About Me....
I was born in 1947 in Darlington County, S.C. My Daddy was a farm manager who loved guitar and Country Music. He would sit on the front porch with the family and play his guitar, a 1956 Fender Esquire, in the evenings when he came home. When I was 10 I wanted to learn guitar from Daddy like my brother, Buddy, but life took a different turn. My Daddy, Lexton, had a stroke when he was only 40 years old and died. Daddy had given Buddy his first guitar, a Gibson Dreadnaught, earlier and when he died Buddy inherited the Fender and gave the Gibson to me. Our Aunt Francis (Doot) saw how much I wanted to learn so she taught me my first chords, G, C, and D. I would sit on the porch and play with Aunt Dootie and Buddy in the evenings for hours. The guitar seemed to come naturally to me so I'd play any chance I got, even going to sleep with the guitar laying on my chest. It wasn't long before Buddy grew a little older and wanted to form a band to play around the area. He saw I was getting pretty good so he brought me into the band as lead guitar (Buddy also knew having his kid brother in the band attracted girls). Buddy named their band The Toledos and we played school events, parties, and anywhere we were asked in the area. We even appeared on a local TV morning show in Florence, S.C. Slim Mims was a local Country Music celebrity who had an early morning music show with his band and guests. The Toledos were on his show several times. Sometimes we would get up way before dawn, drive over to Florence, and video the show before it came on. Most of the it was recorded the night before. I went on to play in several bands in High School and left to play professionally after I graduated. I joined The Soul Exciters in Sumter, SC, then moved to Charleston to play during the Woodstock era, then moved up to Newport News, Va. From there I moved with a group, Upfront with Adele Foster, to Raleigh, NC where I still live just outside Raleigh in the small town of Wendell with my wife of over 40 years, Sylvia. We had 4 children and now have 4 grandchildren. Although I don't play as much as I used to I try to stay as busy as possible. I'm an artist also and sometimes combine music and art at events. I inherited an artist's eye from my Mother, Mary Alice. Between playing, teaching, creating art, and spending time with my family my calendar is usually pretty full. At the time of this writing I am 78 and the Lord willing plan to keep playing and creating art until 90.