My earliest memory of music: Driving along a deserted stretch of country road with my Uncle Jeff, sometime in the mid-80’s. He was going on and on about how he had modified the rear speakers in his 1972 BMW Bavara with sand buckets from the McDonald’s Happy Meal to “enhance the bass”… As an 11 year old, I was only half listening to him, but when the drums kicked in on Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” and swept from left to right, and then back again, in that old Bimmer, on that old country road – I WAS HOOKED. My Uncle had just invented FIRE.

Other fond memories include a neighbor and his brother at separate times introducing me to Metallica’s double bass drum and the wonders of Led Zeppelin – all played through my mono Realistic Desktop Tape Player…

And I will forever be indebted to my mom and her Panasonic 8-Track/Record Player and the big old clunky headphones that slipped Tom Petty into my life.