My 1955 National Archtop Six-String. It was a gift from my brother on Christmas Day, 1987. It’s a museum piece until I can get the intonation set. Setting the intonation on a floating bridge is a very delicate operation. The tech at Lynchburg Music didn’t even try. He gave an appraisal of $1250. That’s probably low, but I would never sell it for anything.
From Colorado, I am the youngest of six. I have also lived in California, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia—which is home now. There was always interesting music around the house, and I was encouraged to spend time reading.
As a kid, I would listen to music and read along with the lyrics, study them. I actually enjoyed diagraming sentences, and I always preferred essay questions. At VCU in Richmond, I majored in English.
In the nineties, I became involved in zine culture. I cut my teeth as a writer with my publication, 'The Crisp Fabric.' I have formed meaningful friendships with writers and artists I have never met.
My favorite novelists are Kurt Vonnegut, Hermann Hesse, Italo Calvino, and Franz Kafka.
The nonfiction writers I like are Buckminster Fuller, Hunter S. Thompson, and Frank Zappa.
Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson are my favorite poets.
