Playboy Jazz
Festival Program
One of the meetings for this piece took place at the Playboy mansion, in "Hef's" office. And yes, he was wearing his pajamas in the middle of the day!
Like many young musicians, I dreamed of being a rock star. I studied music at UCSB (University of California at Santa Barbara), played in a number of bands, and taught guitar for many years. It was a great deal of fun: I played a lot of shows, travelled quite a bit, and (in what is a common story), was in a band that was on the way to signing a deal with A&M records.
My Favorite Stories
I sat with John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) on his boat and we talked for hours. Bonnie Raitt kicked me out of a photo shoot, then later apologized profusely -- when she realized that not only was it my photo shoot, but that I was hand-delivering a custom-made guitar to her! She's extremely charming when she turns it on.
One evening in January, I spent all night at the shoot for Garth Brooks' video, The Thunder Rolls. Garth was extremely nice, and a prankster. When his two guitar players and I showed up, he was there wearing a wig, and pretended to be his own lawyer. Actually had his bandmates fooled for a few minutes! Bryan Adams was so busy it was hard to fit the interview into his schedule. But he was nice enough to call me on Thanksgiving, at my mother's house. My sister begged me to let her answer the phone so she could say she had spoken to Bryan Adams!
At a convention, I was taking Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) to a meeting when he asked me if we could stop at my hotel and order room service. "But we won't make the meeting on time!" I told him. "That's alright," he replied, "I'm always late for something."
As he couldn't type very quickly, I agreed to do it for Robin Trower in the online chat session I held for him. One of my boyhood guitar heroes, and he's sitting next to me in my office, answering questions from all over the world, and thanking me for providing "biscuits" (cookies)!
During my conversation with Buddy Guy, I asked him (as I often did to warm people up) how he got started. I guess he thought I meant "in life," because he answered: "I was a black sharecroppers son," one of the memorable lines in Steve Martin's classic movie, The Jerk! It took me a while to realize that Buddy was being completely serious . . . Some of the Other
Artists I Interviewed The Black Crowes Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) Ricky Skaggs TNT Los Lobos Dweezil Zappa Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Talking Heads) Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam) Waylon Jennings Travis Tritt Frank Bello (Anthrax) Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani)
My Latest Band:
Savor (A Tribute to Santana)
My Band
in the '80s
Look at that hair! Believe it or not, we made our living playing clubs
Unfortunately, one day that the A&M rep called me to say he wanted the band to come in for a meeting, I had to inform him that we had broken up. Oh, the humanity!. From Music to Music Business
Soon after that, I was hired by Fender (yes, the world-famous guitar company) as an Advertising Copywriter. It was a job that was to change my life. Producing their catalogs, owner manuals, and other materials was cool, but what really got me pumped was putting together their newsletter: Fender Facts.
Doing that publication, I worked with Columbia Pictures and Macey Lipman Marketing on the promotion of the movie La Bamba, among other things. Besides writing them up in the newsletter, I was integral in getting product placed in the movie. A Passion for Publishing
Fender Frontline Magazines
(click cover for larger version)
The elements of magazine layout (clarity, readability, etc.), gave me
a good foundation for Web design.
After doing a few issues of Fender Facts, the powers that be at Fender agreed that there was so much to talk about, I should do a magazine. That's how Fender Frontline was born. So I became the editor of Frontline, as well as a Publicity Manager for Fender.
During the 8 years I edited the publication, I got to interview a number of artists: Jeff Beck (my personal favorite!), Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), and many others. I pride myself on being good at relating to people, and certainly it often takes finesse when dealing with celebrities! (Just see my Favorite Stories to the left for some examples!)
In order to set up the interviews and photographs, I worked with the all the major record labels, as well as a number of managers, publicists, road crew, guitar techs -- you name it. They set up the interviews, but it was often up to me to secure concert photos. I became an expert at locating a photographer any where in the U.S., and hiring them to shoot the artists. (This is a skill that's come in very handy in hiring people for my current business.) Broadening My Marketing Skills
Several years into my stint with the magazine, Fender moved to Arizona. They installed me at their advertising agency in Los Angeles, to continue producing Frontline. Eventually, I became the liaison between Fender and the agency, as well. I picked up a lot about marketing from some pretty experienced people.
Being at the agency also inspired me to learn more about publishing, and I decided to sell ad space in Frontline. It wasn't easy! But I persisted, and over time Elektra, A&M, Silvertone and other labels bought advertising, further broadening my contact with the record companies -- as well as my marketing skills. Moving Into the Internet
Through the magazine I got to know the president of a company in the music industry. As he was knowledgeable about recording, I asked him to write a column for the magazine. During one of our photo shoots, he mentioned that he needed a Web site. I volunteered, and my new business was born -- a business I've been in for more than 12 years. (Click the Marketing and Design tabs at the top of this page for samples of my work.) Putting It All Together
My varied background in music and related entertainment industries, sales, and publishing, gives me a unique edge when marketing my clients' products and services online. The elements of magazine layout (clarity, readability, getting viewers to focus on specific details, etc.), gave me a good foundation for Web design. And though my connections often lead entertainment-related companies to seek my expertise, the techniques I have developed work just as well for other industries.
Fender Facts
Newsletter
Little did I know it, but this publication marked my entry not only into the music business, also into marketing!
The list of my clients includes a rug merchant, toy retailer, doctor, attorney, several independent films, a recording studio, bands, musicians, and songwriters, musical instrument manufacturers, television production people, a guitar teacher, and many others.
Although work keeps me pretty busy, I still find time to play in my band: a tribute to Santana called Savor. We average about 20 dates a year, and have played at fairs and festivals all over southern California, as well as several casinos. We plan to finish our CD this summer.
So I guess I've come full circle: much as I tried to escape it, once a musician, always a musician!
