I have been playing music since I was five and my mother sat me down in front of our antique organ and taught me a few chords. (I still have the organ and I still play it). I started playing guitar at age twelve and joined rock and roll bands in my high school and college days playing for dances and parties.

After college I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and started playing the fiddle in the late 70's and also picked up the mandolin and acoustic bass. Cincinnati was a jumpin' place for bluegrass and Appalachian old-time music. I played in a really hot bluegrass band back then known as "Surefire". I also had my own old-timey group called the "Sunshine String Band". I got to play with several greats of old time country music including Bert Layne (Skillet Lickers fame), Slim Bryant, and Curly Fox. I ran the Ohio State Championship Old-Time Fiddle Contest for several years and got to meet great musicians from all over the country.

Around 1985 I got really "caged" by Cajun music after getting a Balfa Brothers album, which abruptly changed my musical direction. I started playing the Cajun accordion and traveled to Louisiana and Cajun music camps to learn all I could about the culture and seek out musicians. In the late 80's and through the 90's my Ohio-based Cajun band, the "Bayou Hot Shots", performed throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. I have played and jammed with the masters of Acadian music: Dewey Balfa, Canray Fontenot, Bois Sec Ardoin, Delton Broussard, Lionel LeLeux, Eddie LeJeune, Marc Savoy, Danny Poullard, Ed Poullard, Jesse Lege, Steve Riley, and many others.

I moved to Houston, Texas in 2001 and started a band called the "Texas Cajun Band" playing venues around south Louisiana and Texas. I became a big fan of Texas and Western Swing music after hearing some great bands at clubs and festivals and especially after having met Herb Remington (Bob Wills' steel guitar player). And with some superb musicians who are as crazy about the music as I am, I formed the band "Grand Texas", playing a great combination of Louisiana and Texas traditional dance hall music!

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