Thanks to the following people... My teachers
Rev. Patricia Dai-En Bennage, Gen Kelsang Norden, Anthony Stultz,
Rev. Eko Little, Buddha
Friends & relatives, but especially...
Mom & Dad, My wife Audra, Justin & Ashley dePrisco, Dave
Blackledge, Tom Dennehy, Mike Maguire, Steve Schrum & Dianna
Bourke, Mike Kattner, Bill King (again the ONLY lighting man you
need), Amethyst (Dave Avillion, Matt Mariano, & John Enama),
Roger Schoch, The Isenbergs, John Hearity, Jim & Mary Rose Hearity,
Pete Longo, Jason Palmer, David Booth, Jason Ramsland, Thom Greco,
The Rainbow's End, Karen Wisotzkey, Maria Wilson, Donna Gildner,
Liz Hametz,. Danny Demelfi, Matt Homiak, Jim Nowak. Ed Debes, George
Graham, Ian Anderson & Jethro Tull, and Tom Waits.
Companies & Organizations
Roland, Fender, Alesis, Microsoft, Avery, Cakewalk, Folk Alliance,
CAD, ART, Sure, Wray's, C&C Music & Ray Carb, Johnny Moratto,
Journal Newspapers, School House Music and General Motors.Thanks
to all the teachers & professors, musical & otherwise, co-workers
past & present, and everyone who has encouraged me over the
years.
The title "Cadillacs & Tarantulas" came about long
before the album was even in production. My friends and I play a
little game where we try to come up with strange combinations of
words that often lend themselves to band names or album titles.
It doesn't take much to get us going, and sometimes the results
are rather off-color. We tend to automatically associate words that
don't necessarily go together.Rewind to 2000 when I was working
at HealthAmerica in Harrisburg. One of the projects I was working
on required assistance from a database programmer from Pittsburgh,
Bob Shay. Bob came to Harrisburg for a few days to help me, and
I got to know him a little bit during lunch breaks and drives to
the office. Bob told me when he rented a car for the trip, he was
looking for something small and practical. The car rental place
was out of almost everything, and all they had was a big red 1999
Cadillac.Bob was married, had kids, and looked like your everyday
computer programmer (whatever that is), but under the surface, Bob
was quite interesting. He liked rock music and exotic animals. He
told me about his menagerie of pets which included reptiles, birds
and… you guessed it, tarantulas. The whole office was surprised
on casual day when Bob rolled up his sleeves to reveal an arm-load
of tattoos.So that's the intellectual explanation, but what does
it really mean? Well, I guess if I wanted to be metaphorical, I'd
say that as an artist I'm trying to shed light on the things that
are both practical and impractical. I'm also fascinated by the struggle
between what we see every day and what lay beneath the exteriors
of people's lives. The characters in "Cadillacs & Tarantulas"
aren't perfect, and they aren't always what they seem. Even my own
perception of them has changed while making this recording. And
I know that I have changed.Bob is probably still with the company,
while I've moved on to other things. Hopefully, I'll have a chance
to thank him for the inspiration.
The Cadillac Trademark is used with the required express written
permission of General Motors.
