My music career started long before I ever realized it... in church. I would fall asleep during the sermons only to be awakened by the choir and my mom who quite often sang lead with the Lord's Prayer. Listening to her sing like an angel always stirred something deep in me. Then she said something to me one day "De, I really love to hear the baritone and bass male vocalist in the choir" That start the wheel turning in me. I tried to sing deeply but my voice was still cracking and it just wasn't happening. 

Shortly after that I took a detour from trying to sing and got hooked on watching Lawrence Welch every Saturday afternoon. It was something about the accordion that grabbed me. I am not sure what it was, but I just had to have one. Maybe it was my hair brained scheme to be the first black kid to play accordion on the program. So, mom (putting up with me) purchased one. It was pretty cool; I took lessons and actually memorized all of the polkas and waltzes, to the displeasure of my instructor, who kept repeating "You're not reading the music Tom!!" Well, the bottom fell out soon after that when I saw a brother on the show getting down (Polka Style) and my hopes were shattered. 

Years later (while in my teens) one of the playboys on my block sold me an acoustic bass that kind of look like the one Paul McCartney use to play, except it looked more like a violin than a bass. This instrument unknowingly rekindled what mom had said to me years earlier. That bass was awesome. I used it as an outlet for some of the stuff that was pissing me off at the time. I would lean the bass against the wall, which turned the wall into a speaker and started singing the blues before I even knew what that was. I sometimes regret that I didn't write any of those lyrics down because they were pretty good (if I do say so myself) but maybe the lesson then was to feel it... feel the bass, the bottom that had spoken of. Then a terrible thing happened... I left the bass leaning against the wall on the back porch and tiptoed back in the house because the floor was cold and I didn't have any shoes on. As soon as I closed the door I heard it... Twang!!! And the neck was broken... I ran out and held it in my hands like a fallen comrade. Silence.... Tear... Damn!

Then in 1980 I decided to buy myself something nice, so I spent all day (on a Saturday) at Chuck Levin's going through everything they had until finally the winners, a Vantage Bass and a Peavey Combo III Bass Cabinet.  I was in heaven. That started my present career. The bass...I love it... The rhythms I love them too and all kinds of music are good to me. So, now you know what my problem is... I just want to play some funky bass, yeah!! Oh, by the way, I later found out that I am an Afro-Dutch-American