my story

A LITTLE ABOUT MYSELF

I was born in 1936 on a farm in East Texas, near a town called Elkhart. (where I now live) I got my first guitar from Sears - (a little Gene Autry guitar that I still have)- when I was nine years old.
My maternal Grandfather and Grandmother knew how to play the guitar, and they taught me a few chords and how to   play rhythm. The guitar was all I thought about during those early years. I played every single day, and half the night too.

When I went off to college, I could already play a lot of blues and country tunes. I stayed in a boarding house with 21 other boys. Four of them played guitar. This was really good and I learned as much as I possibly could from these guys, and after two years of college, I went to work in Port Arthur, Texas. There, I met the girl who is now my wife. We have four grown daughters, and have been married for over fifty years.

During the mid 1950's, I played music by artists such as Bo Didley, Jimmy Reed, and Muddy Waters. I also played songs by Carl Perkins, Elvis, and Jerry Lee Lewis - and of course Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers.

I started playing in bands at the age of twenty. At the age of 23 I was playing and singing with Murphy McDowell, a great guitar player. Murphy could play jazz or whatever. Murphy taught me all the chords, from diminished to the 13ths.

During the mid 1960's, I had the opportunity to play with great artists such as Willie Nelson, Bill Mack, George Jones, Jimmy Newman, Johnny Winters and many others. From the late 60's to the present, I started playing swing, big band and jazz songs with folks like Veral Vance, Theo Johnson, Billy Carter, Troy Passmore, Cliff Bruner, Deacon Anderson and others.

All of this experience has given me a great insight as to what is needed to play the guitar.

I started teaching guitar in the sixty's. I had a recording   studio in Silsbee Texas where I had 4 classes a week learning to play the guitar.

Today, I still play some country, jazz, blues and big band songs with select groups in the Palestine, Texas area.

I have three grandsons who play the funky blues now. One grandson who played was killed in a car wreck.         His name is Jeremy Breaux.

HOME PAGE