My first professional release was in 1988/1989 when I was signed to CBS/EPIC Records. The name of the band was Rainpeople, which was also the name of the record. It was produced by Bill Drescher (Rick Springfield,Bangles,Dreams So Real,etc.) and recorded at Ground Control stidios in Santa Monica, Ca. It had some modest sucess in the college market and overseas. We were sometimes referred to as The Momas & The Papas of the 80's, with 3 part harmonies being a noticeable component of our sound.
Since then, I formed a band in 1992 called Sons & Daughters and this band would go on to write,record,and release 4 records over a 15 year period. Chad Dunn was on drums Cindy Howie (my wife) played percussion and sang and I played guitars and sang.
"One" is the audio portion of a telethon performance we played in Decatur,Il.,at WFHL TV-23. The owners of the station were kind enough to allow us to utilize these recordings so we could have a cd to sell at our first shows. Not long after this Jeremy Jones came on board as our stalwart Bass player.
"Threshold" is the first outright studio record of the band. Recorded at Pogo Stuios with Owner,Producer,Engineer Mark Rubel at the console. This was a healing experience to record as my RainPeople recording experience had left me pretty vulnerable. This record is currently out of print but I'm working on re-issuing it soon.
"Play" is our first live record recorded at New Covenant Church in front of a rugged midwestern audience on a very snowy night. This record featured all new material and 2 new members: Michael Powers on drums, and Tim Barnes on guitars and mandolin. It's a fun live record that stands up pretty well for me as a snapshot of the band at that time.
"A Day Like Today" is S&D's last and most recent studio record once again recorded,produced by Mark Rubel at pogo Studios. This is the most cohesive record we ever made I think. Lots of folks have told us that this particular song-cycle works very well together. We welcomed a new member for this record on drums: Andy Burnette, the only drummer I ever played with that knew every word to every song I sang.
Since 2001, I've written 7 cds for a national company called Catholic Kids Net (K4J) {Kids For Jesus} which have enjoyed wide appeal among the 3-10 yr old set.
I also was featured on "Baby Boogie" a toddlers cd created by the Champaign Public Library. This release won a Parents Choice Award and features 3 new original songs one of which I co-wrote with Mark Rubel at Pogo Studios (as always). Mark produced this record also.
"You Have Everything You Need" is my first self-recorded record that I made at home with a Tascam Porta-one 4 trk cassette recorder. It feauters all new material made for (but not exclusive to) my Catholic audience.
"Become Golden" is my latest home-made record, recorded on my 8 track digital recorder; a Tascam DPFX01. I played everything on it from guitars to Organ, to cornet and percussion and accordion/harmonica,etc.
I worked very hard on this record and I'm proud of the results.
"Hang Onto Your Hope" was recorded at Pogo Studios around April of '06. It's a guitar and vocal record of somewhat quieter songs. Mark Rubel once again recorded/engineered/produced.
Biography
Biography
