A Lifetime of Music.. and Friends....
It all began around 1966 when my parents bought me a plastic guitar for Christmas. I remember going out in my backyard and pretending I was in the Beatles, setting up a fake microphone and banging on a fake guitar. Somehow......my parents figured out I might actually have some potential talent, bought me a real guitar the following year. I started taking lessons at ripe old age of seven.. and like most young kids my attention span was that of a hamster. Though I only took lessons for a couple of years... I somehow managed to keep playing....and all of a sudden found myself learning some songs and singing along with them. I played in a 6th grade talent show with friends, Mike Ilcyn and Gary Spada and once I got a taste of being on the stage.. I never left it! Fast forward 55+ years I'm still out playing music and doing what I love. While I've been blessed with musical talent.. what has made this journey so incredible is the friends I've met along the way and the shared love of music I've been lucky enough to have with so many great artists. This page is dedicated to my musical life, my BFF Erin Cruise and the amazing fun we've had over the last 20+ years... but also to give a big shout out to so many amazing people..who have become lifelong friends...and have helped me to not only chase my musical dreams... but rather to live them.
The Early Years / Essex Jam
Somewhere in between learning how to drink Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill and riding my bike over to Judy DeLuca's house almost every day... I met my friend and bandmate Rick Wild. We began jamming in Rick's garage and The Essex Jam became a reality. Our drummer was one of the coolest guys I had ever met.... Bob Ober. At first he scared me being the rebel he was.... but ultimately I realized.. he was just a good guy and a great drummer. We always seemed to have rotating bass players in George Rosewall and Nick Tedesco.. but still we managed to start playing in public before too long. That was the time in my life when I really started to hone my playing and singing skills... and I first got the idea that maybe I could write a song! I started writing some things but they never came to fruition, probably because we were focused on the two things every young rock and roll band was focused on... music and girls! We're still friends after all these years, and the obviously recent photo of Rick, Bob, George and I was taken in July of 2023 at our High School reunion in NJ!
The Crossroads Years
This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content and make sure to add any relevant details or information that you want to share with your visitors.
The Palmyra Sessions
After I moved to PA my and set up a home studio I felt like my songwriting skills really started to take off. That was mostly due to my old friend Tony D, who made the trek to Palmyra numerous times to co-write and produce most of the songs you see on this page... The picture with my friend Amy in front of the hotel was a moniker to the 'title track' of my 2nd cassette... and a song that Tony and I co-wrote called "The Picture of Innocence". Also during this time I met Bob Welsh and Shea Quinn, both of whom were incredibly talented musicians in PA. I ended up jamming with both, writing songs with Bob and doing some recording for both on their own songs. It was a great time in my life as Tony and I were just cranking out the songs... my studio equipment got more sophisticated and thus the production quality improved, and I even started working at "The Green Room" a professional studio in Harrisburg owned by Bob Welsh. There we recorded local artists like The Badlees, and The Underground Cartoons... I learned a lot in those years... about life... love and music. You can hear it in how different some of the songs are that I've added to this page. I've written close to 100 originals... and hope to have a bit of a catalog up here soon, with the best of them!
Harrisburg
Although it seems like a lifetime ago.... Erin and I met in Harrisburg in the early 2000's and instantly became bff's .. which led to the beginning of the Cruise Control Duo. Shortly thereafter we added drummer extraordinaire Dimitri Saliaris and began our journey as a trio. In those years we managed to play at everything from a Car Dealership to a Cemetery, a Church, a Baseball Field, Private Parties, Corporate Events, Bars, Restaurants, a Riverboat, Charity Events, the Governor's Residence, a Museum, the State Capitol Building, and even down to Grand Cayman to play for the Governor's Daughter's wedding! We had an amazing time, made some great friends and more than anything.. made a lot of people smile. It was a great time in Harrisburg, the downtown area was booming and the music scene was great. Like Erin's hair things were constantly changing in 'the burg' and so did we....something that told us it was time to head South. So one day in 2019 we packed our bags and and off we went to the Sunshine State.....Hello Florida! Please read on.....
Grand Cayman
Somewhere around 1998 I went to Grand Cayman for the first time and started a journey that lives to this day... aside from making some incredible friends... I also met some incredible musicians in the process. I stopped in at an "Open Mic" jam session and wouldn't you know they allowed me to sit in! The next thing I know I was coming to Cayman once or twice a year and jamming with a host of people. My Cayman experience hit a high when Erin and I were invited to play at the Westin, on the beach as the headliner for NYE. Needless to say that was fantastic.... and we got to do it two years in a row! So many talented friends along the way.... so here's to the Cayman crew....and a special thanks to my good friend Derrick McKay for helping the NYE gig become a reality... I'm forever grateful for you and your friendship. So a big shout out to Eden Hurlston, Zack Mack, Andy Harrison, Martin Van Zyl, Kevin Blake, Pam Ella, Lingga Rinaldy, Reno Ciantar, Michael LeClerc, Denys Carbo, Danny Loops, Chris Bodden, Charles Ebanks, Brian Grandstrand, Glenn Scott, Jesse Longworth, Larry Cook, Noel Mowbray, Harmony Scott, Devon Edie and more...... Thanks to all of you for the fun we've had over the years... hope to see you all again soon!
St. Petersburg Florida / Blue Moon 6
In 2019 I was tired of the miserable PA weather and decided it was time to move to Florida. I packed my bags, sold my condo and headed South! Shortly after I got my apartment in Madeira Beach, I met an amazing lady in Kim Hightower and we immediately became friends. After a few jam sessions...we started playing out and eventually became Blue Moon 6! Kim plays piano, guitar, sings and also writes songs.. she has several CD's out and her musical talent is only matched by her heart as a person. I'm so lucky to have met her, and to this day we are close friends. We brought in another amazing musician, Martin Morales for some of our gigs... Martin is a very talented percussionist and also a great guy! Together the three of us had a blast... playing places around St. Pete and our one landmark gig at the Yalaha Bakery in Yalaha Florida. As I started shopping for condos, I found Cape Coral to be so much more affordable, and ultimately moved a little further South. I miss Kim and Martin in both my musical and personal life.. but the good news is we aren't that far apart and can connect from time to time. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph... the friends I've made along the way have been incredible! Both Kim and Martin will be friends for life.... and again... I'm the lucky one to have our lives cross paths.
Cape Coral Florida / Endless Summer Duo
So here we are in 2022... wow how time flies. I moved to Cape Coral in early 2021, and of course since my bff and her husband Kevin live here.... we did exactly what you'd expect... We put the band back together!! We decided it was time for a new name that was more appropriate for the climate we now enjoy.. and thus Endless Summer Music emerged as the premier Cape Coral / Fort Myers duo! We all now live happily 'down under' the Florida line, playing outdoors just about every month of the year. We're kicking of 2022 with some new venues including the newly reopened Rumrunners right here in Cape Harbour, where I now happily reside on the 11th floor of Marina South II. Where do we go from here? NOWHERE!!! This is it for us... we're going to live out our musical lives in the sunshine state.. playing our unique blend of music as long as we can. We're playing an average two times per week, and sometimes even more. This year we'll add more new songs.. venues, and even piano into our mix of music. We hope you'll join us whether you live here, or are just visiting.... and while we're entering our 60's .... the Endless Summer duo is just getting started! We look forward to seeing all our friends from the northeast and making new ones here in Southwest Florida.. as my favorite band Styx so aptly put it.. "These are.. the best of times"... See you soon!
Friends & Inspirations
This page is dedicated to the friends we've made throughout the years..... some are amazing musicians... others just those that have been there to support us and our unique blend of music. Cheers to all of you awesome people...and thanks for the memories!
