What Musicians have influenced you?

- Jennie Marie

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Well, I have a LOT of influences. I've listed a bunch on this site in various places, but I'll try to do a quick pertinent summation.

Initially, I guess my father. He played bass, and that made me want to play ever since I was a baby.
After that, my main inspiration was The Beatles. For a few years, that was all I listened to.
Then I branched out into other classic/progressive rock. Main ones there were Boston, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Genesis, and many more.
Soon after that I got into some 80s stuff as well such as The Fixx, Prince, Van Halen, Elvis Costello, and LOTS more.
Somewhere in here I have to mention my school music teachers as well, Steven Kane, Dr. William Jarvis, Hal Finnerty, B. David Wyatt, John Pepe, Jane Erickson, Jim Jameson, & Lew Dexter.
The next wave after that began with the solo/shredder types such as Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, & Joe Satriani. I also became interested in King's X and Extreme.
The big break was discovering Dream Theater. This was in 1994 and really changed me in a positive way. This led me to really explore lots of new stuff, open my eyes and broaden my horizons musically. Also really made me want to focus on my craft and style.
Since then, I've also been influenced a lot by Symphony X, and lots of other random bands in various genres.
Most recently, I've been more influenced by the musicians I've encountered and worked with in person. Most notably, Chuck DelHierro, Shaun Ferris, Dessajo, Vince LuPone, James Borgese, John Trainello, Mike Pignataro, and lots of my students.