Thanks to the following people…
My teachers
Rev. Patricia Dai-En Bennage, Gen Kelsang Norden, Anthony Stultz, Rev. Eko Little, Buddha
Friends & relatives, but especially…
Mom & Dad, My wife Audra, Justin & Ashley dePrisco, Dave Blackledge, Tom Dennehy, Mike Maguire, Steve Schrum & Dianna Bourke, Mike Kattner, Bill King (again the ONLY lighting man you need), Amethyst (Dave Avillion, Matt Mariano, & John Enama), Roger Schoch, The Isenbergs, John Hearity, Jim & Mary Rose Hearity, Pete Longo, Jason Palmer, David Booth, Jason Ramsland, Thom Greco, The Rainbow’s End, Karen Wisotzkey, Maria Wilson, Donna Gildner, Liz Hametz,. Danny Demelfi, Matt Homiak, Jim Nowak. Ed Debes, George Graham, Ian Anderson & Jethro Tull, and Tom Waits.
Companies & Organizations
Roland, Fender, Alesis, Microsoft, Avery, Cakewalk, Folk Alliance, CAD, ART, Sure, Wray’s, C&C Music & Ray Carb, Johnny Moratto, Journal Newspapers, School House Music and General Motors.Thanks to all the teachers & professors, musical & otherwise, co-workers past & present, and everyone who has encouraged me over the years.
About the title…
The title “Cadillacs & Tarantulas” came about long before the album was even in production. My friends and I play a little game where we try to come up with strange combinations of words that often lend themselves to band names or album titles. It doesn’t take much to get us going, and sometimes the results are rather off-color. We tend to automatically associate words that don’t necessarily go together.Rewind to 2000 when I was working at HealthAmerica in Harrisburg. One of the projects I was working on required assistance from a database programmer from Pittsburgh, Bob Shay. Bob came to Harrisburg for a few days to help me, and I got to know him a little bit during lunch breaks and drives to the office. Bob told me when he rented a car for the trip, he was looking for something small and practical. The car rental place was out of almost everything, and all they had was a big red 1999 Cadillac.Bob was married, had kids, and looked like your everyday computer programmer (whatever that is), but under the surface, Bob was quite interesting. He liked rock music and exotic animals. He told me about his menagerie of pets which included reptiles, birds and… you guessed it, tarantulas. The whole office was surprised on casual day when Bob rolled up his sleeves to reveal an arm-load of tattoos.So that’s the intellectual explanation, but what does it really mean? Well, I guess if I wanted to be metaphorical, I’d say that as an artist I’m trying to shed light on the things that are both practical and impractical. I’m also fascinated by the struggle between what we see every day and what lay beneath the exteriors of people’s lives. The characters in “Cadillacs & Tarantulas” aren’t perfect, and they aren’t always what they seem. Even my own perception of them has changed while making this recording. And I know that I have changed.Bob is probably still with the company, while I’ve moved on to other things. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to thank him for the inspiration.
The Cadillac Trademark is used with the required express written permission of General Motors.
