Spiraling Notes: 
A Summary of Time through Music

I grew up in Georgia, where Blues Music is supreme.  The Blues forever rains and permeates the red-clay soil of the South. As the sodden water tables rises and the aquifers fill, The Blues puddles up on clay pans, fills the potholes, floods the delta; It washes over all people, of all walks of life who are born, come to stay, or just pass through the South. The Blues was King before Elvis and, it is because of The Blues, that Elvis is called “King.” 

In Atlanta, you can find joints like Fat Matt’s Rib Shack and, on any given night of the week, you can hear smokin’ hot guitar slingers and Blues singers.  As soon as I could drive, I would head out to places like Fat Matt’s, where a minor could get in.  Mesmerized, I would watch, study and listen to those great Atlanta Blues Players – soakin’ it ALL in.

As counterpoint to the ferociousness off the Blues, during my formative years, I also studied Jazz & Classical Music. I delved into the works of great Spanish composers and guitarist such as Francisco Tarrega, Fernando Sor and European masters such as Johann Sebastian Bach. Through playing works by these Master composers, I learned the nuances of fingerstyle guitar and gained a higher level of technical proficiency.

Later, at the University of Georgia in Athens, I deepened my study of great American Jazz composers such as Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker & Bill Evans.  

During my summer breaks from college, I would retreat to the Appalachia Mountains of North Georgia and western North Carolina.   I love those ancient mountains where I enjoyed rambling summers riding white water and guiding on the Nantahala, Ocoee and Chattooga rivers.  During my time in Appalachia, I got the chance to jam with some local Blue Grass musicians.  I remember tripping up over the fast rhythms.  Thankfully, one patient banjo player set my rhythm straight, “It's just like Bob Marley Music, but FASTER!” - down Down down Down…  I got it now.   

By twists and turns, I made my way to live in Sacramento, California.  There I wore my band leader hat and launched Michael Tobias and the Acidic Swamp Band.  I was fortunate to work with incredible musicians and give performances in SF Bay Area, Northern California, Sacramento Valley and the Sierras.  Some times we had great audiences, other times an empty room.  I played my heart out every show, regardless, and kept going, looking for the next musical peak.      

The earth shook.  Thunder rumbled and lightning struck the Sierra Mountains. The tectonic plates of life dove deep into the wells of creation; my first son was born. A fireball of energy and intellect.  Four years later, God commanded another birth song to be sung. Riding on thundering baritone notes, my second son, the peacemaker, had come.  

After my youngest was toddling about, My wife and I spiraled our way back to the Big Island of Hawai'i where we met earlier on and had lived for a time.  Now and everyday, My wife and I are grateful to have the opportunity to raise our boys here in Kona.  

I am so relieved and happy to be out performing, connecting with other musicians, and creating music again here on Hawai'i island.  I am truly inspired by the Hawaiian slack key guitar tradition, which impacts me as profoundly as the Blues music of my native Georgia.  The parrallels between the two art forms are as cosmic as the open guitar tunings they unknowingly share.  Here in Hawai'i, I have found an infinite creative spring.  I'm reaching in, connecting.  The sounds are all coming together - from you, from me, from everything.  Stop and listen.  Can you hear them?