10 years

This month marks 10 years of touring for me. So much has happened in the past 10 years it boggles my mind and not to mention how much I've changed. Let's see, 10 years ago in June I was doing the stage lighting at a club in Hollywood to make ends meet while working on music. I was 23. The band Toto came through and I did their light show. They really liked my work and asked me to go out on the road with them. I had never done anything like that and remember lying in bed at night thinking, "should I go?" " No, I can't do that, I'll just say that I can't because of...." "maybe I could go??" Point being, I felt a lot of fear and was worried about taking a chance. I didn't want to fail and didn't know what I was up against. Not to mention, didn't know that much about the tech side of lighting (I just happen to have good timing because I'm a musician. Which, if you ask me is one of the most important aspect of lighting). One of those nights, I just said to myself, what do I have to loose?

I called up the production manager and said I'm in. I remember that plane flight to the east coast. 5 1/2 hours looking out the window thinking, what am I doing. It felt like the longest plane ride ever. I was so stressed out about the first show, working with people I hadn't worked with before, telling a whole lighting crew of people who were well beyond 15 to 20 years older then me what to do and the fear that they'd see right through me. Next thing I knew, the first show was over and the tour manager walked up to me and said, "great job, you're hired". After that, my experience with traveling was about to begin, and more then I could imagine. Started around the US and then Internationally. I gained experience quickly and started to gain respect with a lot of the lighting crews I worked with. Of course, that respect didn't come till after they saw my light show. It wasn't easy walking in being the youngest. A lot of times I would catch attitude but I had the confidence that I would do a great job and most importantly, the band gave me great support and that's all that really mattered. With in a year's time I found myself in Mexico City doing a light show for Toto when they opened up for Eric Clappton in a stadium for 53,000 people. From there I was all over the world, the list of countries goes on and on. An amazing eye opening experience for me.

When I was home between tour dates, I worked back at the club in Hollywood, studied flamenco guitar with Paco Arroyo and worked on practicing technique and songwriting. I was also able to hop on a few other tours as a lighting director between my touring with Toto. In 2004 Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra came through that same club and that's where I met OL for the first time. We kept in touch and I shared my music with him. It was in the summer of 05' that I was in the Netherlands with Toto when Ottmar contacted me about adding my music to his Listening Lounge (which eventually led to me being in the band!). And of course that's a whole other story for another time but some of those same fears came back. I didn't want to let him or myself down, this was a totally different situation and I was going to be on the other side of things. But this time things were different. I had the confidence from my lighting experience that taught me that I could do what ever I put my mind to. Music was my passion and I wasn't going to let myself down. For me, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. (no pressure there)

Anyway, getting back to touring, I finished my final tour with Toto last year (2008) ending up in Korea. There have been no Toto tour dates since. A lot of great memories with those guys. I keep in touch and look forward to hanging when we cross pathes again.


(above photo - My last light show with Toto in Korea)

I'm excited about what the future holds with my music adventures and the travels with Ottmar. The touring continues for me and it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 10 years. Looking back, 10 years doesn't really sound like a long time but it feels like lifetime ago. What I've learned is that it can be so hard to break out of your comfort zone, that's for sure. But looking back, I've only found that breaking out has pushed me through to bigger and better things. I'm sure glad I decided to make that call and take a chance.