BugSnakeWilly - Bugs Bio 



Do I look cool yet?
       Bugs, circa 1989 / SC
 Having been turned on to the Beatles at a very early age, I approached music with a heartfelt, but cautious zeal. Other than a couple of bass lessons though, I never had any formal training. Bass was my initial love, really. I just wanted to be involved, and my guitar-playing friends all said, "play bass"! This was in the 7th grade while my father was stationed at the Pentagon and I was first living in the Northern VA area. I played bass for a very loud electric guitar and drums band where no-one was brave enough to sing. Eventually Dad was reassigned to Carlisle PA. Among a few of my guitarist friends in Carlisle was Mike Childs, a recent Berklee graduate and jazz aficianado. Living just across the street, it was always enlightening to spend some time at the Childs house and spend time with the many (3, 4, 5?) musical family members living there. The writing aspect widened my level of musical involvement, as somehow a copy of a Carlisle High School literary publication found its way into the hands of Mark Cronk, a singer for the popular local band "Appalachia". I was subsequently asked if they could use some of my poetry as lyrics for some of the original songs they were about to take into the recording studio. Looking back from where I've arrived, it seems very appropriate to me that my musical journey essentially began with the words I write. I learned much later that some of these tunes were recorded, but I never got a chance to hear them, since shortly thereafter, I was at college in Florida, exchanging new musical ideas with many new and different musicians.
I frequently found myself wandering campus with an acoustic guitar, sometimes with a flutist or other guitarist in tow. (Man, that outdoor racquetball court had UNBELIEVEABLE acoustics! I hated when the guys with rackets would chase us out of there.) It was a time of great experimentation - both musical and personal. By this time, I was becoming aware that my acoustic guitar playing was beginning to overshadow what I thought were some pretty good bass chops. I was falling in love with the sound of a naked wooden guitar - stripped of any amplifier obfuscation. But after College didn't quite pan out (okay, maybe too much experimentation!), I ended up in Dearborn Michigan where I met keyboard player, music store manager, rental sound man and all-around wheeler dealer Mike Wolfe. We put together a 3-piece outfit (I played bass) with a drummer friend and played long, strange spaced out instrumentals (sometimes in odd time signatures) at my place between 1:00 AM to sunrise many an evening owing to our (I guess mostly mine) work schedules. Mike and I also rented our services out as sound men to various bands in the Detrioit area. I schlepped a lot of equipment (some things haven't changed), learned a good deal of the craft that is live sound reinforcement, and saw the seamier underside of the Detroit bar scene. Mike later got me hooked up playing bass for Dave Molnar and the Hurt - a quasi New Wave band (although we toyed with covering some King Crimson and Peter Gabriel tunes, believe it or not!). The original songs were actually good enough to generate some record label interest; and I was hungry to make a greater musical contribution. But Dave (like many brilliant singer/songwriter types) was given to extreme artistic moodiness, and we eventually went our separate ways, let's just say. There was a break in the middle of my Michigan years during which I actually traveled to Florida to play bass for a show/disco band old buddy Mike Wolfe led called "Cruisin'". Yes, I learned some Donna Summer, Anita Ward (Remember "Ring My Bell") and more that I've only recently owned up to knowing (and forgetting, it seems). But it only lasted the one gig. Cruisin' broke up and left me stranded in Florida. I pawned the bass at some point and returned to the solace of an acoustic guitar yet again, largely sponging off my cousin John (bless you, John) in Ft. Myers. But after a month or so of not being able to find decent work, I cashed in some savings to buy a motorcycle (like this but NOT as clean and pretty) for my non-triumphant return to a Michigan and a dishwashing gig. Now estranged from Dave Molnar, separated from my old buddy Mike, and unhappy with a diswasher's chances for advancement, I enlisted in the Army to escape the drab despair of the Detroit suburbs in the early 80s, and learn some computer programming skills. I took an acoustic guitar with me and wound up working more often as a solo entertainer, gaining confidence as a singer and writer myself. (Certainly the Army gave me enough inspiration for some heartfelt blues, if nothing else.) I hit a lot of open mikes in the Tacoma Washington area while stationed at Ft Lewis, and later, places like the Grog and Tankard after I was assigned to Ft Myer back in the Northern VA area again. I actually played my first paid solo acoustic gig at Gerald's (I think this venue is now called the Laughing Lizard) in Old Towne Alexandria just before my enlistment was up in 1985. I was writing, playing and singing my own songs at the same time I was learning more and more tunes written by the greats I admired. After getting out of the Army, work took me to Texas where I began assembling professional-quality recording studio equipment and collaborating with a couple of excellent guitar players - Mark Boardman and Tom Faver. This time, I was the singer, co-writer, bassist (usually fretless) and occasional acoustic guitar part contributor as we wrote and recorded nearly 3 albums worth of material. (I still find myself listening to some of the amazing music that resulted.) But IT contracting work eventually took me to Newark Delaware for a short period where I again frequented the open mikes, dusting off the acoustic solo act. For a time I was a guest lead (acoustic) guitarist for a husband and wife folk duo (whose names now elude me) and played a few live paying shows in this capacity. Work again dictated I move after less than a year had gone by, though.
I've left out some musical adventures at this point (like meeting Robert Fripp at one of his music seminars in West Virginia.), but I eventually ended up in South Carolina singing and playing second electric guitar with a "roadhouse" style blues band - Mojo Blue - whose claims to fame included being the local pick-up band for infamous Republican strategist Lee Atwater and who actually performed at the inauguration celebration for George Bush Sr. (These events transpired without my involvement, I must add.) This association also allowed me to form my first all-acoustic trio: A.R.E. (Acoustic Rock Ensemble) with Tony Scarano and Jim Scott, the singer/guitarist and bass player respectively from Mojo Blue. For a stretch of seven months or so, we were gigging up to 3 nights a week between the two bands. I'll also mention (strictly for the sake of name-dropping) that at the same time my two bands were playing the Columbia, SC club scene, another local band called Hootie and the Blowfish were playing the very same venues (dives) we were. But having met and married the girl of my dreams (a sweet southern belle) during this timeframe, I again made a decision to move to better the daytime gig prospects. The opportunity for improved employment again brought me back to the Northern VA area and I (sadly) left my old bands behind. Long hours kept music at bay for a time, but eventually I emerged to play again a little while after my twin daughters were born. I plied my solo acoustic trade at Zig's in Alexandria, playing in the bar with the foose-ball table handles poking me in the back. (Steve even sat in with me there one night, the record will show.) This experience convinced me I HAD to put another unplugged band together. The result was the original BugSnakeWilly with Bill "Willy" Nash. Bill's eventual departure didn't precipitate a name change (domain names cost money, after all!), but did give us an opportunity to bring a couple of other folks through the institution that BugSnakeWilly have become, including ex-Holly Figueroa guitarist Ray Fairbanks. Ray's departure to dedicate himself more to writing and recording (we're still on great terms, really!) provided us with the opportunity to have Phil Destefano join the band. Unfortunately, Phil has since departed - again under very amicable circumstances - leaving BugSnakeWilly a duo with a name of a trio. No matter - the music just keeps getting better. Bugs sings his heart out!
At the Horizon Music 
Festival 2003          
 

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