I had received a guitar for Christmas when I was 12, but the difficulty with getting my hands around the neck and the trauma of the piano kept me at bay. It wasn't until I was forced to get rid of my drum kit that I began any real attempts at playing the thing. At first, I would simply tune the strings to the notes that I wanted, and then simply plucked the stings. I slowly began fretting notes, and before long, I figured out my basic chords. I was then merrily playing whatever I wanted, and was fairly content playing guitar for fun, just for my own leisure.

Record labels just don't shut their doors, and A&M's demise sent shockwaves through Nashville. All the other labels began clearing their rosters, and getting signed to a label became a difficult task for any kind of new talent. We continued to showcase for other labels including Warner Bros., MCA, and Curb, but it seemed that the timing was just not right. Frustration set in, and Southfire gigged its last in July of 1997.

After that, I split my time with bands on a completely different bent. In October 1999, I re-united with Michael, Michael's brother Marty, and Danny in a band known as Groove Bucket. Throughout the year we gigged virtually all over the Mississippi Delta, gaining a large and loyal following and a reputation as a party band. Check out some of the party pics and see who was groovin' with us. As of the beginning of the Fall school semester (2000), I relegated my Groove position to brother Simon Williams, who continues to lay down the funk. Uncle Sideshow was another group of incredibly talented musicians from Nashville that have become great friends of mine, and I was lucky to sit in and play whenever they were in town, and I made several trips to TN to add to their musical mix. Uncle Sideshow recorded a major 4-song demo in October 2001 at Emerald Studios in Nashville with veteran producer Jim Cotten (Grateful Dead, Dr. Hook, etc.) at the controls, and that ball continues to gain momentum. I was lucky enough to get my 2 cents in, and sang back-up vocals on 2 of the tracks. Unfortunately, the brass ring eluded them as well, and it wasn't too long before the split up to persue individual interests, although all the guys are all still playing in one form or another.

As for me, I started gigging again regularly in 2002, putting together a 3-man band here in town, doing all kinds of stuff acoustically in a group called Curious George. I played 12-string and 6-string acoustic, occasional lap steel, and sang; Jamie Blanton was on 6-string guitar and sang; and Walton Jones was on piano, mandolin, lap steel, and rounded out the vocals. After Jamie graduated from MSU in the summer of 2002 and moved to Baton Rouge, I started doing a 1-man show. Things really picked up, and I was gigging virtually every weekend between Starkville, Columbus, and Tupelo for 2 years straight. After getting married and having my son JT born in 2005, I went into semi-retirement as I adjusted to life as a family man.

Now that things have somewhat settled here in our new life in Ocean Springs, I've jump-started the music bus it's beginning to take on a life of it's own. I've played regularly at VIBE, one of the restaurants at the Hard Rock Biloxi, since December 2007. Jamie and Walton have joined me for a few gigs as a 2-man and 3-man show. In March 2008. I formed the band 12-90 with Jamie on lead guitar and former Uncle Sideshow members Carl Shankle on bass and Eric DiNenna on dums. We'll start gigging ath the Center Bar at the Hard Rock Biloxi in April, so stay tuned...