Jake's Inspiration

This is an area that will probably get more and more added to it as time goes on. I want to use this area as a place to note musical influences, and also give special thanks to people and things that have expanded my horizons, given me vision, passion, and/or reason to create, and things I just feel like mentioning. Be prepared, there are a lot. =^)

Mom & Dad
I mean, where would I be without them? I grew up in a household where music was a constant. My dad played bass and guitar, my mom played some guitar and was an avid music lover. They kept me in plastic guitars (see pics) until I was 5, in strings after that, and from having to turn the volume down most all of the time. Between initial inspiration, and not keeping me from pursuing it later on, to them both I am eternally grateful for everything. I love you so much.

The Beatles
My first realm into actually learning music. After I received my first "real" guitar, my dad gave me 3 books. The first was "The Complete Chord Encyclopedia" (which I still have that copy), and "The Compleat Beatles" Vol 1 & 2. I learned every song. For a few years, Beatles' songs were all that I could play, and was almost all that I listened to. Despite the fact that I was in grade school at the time, and my tastes later developed and expanded out, I have still never "outgrown" The Beatles, and their music, performance, and writing ability still impress me and move me to this day. Overall, still the undisputed masters in my opinion.

Bands & Artists

(In no particular order)
The Beatles, Dream Theater, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Genesis, King's X, Extreme, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Queen, The Fixx, Symphony X, Queensryche, Mozart, Frank Zappa, Mr. Bungle, ELO, Boston, Journey, Van Halen, Pantera, Billy Joel, Rush, Weird Al Yankovic, Eric Johnson, The Cure, Elvis Costello, Living Colour, Primus, Infectious Grooves, Victor Wooten, Asia, Pink Floyd, ELP, King Crimson, Jim Croce, Hall & Oates, Duran Duran, Alice Cooper, The Cars, Corey Hart, Bloodrock, Steve Morse, No Doubt, The Police, U2, Steely Dan, The Moody Blues, The Monkees, Jimi Hendrix, GTR, Howie Day, 311, Alice In Chains, Psychefunkapus, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, The Who, Aerosmith, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Liquid Tension Experiment, Al Di Meola, Steve Hackett, Styx, That's That (NJ), Jethro Tull, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Foreigner, The Byrds, Santana, Evanescence, Deep Purple, Survivor, SRC, Galactic Cowboys, Lemur Voice, Madonna, Echolyn, Tool, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Nick Lowe, Kansas,
(...more to come, I promise =^) )


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