tresero

Billings, MT, USA

Early Influences I started playing guitar when I was 7 years old and haven't looked back since. After I had some facility with the guitar I started listening to a lot, and I mean a lot, of progressive rock and fusion. My early influences were early Genesis, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, and of course ELP and Yes. I also listened to a LOT of Frank Zappa and even got to play with him in 1978 (I will write a post about that sometime, but it is R rated). I loved Mahavishnu Orchestra and that got me into Paco DeLucia and Flamenco music along with the Phrygian major mode! I also tried to keep up with Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour. I didn't grow up in a vacuum of eclectic tastes though and also listened to most of the rock at the time. I listened to a lot of southern rock and blues players like Duane Allman and Johnny Winter as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd. On the metal side, I remember doing takedowns (long before I knew what a takedown was) of Black Sabbath. Oh, and did I mention Cuba!