Ancient Memories (1998-2003)
I got my first guitar, an acoustic Samick, for my 16th birthday on October 10, 1998. I had a beginner’s guitar book that taught me how to hold the thing, how to identify the parts of the instrument, and how to play my first song: Yankee Doodle Dandy. It took me at least a month to get that down, and to build some strength and resilience in my fingers. Starting was harder than I expected, but I was determined. I was soon taking lessons at the local music store. I also got my first taste of live performance, playing my guitar for a local drama group in a few stage productions.
1999 Valley Performing Arts
I’m in the upper left with the hat and goatee. I played my guitar and sang as part of the cast for a few children’s stage plays. At 16, I was the eldest. This photo was taken during a dress rehearsal for Tom Sawyer.
I started recording myself in the summer of ‘99, using a cheap little microphone and Windows Sound Recorder. I found that I could open multiple instances of Sound Recorder to play back and overdub previously recorded audio files, giving me my first crude taste of multi-tracking. I was instantly hooked. I loved making up my own songs and recording them, so I did a lot of it.
For my 17th birthday, my Dad bought me my first electric guitar, a Squire Stratocaster with a red cherry finish, humbuckers, and a Floyd Rose tremolo system - which I traded up a few weeks later for a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat that I still frequently use. I barely touched the acoustic once I had electricity, and recording became a lot easier and more frequent. I graduated from Windows Sound Recorder to n-Track Studio, and eventually to Cakewalk. I went from using a cheap Fender practice amp to a Line 6 effects pedal, and eventually to a Boss DS-1 distortion and a Crybaby Wah. In late 2001 I bought my Ernie Ball JP6 with Mystic Dream finish, which is still my primary guitar today.
2001 Senior High School Photo
I performed Satriani’s “Always With Me, Always With You” at an end-of-the-year school concert. in 2011 I had Joe Satriani actually sign the same guitar I used in that performance. I’m pictured here with that guitar, in my High School Senior photo.
In 2000 I discovered Guitarwar.com, an online community of shredheads that would challenge each other to friendly guitar “battles,” with winners being decided by popular vote. The community was fun, supportive, and educational. It was while competing on this website that I advanced the most as a guitar player, and from late 2000 through 2003 I entered about 40 different songs in competition, and recorded hundreds of other song ideas. I was also doing my best to learn songs by Rush, Joe Satriani, and various other artists that were far beyond my skill level. My incessant recording gave me a permanent record of my advancing skills as a musician.
Below is a playlist of some of my music from this period, starting with the very first song I ever recorded. I present it here mostly because it is interesting to hear the advancements I made over this period of time, especially if you contrast the earliest music with the latest. It is important for any aspiring artist to know that even great masters had humble beginnings, and though I’m still no master, I know that getting good at anything difficult requires two things: Enthusiasm for the doing of it, and an insatiable desire to always be better than you were.