Music has sort of always run in my life and family and blood.  I guess I was destined for this…

When I was young, I had one of those little known Texas Instruments toys that was a musical keyboard and you could only play one key at a time.  The book that came with it had the notes above the staff, and the keys were labeled.  I was like 8 at the time, so I was happy to be able to play the “Pink Panther Theme” and “Do Re Me” from The Sound of Music.  My mother used to listen to Michael Bolton, The Beatles, Kenny G, Peabo Bryson, Chicago, CSN&Y, CCR, America, and other older bands and artists.  I remember her picking me up and me and my back door neighbors from elementary school and singing with “I Heard It Through The Grape Vine” on our car ride back home.  And whenever we went from Spring Hill, Florida to Florence, Alabama to visit my grandparents, I always messed around with their piano and later the ukulele in the back closet.  I was always singing for as long as I can remember, especially in 5^th grade when I was in the John D. Floyd Elementary School chorus.  Yes, I know.  Almost everyone is in elementary school chorus.

I first started playing the guitar in June of 1996.  I sent away for free music from a place called Iceberg Music.  I thought I’d get a cassette of music or something, but instead I was sent back sheet music for two songs.  On top of my sheet music staffs were guitar chords, but I didn’t know what they were.  I thought that they were notes for the blue TI keyboard.  Still… I had never before seen the note F#m, and the only Bm I knew came from my tush.  So I asked my mom what they were and she said that they were guitar chords.  Impulsively I replied, “I want to learn how to play guitar.”  That very day my parents took me to a pawnshop and bought me a classical guitar.  I sat around the whole afternoon and learned how to play “Proud Mary” and the rest of the summer I goofed around.  The next year I took guitar lessons after school from my social studies teacher, and learned all of the basics and the simple chords.  I learned some more difficult stuff, and worked more over time.  I was always writing lyrics and a little music.

Then high school was pretty much a blur of me playing my Epiphone Les Paul Special II in ebony black.  I didn’t really have any bands I was in.  I tried to do one or another, but nothing really worked out.  I was the guy who was huge into music, so I wrote songs and sat in classes writing lyrics with people looking at them occasionally.  My high school relationships added some love and hurt to my music.

But then I came to UCF and I said, “Okay Adam… You’re in college.  You’re a decent guitarist, you can be in a band.”  So I started looking for bands and groups that could use guitarists.  But guitarist’s are a dime a dozen.  Well… the rest of that story is on the Mindflux Story Time page.

This is an outlet for my love and my life.  Everything I do and sing is because I feel passionate for it.  In Mindflux I have two amazing musicians by my side as equals.  And I’m proud and humbled to work with them and to be their friends.  They’re the only other people I could ever think I could trust to put words into my mouth to sing.

Musical Influences:  Aerosmith; The Beatles; Led Zeppelin; America; Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young; Athenaeum; Alabama; Joe Satriani; Steve Vai; Stevie Ray Vaughan; Jimi Hendrix; Bob Dylan; Michael Hedges; Santana; Jeff Beck; Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; Prince; Rage Against the Machine; Seven Mary Three; Tonic; Dave Matthews Band; Creed; Counting Crows; Safam; Goo Goo Dolls; Lifehouse

Guitars:  Laurel Classical, Hohner Acoustic; Honda 12-String Acoustic; Epiphone Les Paul Special II; Fender Squire Standard Stratocaster; Silvertone Semi-Hollowbody Double Cut-Away electric.

Strings:  Whatever the cheapest round-would nickel strings are.

Effects:  Danelectro Pastrami Overdrive; Rogue DST-5 Distortion; Ibanez CS-505 Stereo Chorus; RockTek ADR-02 Delay; Rogue CPS-5 Compressor; Rogue VP-201 Stereo Volume Pedal; Dunlop Original Cry Baby Wah; Kyser Capo; Jim Dunlop 210 Glass Slide.

 Amp and Tuner:  Fender Stagemaster 25R; Quick Tune Automatic Chromatic Tuner.