|
I grew up in Stockholm, Sweden in a household filled with music. My dad, a Navy Captain used to play tons of Big Band era Jazz records.. Benny Goodman, Sidney Bechet, Tommy Dorsey and Louis Armstrong. My mom was totally into Mahalia Jackson, Gospel & Classic Country.. Patsy Cline etc. I was the youngest out of five kids and after my older siblings got older & moved out, they left all their great 60's music behind.. Music I wouldn't normally get exposed to, growing up in the Eighties..  So I inherited lots of Rolling Stones, The Who, Donovan, Motown and Beatles! I remember when I was five, I spent nearly everyday at the turntable listening repeatedly to The Beatles 'White Album'.. I couldn't get it through my head how in their later years they were kind of 'spaced out & out of tune' but STILL sounded so good! Four years later I bought a geek classmate's toy-guitar for 50 cents, and with only two strings I eventually figured out a few guitar-melodies. A year later my dad got me my first 'real' guitar (An Acoustic Spanish/Classical guitar with nylon strings) I fell in love right then & there! I was playing in my first band at age 14, we did Beatles and Stones songs note for note. A few years later, Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin became huge influences. After high school I became more curious of Blues and early Rock and Roll, I wanted to know what my heroes were listening to! I watched a friend's video with Albert King one night.. and I knew I had found the Blues.. From that day on I've felt more comfortable with Blues than ANY other music. My raves were Jimmy Reed (still is), Albert Collins, Otis Rush and John Lee Hooker -
At eighteen, during my Military enlistment process (All Swedish males between 18 & 34 had to by law, spend about a year in the Military) I had put in a request to my recruiting officer for a position in the elite Paratrooper Regiment.. and yes, I was all-gung-ho & restless for my Army days to begin. However, my enrollment was canceled when I was invited to visit neighboring country Denmark for work which gave me the opportunity to play music full time.. and this really changed my life-path dramatically. Soon after that, I was invited to Sussex, England and later on to Chicago. I guess it may have been decided by 'weird cosmic fate' for me to play guitar in life instead of setting up 'Perimeters on battlefields'.
 My father had traveled quite a bit during the 'Cold War' when old Soviet Union was lurking at our doorstep, and I've always respected his achievements growing out of humble beginnings, taking his first job as a sailor on Cargo Ships when he was a teenager, and after joining Navy reaching the full rank of Submarine Captain as he chose to stay in deep waters. My Dad actually played a little guitar when being off duty/on leave in those early days. So who knows.. since I continued his 2nd passion Music, Fate may finally have reached full circle now - I was now based in Central Europe and established myself as a full-time musician, living and performing in Denmark and England from 1989-1993.
|
