INSTRUCTION
"My parents weren't musicians, but my brother and I were both into music at a very young age. So when there was somebody on TV playing music, my mom and dad would say, 'hey there's some guy playing guitar.' So I'd come watch and see what they were doing.

One time it might be a classical player, another time a country player, another time pop or rock - whatever. So through our television, I got to see really great players. And in a way, they were my first teachers.

I'd watch what they did with their hands, and then I'd go to my room and try to copy them. That kept me from getting married too closely to one style of playing. It also gave me an appreciation for players of all styles. When you break it down, there are more similarities than differences between styles, really.

I still buy instructional material, and work on certain aspects of my playing. I always have and I always will. I have also always paid attention to what guys said about what they were doing. If Jeff Beck, for example, mentioned he was listening to a certain thing, you better believe I would put down whatever I was doing and go find that thing and listen to it myself.

The difference between copying what a player does, and listening to how he has reinterpreted his sources, is the difference between imitating someone else, and developing your own style."

INFLUENCES
"I was coming up in a time when music was changing rapidly, but you still heard Sinatra on the same station as the Beatles. So that in itself was a huge influence on how I think, musically.

It was also a time when certain groups like the Beatles and the Stones, players like Clapton and Beck were talking about the blues and rockabilly guys they were into. My brother had a paper route, and we spent all his money buying the Beatles and Stones, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, all those source records that we heard about. We'd also look at the songwriting credits, and session credits when they were listed, and find even more music by tracing the work of songwriters or session players.

I have tried to list the people who shaped me as a player, but I don't necessarily sound like them. That was never my goal. I didn't want to be 'the next' anyone - I always wanted to sound like me."