zeppmusic.com
Playing Since: 1958
Interests:
[Teaching] [Helping]

Occupation: Pres., ZEPP Country Music, Inc.

Gender: Male
Age: 81

My Instruments:
Banjo, guitar

Favorite Bands/Musicians:
Just too many to mention, though Mississippi John Hurt and Doc Watson remain all-time favorites. If you catch me passively listening to recorded music, it's probably Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven, though.

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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 8/27/2008
Last Visit 5/22/2012

Started playing guitar in 1958, added banjo in 1961, and that became the musical love of my life.

Meeting the Greenbriar Boys turned me on to bluegrass while I was still in high school, and I dedicated myself to becoming a bluegrass player. I dedicated myself so much that I flunked out of my freshman year of college (Rutgers), but then used the banjo to make my living and finish up my B.A. at Temple University by playing in BG bands and teaching at a conservatory during the folk boom of the '60s.

In 1971, I went off to the University of Missouri and shoved my instruments under the bed for 5 years while I was getting my Master's and Ph.D. in entomology.

After school, I took a position on the Cornell Entomology faculty, and started playing with a local band. By the time I left Cornell to take a job in industry, I had married the singer in the band, and when we moved from Ithaca in 1982 we had to quit what has proven to be the last band I played with.

Since then, I have focused my playing on clawhammer, though I still teach and enjoy bluegrass style.

Live By the Sword Dept: Though I had a good career in the agrochemical industry, including living in France for several years at company expense, a 1997 downsizing led to my forced retirement (we call that being "fired"), so I returned to my musical roots and bought a small town music store in 1998. Gradually, I have converted that store to a strictly acoustic, bluegrass and old-time oriented shop. Stop by and say "hello"!
ZEPP Country Music, Inc.