Great People! (and other Photos that you might find interesting)

                                                                     Rick Wakeman                                                         Leon Russell                                                                  George Duke

                                                                                                             Geoff  Downes                                                                                    Mindy Abair

                                                     Tim Berry of The Rumblers                                      Anthony Papamichael (who is also MY BEST FRIEND)                           Anthony with Jay Leno Show

             With Kofi Baker (yes, this is Ginger Baker's Son)  Kofi is a MONSTER Drummer TOO!!!                       Chris Sligh (American IDOL) hanging at Avant Electronics (great guy!)   

                                                     P. J. Soles - (Remember "Stripes"?)                                                                   Sherman Abraham - Musician, Friend, Not Forgotten... R.I.P. my friend...

                         Kathy - My Love for All Time!                                                        In San Juan                                   At A Family Christmas Party                   Tired from a flight after arriving in Cancun

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How much cooler can you  get!  Rick Wakeman of Yes, Leon Russell and George Duke!  I've been a fan of these guys for years and it was great to meet all of them.

In terms of Rick Wakeman, I met him at NAMM and he was most gracious and very funny (as a matter of fact that's why my eyes are closed - he would say something about "The Six Wives of Henry the VIII" while we were getting the photo made) .  A wonderful guy and please pick up his CD's that are consistently brilliant!    

I'm also happy to state that I've been to Leon's home and studio and even had dinner with him.  He's a fantastic person, musician and composer and I'll never forget the words that he said to me when he visited me in North Carolina while on tour:  He said "Glen, I'd give anything to play like you".  I'm still recovering from that!  He also gave me some incredible words of wisdom that I've taken to heart about piano playing and I'm not going to reveal them.  Let me just say that they've made a major difference in my piano playing!

The picture with George Duke was made just after I had purchased my Sony digital camera and I was still wrestling with how to use it.  George was a good sport and he had a real interest in it also.  It was the Sony 707 with the large lens so we were both checking it out.  Nevertheless, I grew up listening to this amazing musician and once again, it was wonderful to find that people that you admire are so nice.  Thanks George!

Geoff Downes - Well if your a keyboardist and you don't know who this is then you're off my Christmas List forever!  Geoff was playing keyboards on the 1st song that christened the debut of MTV, namely "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles, played with Yes for a short while and was an essential part of the world  famous band ASIA and who has continued to be active with ASIA as well as his own projects with various other members.  He too is a great guy and I love running into him at shows.  He has complemented me on my playing and once again that is an honor coming from this guy!!!  I always love talking with Geoff because he has zero attitude and is one of the nicest most approachable gentlemen that I've ever met ( just like Rick Wakeman!).

Hello Mindy!  I'll admit right now that the photo is not a picture that I took but when I ran into her and her dad at the Winter NAMM show I already had my camera packed up.  I heard somebody calling me and the next thing I know, I'm getting hugged.  Man, talking about feeling 10 feet tall.  Imagine getting hugged outside the NAMM show by Mindy Abair:-).  At any rate, she is a remarkable talent not only on the sax, but also as a vocalist.  And let me tell you; this girl can ROCK!  Do yourself a big favor and get her CD's.  She is great.  FYI, I've known her dad Lance for years and it is always a treat to run into him (especially when Mindy is with him)!

Anthony Papamichael is one of the great undiscovered talents in music.  Not only is he my best friend, but this guy can play anything that has strings on it.  Perhaps that's why he's played with Usher, TLC, Tony Rich and been on Gold and Platinum albums.  Still, his own music is the best and you can buy it.  All you have to do is go to: www.papamichael.com and click on the links to pick up his CD's.  Which ones should you buy?  Well...ALL OF THEM!  There is not a bad one in the bunch.  Seriously, you can hear excerpts for yourself.  The music is pristine and the artist is also.  Just remember once you're grooving to this artist that I was the one who turned you on to him!

Hello Kofi Baker!  Yes, he is Ginger Baker's son of the world famous group "CREAM", but more importantly, he is an incredible drummer doing very well for himself in sunny Southern California.  Kofi uses our Avant Electronics drum mics on his drum kit and he is a friend of ours.  You just can't imagine how "down to earth" Kofi is.  I have never met such a gracious and communicable artist in my life.  I'm very proud to call him my friend!

Then there is Chris Sligh, the "darling" of American Idol a couple seasons back and (in my opinion), the guy that should have won the whole thing.  I'm happy to report that he received a national record deal anyway and he's living in Nashville, TN.  Currently he is working on his up-coming release and Chris is interested in trying out our CV-12 tube microphone on vocals.  We're currently sold out but I'm doing everything that I can to make that happen for him.  Be sure and get his CD when it come out.  I guarantee you that it will not disappoint you!

Who doesn't remember Bill Murray in the hit movie "Stripes"?  I love that movie and of course P.J. Soles was awesome as one of the beautiful girls that went along for the adventure.  She became famous for her part in the movie.  I just happened to see her at the NAMM show where she was there with her musician partner and we talked for a few minutes and then "out came the digital camera".  Hey, I couldn't turn down that chance.  Just like my header says, this is a very "cool" person and I was very lucky to meet her.  Thanks PJ!

Which finally brings me to Sherman Abraham.  A great keyboardist in his own right, but an even better friend in many other ways. A number of years ago, I owned a music store and Sherman was always looking to buy a keyboard, but he just didn't have enough money to purchase one outright.  Over time, I discovered that this guy had "substance" and I decided to let him pay me weekly.  Well, he did and if he couldn't for any reason, he came by and would tell me why.  I came to trust him and that lead to a respect and eventually a real friendship.  Over time, there was nothing that Sherman couldn't have.  If he said something it was gospel.  Eventually, he started dropping by my studio occasionally and I always welcomed him with open arms.  He never had much money, but he had a dream like most of us in music.  The only difference was his goal was achievable because he was talented.  One day he came by with his wife whom I had never met, I mentioned how good he looked because he had lost weight, (he had been experiencing serious heart trouble), and I asked to take their picture.  They told me that they had never had a photograph made of the two of them so they would consider this their "wedding photo".  I promised them that I would print a 8x10 and they could come by and pick it up. I planned to frame it for them.  Anyway, I didn't hear anything for several weeks and then I found out that Sherman died in his car while waiting on his wife after taking her by their church for a few minutes...She came back and he was gone.  Sherman, your 8x10 is now posted on my wall with all my important photographs and sitting in my printer is another one that will stay.  I miss you and I believe that the world would have also if they had heard what you had to offer.

An on a happy note, I want to end with the COOLEST person of all time, and that's Kathy, my wife and soul mate.  She has had to put up with my "insanity" for well over 30 years and still continues to do so, (and she even supports me).  Kathy you're the best person in the world and I love you more each and every day.  Thank you for being... By the way, I'm not the only professional in this family.  Kathy is a remarkable teacher and has taught NC educational workshops, and many other programs.  She is a dedicated educator and I admire her professionalism.

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                                                                                                        MidiScope Studio Shots

                                                 The Control Room                                               Racks of Modules in the Control Room!                                               Looking out into the Studio...

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To say that my studio "changes around a lot" is an understatement!  For example, in "The Control Room" photo, I don't have a Mackie console anymore, as a matter of fact, now I have a Tascam FW-1884 Control Surface and a small mixer.  The big computer monitors have also been replaced with two 21" LCD screens so I could have more space.  The truth is that I've really went from recording mostly live bands to doing almost all my own music now and since I'm a keyboardist; well, that's midi.  I've also really latched onto using softsynths, (the computer versions of hardware synths and modules).  That doesn't mean that I don't record real instruments and vocals also! I mean, how can you ever replace an acoustic guitar for example?  I haven't found anything that can do it yet!  Still, there are amazing sounds coming from softsynths and I'm firmly on-board with them.  Check out companies like Native Instruments, Arturia, IK Multimedia, and many more.  It is really amazing.

FYI, I still have my synth modules, consoles, microphones, and other related rack gear because one never knows when it is time to change back:-)

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                                                                                                                      MidiScope Office Shots

                                                  "Messy" Desk Area                                                      Looking toward the Control Room                                                          My "Software Wall"

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Not much to say here except my office chair isn't in the photos and I usually keep my office much cleaner.  Really.  I'm also quite  proud of my "Sgt. Pepper" mural that was given to me a number of years ago by a great artist that has just recently relocated to Los Angeles.  His name is Mark Adam so keep your ears open about him.

Notice that I have wicker furniture in the office.  I stole it from Kathy years ago when the studio needed furniture (since this was once the reception area), and I never gave it back.  Fortunately for me, she has been great about it and allowed me to keep it.  FYI, the door to the Studio room is directly to the left when looking at the "Software Wall" photo.  By the way, the "Software Wall" was just getting started when this photo was taken.  Since then, I've had to remove the printers, a lot of the old software and software that doesn't apply to music.  I know that I could easily store all of my software if I would just get rid of the boxes, but I'm going to admit it; I'm a "box junkie"!  I love having the software in the original boxes because I just find it easier to locate and I never  lose it!

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                                                                                                                       Me - Through the Ages

           Oh....about 6 years old...                                      I would guess 10th grade - 1967???                                                      Freshman at WCU with my "group" (that's me on the top right sitting)

You can hardly see me, but that's me, at WCU in the mountains           With the band "COYOTE" (that's me 2nd from the right)             Oh boy, that's me 2nd from the right again....Disco Down!

                  Relaxing in my "new" home studio                                         In my first music store "Fantasy Music"                                                      Recording with "The Rumblers" in Atlanta

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            That's Thom Kidd who later went on to engineer

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             for artists such as Prince!

                        Performing "Lola" with Chris (our singer)  at a Rumbler's Show                       Definitely "Full-time Rumbler Days"                                 "Playing with the camera" in the studio

                                                                   "Paint Photo" from Cancun Trip                                                                                                With Kathy in Haiti

                                With my good friend Paul Cassidy at work at NAMM show                                                          Being a "Suit"                                    What $10.00 will get you in Cancun:-) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Photos, photos, photos... I thought long and hard about this before putting these up, but you know what?  It is simply a fact that it is a glimpse of your life and where you've been.  Now, none of us should be judgmental and go "oh, I don't like this guy because of what I see", but you know as well as I do that photos are often a great way to view ourselves and recognize that we've all "been all over the map during our lives", that is, if we've had time to do so.  So, what you're seeing is shots from when I was starting to become a hippie, (I spared you the real hippie photos!), my long hair era; the Rock and Roll era when I was playing with a great group called Fragile and then went straight into Country Rock with Coyote, into a year of making incredible money by "giving up" and selling out by forming" To Hot To Handle" my Disco Band, then going straight into The Rumblers, which was right on the edge of New Wave/Punk in 1979 and became the most successful band that I ever had.  The Rumbler's also maintained short hair, grabbed white shirts and black ties, decided we didn't need to own our sound system or lighting system, but rather we wanted to have the BEST lighting and sound system that could be rented for our shows!  And all this took place while Tim Berry and Mark Bumgarner, Guitarist and Bass Guitarist respectively became my junior partners in what was to become a happening music store called Fantasy Music.  We had all the current products and Fantasy Music was totally responsible for me being able to learn all about the new midi technology that was starting to happen.  We were located in Granite Falls, NC  but I didn't hesitate to bring in anything that had midi on it.  Roland MC-202's, sequencers, software, you name it; we had it. 

So, all this tied together, because we knew what we wanted, three of the five Rumbler's owned the music store and we put together an amazing sound and light show.  Yes, we even had Quad speakers to fly audio effects around rooms not to mention running keyboards and drums in stereo.  We also had over 100,000 watts of lights, follow spots, and a crew of professionals who knew how to run the equipment (and us to make sure that it was run the way we wanted it).  Yes, it cost us a mint but we had a plan.  The Rumbler's deal was simple.  We didn't play a club for a guaranteed price.  Our deal was we took 100% of the door PERIOD!  Club owners were obvious furious that we would even suggest such a thing so we had to convince them that they needed to bring us in.  That's when we started the hype machine and did a few shows for free that brought out several thousand people.  The only two clubs that we needed to play immediately agreed and for over 12 years we played nothing but sold out shows.  To give you an idea of how successful this was for us; we averaged around $2500 a weekend (and this was in the late 80's)!  The Rumbler's had national record companies fly in to hear them, we turned down a recording contract and believe it or not, we're getting ready to record again after "being silent" for about 10 years.  Ob La Di Ob La Da...

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                                                                    Other Shots...

                   Caribbean Trip on Royal Caribbean                                    With Friends Jerry & Beth                             With other Friends Paul & Nancy                            My "Wet Dog" Look

                                                     Waking up and staring out at the mysterious land of Haiti                                                                Getting closer to Haiti

                                                          Keith Richard's Signature (a very nice guy also!)                                                                  John Entwistle of the WHO - Great Fellow...

                                    The Rumbler's doing a very quick sound check before a show                                                                         Tim Berry - Dear Friend and Guitarist of The Rumblers!

                Mrs. Jingles was a very cool cat...                 Polar Bear - Studio Cat - Reigns Supreme around MidiScope              Polar Bear says "Goodbye and Please Visit Again"