Rhythm guitar, vocals

I started my musical journey in the early 1960’s with the British Invasion, heavily influenced by the Beatles, Stones and Motown. I played lead guitar in bands through my high school years. Upon entry to university, I traded by vintage Telecaster for a 1966 Gibson J45 acoustic, which I still play. For the next several decades my music was playing acoustic for my children and friends.

In 2012 I was asked to jam with a bunch of university friends and it all came back.  We formed a band called Forty Years After, playing mainly 1960’s covers at various venues in the GTA. This continued for several years and in 2016 the band morphed into Brownsmith from a partnership with Nelson Smith from FYA. 

Brownsmith has seen several changes in personnel over the ensuing years, achieving its present lineup in late 2024.

Lead guitar

With over 30 years of experience, I have played many styles of music including classic and contemporary rock, country, jazz, gospel, Latin etc..  I have played both live and studio in rock bands, country bands, big band and jazz combos. In addition, I have performed in theatre groups and in musicals like West Side Story, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, to mention a few. Bands include the Martin Dolby Band, Mary Lou del Gatto, Denim and Back to Back.  In my past endeavours I have sat in with David Wilcox and one of the keyboardists from Glass Tiger.

Lead vocals

Playing music has been a passion of mine since singing in choirs growing up in Birmingham England. Emigrating to canada at age 15 my main musical influences were Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris. I’ve performed in many bands over the years from country rock to Zydeco. My Zydeco band was a regular at the Beaches Jazz festival and recorded a live CD at the Silver Dollar Room in Toronto. I’ve recorded back up vocals for various projects. I also released 2 single records on the Blue Tube label that received airplay on country music stations across Canada.

Bass guitar

Drums

I started playing the drums at the age of fifteen. I was influenced in my earlier years by 60s, 70’s classic rock, pop and folk music and then later by British 80’s new wave.

Creative expression and arranging music was developed from experience in the studio, recording original music- initially, with a band of friends from high school and later with another ‘alternative‘ band called ‘Cassius King’.  We produced a couple of songs which aired on radio station CFNY and one song added to an IndieCan emerging artists CD release.
This led to gigs at Toronto music venues like Clintons, Lees Palace and Sneaky Dees.  Later I rejoined with my same friends from high school to play standard covers  at many local events and corporate parties.

In the last decade my drumming has been inspired by an eclectic mix of music from all genres  of music, past and present (thanks Spotify). Being retired now and joining Brownsmith has enabled me to experience the enjoyment of playing in a band again.