I grew up in a musically schizophrenic household.

Dad's favorite singer is George Jones, and he is a big fan of Hanks Sr. & Jr., Waylon & Willie & the boys, Johnny Cash and others of that ilk.
He would also buy odd little albums or cassettes by the sidemen of better-known artists (like a solo album by George Jones' fiddle player or some obscure banjo player who once backed up Mark O'Connor). I think that influenced me to give anything a spin or two--which has led me to some offbeat gems. 
He also loved 50's rock & roll--Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Fats Domino, performers of that era/genre.
Oddly enough, he would latch on to the occasional pop song or pop singer and wear that LP or 45 out. He has the Supreme's "Love Child" album and went out and bought Elton John's "Nikita" single...both of which mix so well with George Jones (sarcasm font).

Mom listened to what dad did, but add in the Top 40 country of the time (1970's) and the Stax/Volt and Atlantic southern soul stuff. She had (I stole) an original pressing of Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay" album. That disc had a profound effect on me, as did all the Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Booker T & the MGs albums.
To add to the confusion, her two favorite singers are Ernest Tubb and Nat "King" Cole...now, that's a pairing!

My (6-years-older) brother freaked over Waylon Jennings, the Eagles, Alabama and the occasional rock artist--usually country-rock, though. He also had a fixation on Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. 
He loved anything with boogie-woogie piano (he used to be a pretty salty piano player in his youth), and loved ragtime jazz. He quit playing when he got married (I think his wife was worried he would go play in bars, and the resulting temptations of women, etc., would be present). It makes me cringe--he was just an amazing natural at that instrument. Now, with arthritis and  cellulosis (I think that's what it's called) in his hands, I don't know if he could play if he wanted to.

As I grew older, I always gravitated towards blues or bluesy songs. I picked and chose through my family's favorites, and usually ended up with a weird mix of blues, rock, soul and outlaw country.

When I was fourteen, I first heard side 1 of disc 2 of the Stones' "Love You Live" album, I was in heaven--blues, rock and other stuff. It was the first time I had ever heard "Little Red Rooster", which later was the first song I ever learned to play on slide guitar. I learned that "Mannish Boy" was written by somebody named McKinley Morganfield, so I searched until I found that he was also called "Muddy Waters" (it was harder to do research back then with no computers or Internet). I started checking out and buying blues albums with every dollar I could scrape up.
My  first true blues album was "Hard Again." I undoubtedly drove my parents insane with that disc and the Chess "Best of Muddy Waters" LP...although they dug it, too.

After that, it continued a steady diet of blues, jazz, Rolling Stones and 50s/60s rock...as the late 80s/early 90s approached, Texas Blues and the whole Austin scene dominated my listening and playing. I rediscovered my love of outlaw country in my early 30's (around 2000) and added that into my repertoire as well.

Nowadays, I'm as musically schizophrenic as my household was when I was a child.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

It's probably a miracle that I became a rock/blues musician as my parents met in church, he was the choir director and when she moved into town for a teaching postion she also became the church organist.I grew up being bombarded with hymns and sacred music, so maybe my being drawn to rock was a form of rebellion.

One thing that my parents exposed me to that I supposed gave me a penchant for the blues,and that was bringing home several records of what was then called "negro spirtuals" and I would listen to songs like "Mary Don't You Weep","Joshua F'it the Battle of Jericho","Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and others,so I guess that the blues was the natural next step.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.