My first musical influence, being the son of a Baptist minister, was gospel in nature. I recall the Spear Family, the Gospelairs and occasionally, I might get to listen to a "secular" recording by Wilf Carter or Hank Snow.

I entered the public school system at age 5 and recall starting to hear pop radio play for the first time to and from school on the school bus. I remember hearing songs from the likes of ABBA, Barry Manalo, and Elton John. I was so taken with the melodies and textures I heard that when I arrived home each day I'd go straight to the church piano (our parsonage was in our church building) to try and mimic what was fresh in my head.

Piano was the first instrument that I connected with.

I was about 8 or 9 when my older brothers started bringing home records by the Beach Boys, the Ventures and the like. That's when I started taking notice of the guitar. Soon, whenever my brother would set his guitar down between lessons and practice, I'd pick it up and try to figure it out. Before long my ears led the way, and with the help of him teaching me a few basic chords, I soon aspired to find my own guitar.|My first guitar was an electric that my dad helped me buy at a pawn shop in Saint John...complete with a small tube amp. I started learning guitar riffs, solos & chord patterns for anything from the Rolling Stones to Pink Floyd. By my teens, I found myself in a turn-over of garage bands, most notably "The Tommy Cookers" and "17". We clearly thought we were all rock stars playing for local teen dances.

Yes. If I were to pick three I'd say Braveheart, Waking Ned Divine, and Once. No matter how many times I watch them they have the same affect on me. Also, I'm a sucker for most of the Pixar animated movies.

Hmmm...well, I've always liked playing sports but I'm not a big fan of watching them. I guess I've just naturally chosen music over sports!

I like Dr Pepper best but when there isn't any, I generally choose Pepsi. Ask me this question a month from now and I'll likely say Coke.

Yup. I like plain old Shure SM58's. I prefer them even over the newer Shure Beta series. I simply love their tone and compression characteristics.

I generally use Elixer Nanoweb Mediums on my acoustic guitars and GHA Boomers (Heavy Bottom/Light Top) on my electrics.

• "My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary." ~Martin Luther (1483-1546)
• "Music is love in search of a word." ~Sidney Lanier (1842-1881)
• "Without music, life would be a mistake." ~Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
• "If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music...I get most joy in life out of music." ~Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
• "I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down." ~Virgil Thomson (1896-1989)
• "The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer." ~Victor Borge (1909-2000)
• "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." ~John Lennon (1940-1980)
• "If you feel like singing along, don't." ~James Taylor (1948-)

• "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently." ~Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
• "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." ~ Aristotle (384-322BC)
• "Democracy's the worst form of government except for all the others." ~Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
• "I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself." ~Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

• "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." ~Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
• "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." ~Popular Mechanics, 1949
• "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." ~President and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
• "640K ought to be enough for anybody." ~Bill Gates, 1981

• Smokers who believe the world is their ashtray.
• People who believe they know how God should feel.
• Salespeople who make stuff up on the fly.
• Well, I can't speak for ladies but man, there's a lot of guys out there who don't wash their hands after using a restroom.
• When people insert or replace letters in common words such as "chimley" instead of "chimney", "gararge" instead of "garage", "aluminium" instead of "aluminum", and my personal favourite: "prostrate" instead of "prostate" (when referring to prostate cancer).
• Any form of forced advertising (esp. forced ads/previews at the beginning of purchased movies).
• The saying "the customer is always right".
• The icing rule in ice hockey.
• Audience members who insist on bringing (& playing) spoons to a concert. Even, on the rare occurrence that one of these persons can actually keep time, they invariably forget that spoons are for soup.
• A parent who forces their child into music, especially in the name of "not having such a privilege when they were young".