Like any self respecting, music lovin’ Italian kid from “the Oranges,” I am the product of my environment... the instrument of choice... the accordion. Amidst ridicule from my Rock n Roll peers coupled with the disappointment of not detecting any accordion sounds in the Motown recordings of the day... I still persevered.

In addition to Motown, Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, and Four Seasons poured from the miniature speaker in my (pre boom box) plastic transistor radio. It was the early Sixties and much to my dismay playing the accordion becomes less and less cool. In a last ditch effort to defend my coolness, I point to Gary Lewis and the Playboys who had a small but signature riff in “This Diamond Ring” that was played on, of all things, a Cordovox Accordion. This does nothing to bolster my credibility.

Feeling the paradigm shift and realizing I am never going to get a girlfriend playing “Lady of Spain” on the accordion in my parents’ living room I set my sights on the Hammond B3 a la Young Rascals and Vanilla Fudge. Well things got good then things got better. I take to the road (Garden State Parkway) meet some great musicians and some even greater friends... too many to mention but you all know who you are. I am convinced I am living the good life playing covers at the Jersey Shore. Seems like only a few short years ago I was just one of those under age kids struggling to get a peek through the open door of the Chatterbox (Seaside Heights) at a band called The Green Men. (Was that kid next to me Wayne Brown?) Now to be playing the Chatter Box... ah sweet success!...I have arrived!

Well life gets in the way and playing in a band falls out of favor... I become Holmeless... fast forward to 2007... The Fuse invites me to join them and come back to the fold. My thinking is that some things are best left as a memory but Wayne is a hard guy to say no to so I agree. (Now I am convinced the kid next to me outside the Chatter Box was Wayne Brown!)

Everyone knows what a fabulous feeling it is to hear a great song... thanks Fellow Fuses for helping me remember what it feels like to play great songs.

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