A Look Back

As A Drummer,

percussionist, lead and background vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, executive producer and managing partner. I’ve had the privilege of wearing a number of hats in this business. These are some the projects I’ve been fortunate enough to have contributed to.

Where Do I Start With Atlantic Starr?

Atlantic Starr is my music heart and professional home. It’s ground zero for me. I couldn’t be more proud of what we did. I’ve always called it “community action at its best”. Hometown friends and family found a way out of my mother and father’s basement and onto an international stage for over 40 years. As a child full of dreams, I would sign up for this reality any day. It’s clearly the most gratifying professional experience I’ve encountered because we’re all products of the great, southern migration from humble families and started with next to nothing.

Little did I know, that when I asked my first great friend in life (and brother), Clifford Archer, along with Sheldon Tucker and Ronnie Watson to join me in restarting our little boy band, The Cyclones with a name change to Newban with Duke Jones, Joey Phillips, Conserve Thomas, Donald Brown and shortly afterwards, Jonathan Lewis, did I know it would morph into one of the most successful R&B/Pop bands of a decade.

My cousin, Sharon Bryant, Wayne and David Lewis, Billy Suddereth, Koran Daniels and our Straight Outta’ Compton Brotha’, Damon Rentie made my dream of creating a successful neighbor band come true. I love Sharon and my guys! I thank each member (past and present) from the bottom of my heart. The highs and lows of this endeavor converted these hometown, amateur kids into world class professionals and that’s what community is all about. Teaching kids how to build and grow.

For me, the effort and commitment to each other was, and still is bigger then the great music we all created together. May God continue to bless us and our families.

As A Songwriter

I had ride or die engineers. The demoing process is the second but most critical stage in songwriting for presentation. That’s where you find out if what you’ve written will amount to anything. Patience from those who are recording you is paramount because it’s all about first draft, trial and error. Ray Bardani, Wayne Warnecke and Iris Cohen recorded countless hours of my songs. I can’t thank them enough for putting up with my searches for the perfect 3 minutes. Flushing out ideas can get pretty messy at times. They were all great pros and dear friends of mine.

E’on Productions

Rick Gallwey (and silent partner, Paul Smith) was rhythm and vocal production personified. We made a business of pre-pre production. We taught new artist (sent to us by major labels and production companies) how to record in pain steaking detail. Loved every minute of our work and brotherhood.

Working With My Dear Friends

Michael Colina, Bob Baldwin, Eliot Lewis, Nina Ossoff, Jeff Frenzel, David Gamson, Barry Eastmond, Lenny White, Cathy Block and David Frank helped me write the songs that appear on these albums. I’m so grateful for what they shared with me.

I want to thank

John Cartwright, Dennis Armstead, Malcolm Addey, Bobby Eli, James Carmichael, Cal Harris and Earl Cole. These 7 guys were hands on managers, producers and engineers that spent so much of their time teaching me during our first 7 albums and formative years. They all taught me how to make contributions to these recordings. Graciously, I continue to draw from their teachings today.

My Go-To Studios

Owners: Tom Cimillo at Minot Sound, Wayne Warnecke and Vaneese Thomas at Wayne’s World and our very cool shared studio space with Chip Taylor, Tony Mercadante, Rick Gallwey and Sharon Bryant. Thank you for sharing those sacred music laboratories.

For A Time

I did recording and jingle session after session with great background vocalists. Sharon Bryant, Vaneese Thomas, Sherri Hoffman, Fonzy Thornton, James (D-Train) Williams, Curtis King, Dana Calitri, Daryl Tokes, Leslie Miller, LaJaun Carter, BJ Nelson, Will Downing and my good friend, Dennis Collins. They all put up with my silliness on these recordings.