What was it like growing up in Beirut? Aside from the war,the It was awesome; but even then,we made the most of it - Instead of collecting baseball cards, my friends & I collected pent bullets and shrapnel...(!) The Lebanese people are warm and loving, the weather was perfect, the culture rich,the & the food out of this world. We lived right across the street from the Meiterranean sea and I have fond memories of sitting on our balcony watching the waves crash into the rocky coast. After the Israelie invasion in '82 things got really tense and after my friends and I were kidnapped for a day, we called it quits and fled to the mountins. A week later, we were evacuated on the American troopship, the USS Nashville where I got a huge kick out of staying up all night with the marines, playing cards and guitar Kind of a bizarre farewell to my adopted homeland. When we got to Cyprus, I ended up going right on to Germany where I finished highschool in a small Canadian (and conservative) boarding school.My senior class had 27 kids and we represented 11 different countries. I spent weekends hitchiking around Europe playing music on the streetsand got to enjoy most of the major sites without the swarms of summer tourists: Rome, Florence, Venice, Vienna Munich, Salzburg, Zurich..... But that's a whole book waiting to be written... :-) When did you start playing guitar? It was 7th grade; aftera few years of piano lessons I was restless. My English teacher offered free lessons afterschool and I signed up. My first guitar was a Fender classical that was kind of beat up. My dad fixed it up and after a few lessons, I was in love. I still have that guitar, complete with dad's homeade tuning peg. The first songs in my book were "House of the Rising Sun" and "Franky & Johnny;" my Mom wasn't too crazy about. those...." I later took privatelessons in classical guiar whichreally set a good foundation for my technique. I started writing songs the nextyear and after that started a band with some Lebanese friends. Wecalled ourselves "Love Song 2" After 2 concerts, the war put a quick end to theproject, which was just as well : Our drummer mached to a different beat and our lead guitarist was always stoned anyway. We were pretty bad. I bought a 12-string which I later sold in Germany. In Germany I formed my 2nd band called "Certain Sounds." We were actually pretty good and toured quite a bit, incluing behind what was then the Iron Curtain. We made one studio recording then broke up because 2 of us graduated. I attended Grove City college in PA where I spent 3 years writing and performing in a duo called Bailey-Deasy. I loved those days but once again, graduation putit to an end. . Bill went on to front for a great band called The Gathering Field. He sings backup on 'Basment Memories," a song we performed while together. I bought a used Ovation classical which I used until Y2k. What guitars do you play today? My main axe is a Martin HD-28VS - it's an incredible instrument. I traded 2 guitars and a stack of cash to get it and have never regretted it. You really can't go wrong with any Martin, but this one is in their premier class. It has a slotted headstock & a 12-fret neck like a classical guitar as well as a slightly wider V-shaped neck which makes fingerpicking a little more managable. I also have a Martin 12-string which I only use in the studio. I have a Larrivee 6 string that sits in the living room on which I do alot of writing and practicing. I have a Larivee classical that's only used for recording and an Ovation classical for the stage though I haven't used that in years. Finally, I still have that very first old beat up Fender classical on which I learned to play. Never play it, but it's kinda hard to imagine getting rid of it. What other gear do you use? For strings, I've started using the new Elixer Nanoweb medium guage strings - they last forever and sound great. My pickup is the latest I-Beam bridgeplate system from L.R. Baggs which is amazing. Between the natural tone of the Martin and the awesome baggs fidelity, I rarely have to EQ my guitar at all; (but I also carry a Baggs EQ DI just in case.) I tried messing with pedals for awhile, but they end up complicating everything. Why do you write your name in small letters? secret. [smile] What's your favorite song you have written? Tough call. Probably a toss up between 'It Took So Long' on the Love the Time Album, "It Shines' on the One More Day Album, and 'Tucson' on the coffee album. Or better yet, whatever one i'm in the middle of writing. Do you write the music or words first? The ole chicken or the egg... I used to say I had to write them together but that has definitely changed. It finally dawned on me that if the words didn't say exactly what I wanted, there wasn't any point in putting them to music, so I always write the words first. Always. How often do you write? everyday. Do your wife and kids travel with you? Almost never. - too expensive to fly them and kids are ususally doing school stuff. Anyway it's not a huge deal for them to see dad on stage -- that's just what he does. no biggie. :-) Maybe when they are older. What's your favorite kind of gig? In general, anywhere the sound is good and the audience is responsive is a great night, but outside of that, I seem to get a lot of joy from youth concerts. Their energy inspires me and I have a kind of passion for helping them stay cenetered as most of them aren't too cynical yet. I also have become fond of the small town church gig where the whole community tends to come out and it's a very intimate at home feel because everyone knows each other. The cancer gigs are sometimes bittersweet, but important. The folk gigs are nice in that I often get a chance to jam with other folkies and just chill out and be a musician. Where do you Record? Most of my recording has been done at Sacred Ground Studio in Spotsylvania VA under the careful ears of Donny Holcombe. He's been with me since the beginning and we've grown alot together. He's also an incredibly funny guy, which helps when the sessions get long and tiring. I also did some work with Chris Rosser in Ashville NC and the newest project to be released summer 02 was recorded by Scott Moore in Nashville TN. The Live Album was recorded all over America, specifically: First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC, Montreat conference center in Black Mountain, NC, Swallow HIll Music Association in Denver, CO, The Prism Coffeehouse in Charlottesville, VA, The Steeple coffeehouse in Southborough , MA, Godfrey Daniels coffeehouse in Bethlehem, PA and a couple others I foget. I recorded an awesome show in Madison, GA, but put the DAT tapes on the roof of my car and drove off. My host will never let me live that one down. Are you still taking any cancer treatments? Nope, just anti-seizure meds. Do you still have seizures? sometimes - but thanksfully not too often and nothing too dramatic. Usually it's when I get super tired and it's either just a sort of buzz in my left leg or myleft hand kinda goes numb and time and speace sort of hiccup. The bummer is that is has happened on stage afew times which pretty much brings the gig to a quick close. I've learned to nap... :-) How often do you have to go for checkups? Every 6 months. How many states have you played? Sort of lost track, but i think it's all of them except for Hawaii, Montana, The Dakotas, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. Who did you listen to growing up? - lots of people yo'd expect - James Taylor, CSN, CAt Stevens, Jim Croce. - not surprisingly, the same ones people often say I sound like... But - I also listened to alot of BAch (my dad had records), and tons of Peter Paul and Mary - they kinda taught me how to harmonize. It was a kick in the ehad when I met Peter Yarrow years later at Kerrville. One of my few 'wow you used to be my here and now i'm shaking your hadn' experiences. Who do you listen to now? I hear my share of fellow folie albums, but listen to alot of instrumental stuff - guitar, jazz, classical - mostly because i think my head needs a break from words. But when I'm in the middle of a project, I spend a stupid amount of time listening to my own tracks as they develop - it's part of the process I've gotten used to. Do you listen to the radio? nope. I probably should just to stay in tune with what is going on in the musical world but I guess I don't care; it's not really my scene anyway. Do you like the traveling? Well, I love my job -- traveling is just part of what I have to to do to do it. As I once told my kids, I've not yet figured out how to get the audience to dcome to the house... :-)

Can we get your cd's in a store?

Technically, yes, you can tell the store they can now order the titles from a distributor called "Super-D One Stop."    but it's a lot easer to click on cdbaby... :-)