolve and grow. We have come full circle – initial trio era (14-15); quartet era with bassist Bill Douglas (16-18); quartet with Rob Holland (18-22); and now… back to being a trio once again.  The trio format presents musical dialogue in […]

Three and a half years ago, my daughter Mei Lin invited two of her musician friends – Kyle Ledson & Django Ruckrich – to join her for a mini-set performance in our garage. This performance was live-streamed around the world as a part of The California Bluegrass Association’s “Jam-a-Thon” event during the heart of the COVID pandemic. I could have never guessed at the time what would emerge from that musical meeting!  Broken Compass Bluegrass has evolved into a creative […]

It should be obvious to anyone reading my blog posts that my music tastes are wildly eclectic. There are so many genres of music that I have enjoyed exploring! Bluegrass has held a very special place in my musical life. Back in the ‘90s when I was first discovering Big Monroe’s high lonesome sound, my brother Darrel started playing banjo. Soon family visits would always include living room jams. Then in ’02, I moved to Grass Valley, the home of […]

Back in 1978, when I was 14 years old, I got a copy of Steely Dan’s album “Aja”. Listening to this album was like entering into a new undiscovered world. Around this time, I was getting into jazz and my introduction to the art form was initially through bands on the poppier edge – bands like Spyro Gyra and Seawind. “Aja” is just as much of a jazz album as it a pop album, and when it was released, it […]

Some projects come together quickly and easily, others evolve slowly over time. Somewhere around 10 years ago, I discovered the quatrains of the 13th century Persian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. Quatrains are four line poems. There was something about Rumi’s work in this terse, compact format that deeply appealed to me. My initial exposure to these poems was through a book of versions of Rumi by Coleman Barks & John Moyne called “Open Secret”. I ended up composing a piece […]