A great many people inquire about my influences, so I thought I would include them here. My musical tastes are eclectic to be sure, so expect some rambling :)
My parents raised me on 60's folk music, CSNY, and The Beatles. These led me off on the road to classic rock where I fell hard for Jimi Henricks, Led Zepplin, The Doors, and Black Sabbath. Oddly, at the same time I was absolutely loving "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", I was also quickly becoming enthralled by the great Bonnie Raitt.
This is where I started getting serious about songwriting. I ended up with all of Bonnie Raitt's early work. I went back to Neil Young. I met Martin Sexton (after becoming a fast fan of his amazing voice and songwriting) in some dive club in Hoboken, NJ and had a chance to sing with him while he played the blues for me. He told me I was meant for the blues and suggested I do some research.
I looked up the influences of all those classic rock giants. Then my greatest love affair of all began... I have loved many different kinds of blues from the very old to the very new. Toss a bit of jazz in there and I am in heaven. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Etta James, Saffire: Uppity Blues Women, Mary Flower, Howlin' Wolf, Bessie Smith, Chuck Berry, John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, holy moly. I will continue to add to this list for a while until it is an honest as I can make it.
While all this was happening for me, My parents were getting deep into appalachian mountain music/ old tyme. This also sent a spark through me and sent me realing toward bluegrass (Nickel Creek, Bela Fleck!, Allison Krauss, Gillian Welch and Davis Rawlins).
At a fantastic music camp and preservation center called The Augusta Heritage center (
www.augustaheritage.com) I was able to learn more about both blues and bluegrass and also was introduced to swing. This is my next venture in research :).
Right now I am listening to a great deal of Tom Waits. I am truly obsessed actually. I am also listening to a lot of jazz standards. Dianna Krawl is almost always in the disc changer... and my friends have been making great jazz mixes for me that have got me going in a dozen directions at once.
I love music. period.
Any suggestions?