I have always been curious to know, Joe, if you came from a musical family or if you had to go it alone. It is difficult when there is no musical influence from inside the family.

I had the dreams like everybody else. I started playing slightly before age 5 and did it full time for about 12 years after doing it part time for about 10. When I was 40 I realized (admitted?) that it wasn't going to happen, went back to college for a second degree in something more useful than music and got a big boy job at 42. So as much as "aspirations" change with age and time, so does the definition of the term. After first chasing the dream of having the tour bus and maybe even tour plane, now if I could sell 10 CDs at a small venue show I'd be thrilled. My "aspirations", now called "plans", are to offer my services doing shows in RV parks as I travel, with that goal of CD sales serving to fill the gas tank on that pig of a truck with a house mounted on top of the chassis.

As stated in other forums, I continue to write, but I really write for me. People can love or hate what I do but it isn't going to change. Every song is a story about some aspect of my life, and with no friends to talk to, that is my only way to purge. So my writing is cathartic. The key is making them something everybody can relate to in an attempt to create a connection to the listener so they might want to own that CD. I am not unique in any way, and most people have gone through much of what I have gone through with the emotional turmoil that goes with the normal progression of life and aging. I want to get this second CD done before I hit the road. That way rather than selling 10 of the same CD I can shoot for 5 of each.

I really started off playing because of my older cousin, a story I shared in another post some time back.