DIVINE DEBUT

I was already playing in quite a few bands as the main guitarist, when I decided to form a band of mine own and focus more on own music. I felt an urge to follow the vision I had as a teenager to be on stage with a large band, singing and playing the songs that I wrote. The name 'Blues Divine' came as I was improvising singing at a festival. A lady from the audience encouraged me saying:
- You sing that DIVINE BLUES!!
And I thought to myself: "That's it! That's the name of the band!! BLUES DIVINE!!"
The band was assembled from friends. We've played together for years and known each other from many other bands, concerts, recording sessions. The songs on the album go beyond the 12-bar blues format. I have introduced a lot of other sounds I like. There is gospel, funk, jazz, rock. And, the lyrics also go beyond the typical blues mood. I wanted it to be uplifiting, inspiring, danceable and sexy.

PALEO STORY

The idea for this CD came to me, when I was living in Santa Cruz. I began to feel like I was overdue to make a CD. The first song I recorded what called: 'In your arms'. Shortly after that, I made the move to Los Angeles and began working on the album with other songs that I had in my mind for years. When I went to Spain in 2000, I was inspired by the flamenco music that I heard. I bought a flamenco guitar and came back to my Spanish guitar roots. The next year I went to Egypt with a group from Agape Church in California, and wrote several of the songs on the CD, when I was there. I also bought an oud, which I use on the album. Some Brasilian friends helped me with a song that I had written many years ago, while I was living in Rio.
Recording the album was a challenge, as I had to learn a lot technically. Most of it, I recorded myself in my home studio. Today, I am very proud of it. It was worth waiting for. Paleo is to me a 'distillation' of the sweetest essence of the travels I did in Europe, in Africa and South America. The people, the impressions from Spain, from Brasil. The beauty of those passionate and romantic cultures coming in a distilled elixir. I am one of those people.

MY FIRST SONG

There was a lot of good music on the radio in the 60s, when I grew up. Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The Yard Birds, Jefferson Airplane. I would have the radio on, as I was making models in the garage. When I was a teenager, I played folk songs in the Washington Cathedral with some other boys that were in the group with me. That built my reportoire. We sang Bob Dylan songs, gospel, spirituals, traditional. I got my first steel string guitar at that point. A Harmony 12-String. My fingers got really strong!!
I never thought of making a musical carreer. I didn't think of career at all!! I just loved to play music, enjoy with friends.
Around this time, I was introduced to spirituality - as a seperate thing than religion. A girlfriend of mine gave me the book 'Be Here Now', which opened a whole world of mysticism, meditation, and a journey of self-awareness. I learnt how to meditate and began practicing yoga. I got exposed to Indian music. I actually heard Ravi Shankar play in the Washington Cathedral. In that time, I also was exposed to blues and jazz - through my friends at school; and started playing in bands.
I composed the first song, when I was 12 or 13 years old. We were still living in the house on River Hill Road, in Louisville, KY.
It was a song about waking up and thinking about a girlfriend. How happy I was to see her. And, I remember - when I wrote that, I was hit by doubts: "Everybody writes songs likes this! So many songs are out there in the world already! What's the point of writing one more?"

BABY STEPS

I remember when I first held the guitar. My teacher was from Bulgaria. His name was Basil Gural. He was a simple, kind man. Very patient. He gave me the guitar to hold and it felt strong, felt great. Holding the guitar... Strange, exciting - New World sitting on my lap. I was eight then. My teacher wasn't a great guitaris, but he was a great teacher. He taught me how to pull the strings, how to use my fingers in the classical manner and how to read music.
My mother, always a lover of the arts, enrolled me in the lessons after I told her I wanted to play the guitar. It was my uncle however that was the artistic type in the family. He played the piano and sang often in our home. So, here on the photo you can see him holding me, when I was a toddler.
I didn't practice as much as I should. I was a kid. Loved the music, but loved my bike and playing army outside with my friends. My mom was there sewing, when I would practice sometimes, so I tried to be very diligent. It just seemed to take such a long time to get as good as I wanted to be.