What was the first concert you ever saw?
The very first concert that I can recall buying a ticket for and sitting through in its entirety was Fleetwood Mac with the Sanford-Townsend Band, Kenny Loggins and Jimmy Buffet, in 1976, at the Milwaukee County Stadium.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
Julien Kasper Band, The New Imperial; Dave Brubeck, Jazz at the College of the Pacific; Mark Knopfler, Shangri-La.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?
About 750.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
I only download music on rare occasions and usually only one song at a time. I've probably downloaded 20 songs in my entire life and must confess that I paid retail for all of them.
What was the first album you owned?
Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac (the 1975 album).
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
A medley of the Moody Blues' "Out and In," the Police's "Secret Journey" and Yes' "Awaken."
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure?
Electronic/space music, especially the entire Electric Light Orchestra catalog!
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
Daryl Stuermer and his jazz-rock band, Sweetbottom. It taught me that guys from Milwaukee, my hometown, could play the living snot out of the guitar and be in such demand as to acquire gigs with the likes of Jean-Luc Ponty, Genesis and Phil Collins. I also learned that there was a vital and explosive place in the industry where jazz meets rock. I'm still playing and listening to jazz-fusion from that era.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
I don't want to pit genre against genre, so I'd narrow it down to two: jazz, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out; and rock, Yes, Going for the One.
