Lazy Pigs | ...biography    |    languages: german  czech

Born and raised in Louisiana, my music is heavily influenced by rhythm&blues, country and cajun music. I played in Lake Charles before moving to Lafayette, Louisiana, where I played in several folk venues. After graduating from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1980, I moved to Austin, Texas where I played in folk venues the first few years. I later hooked up with a punk band and played clubs in and around Austin. Between the years 1986 to 1990 I ventured south of the border into Mexico and Latin America and played in a reggae band and some gringo bars and restaurants. Upon returning to the states in 1990 I settled in Eugene, Oregon again playing folk venues and coffee houses. I played some solo gigs and as a duo with my friend Katie henry. Also some friends and I formed a jug band the Blues Bears and recorded an album with blues guitarist Tim Ryan.

In 1991 I left the states to travel in Europe. After traveling around a bit I landed in Prague. Eastern Europe was just opening up and it was a great time for street music. Playing on the Charles Bridge I met most of the musicians that later formed the Lazy Pigs and the Band of Jakeys.
There was : Bill Hangley Jr. - Philladelphia, Piotr Pope Jordan - Warsaw, Andrew Pitts - Los Angeles, Sean Condron - New York City, Matt Zabaku Fauvet - Paris, Rusty Miller - California, Tony Rose - Glasgow, Dalton Stansbury - Tennessee, Tomáš Vokurka - Prague and Gary Beach - Connecticut.

We played many pubs and festivals in Germany and the Czech Republic such as : Karl May Festival in Radebeul, Elbhangfest in Dresden, the Meissen Winefest, Ferrara Buskers Festival in Italy, Muza Festival, Krotoszyna, Poland and many others.
Well, places change and people move on but I stayed and continued to play and record. There´s a thriving bluegrass scene here and I´ve had the good fortune to connect with some really great players. The present line up consist of : Pepa Malina, Svatka Štěpánková, Tomáš Vokurka and guest players : Jakub Racek, Pavel Peroutka, Radek Hlávka and Zdeněk Jahoda. Jug band, bluegrass, country, rhythm&blues, swing, cajun and even reggae are some of the musical influences. Our sets consist of many originals, old and new with some standards and traditionals mixed in. Everyone brings a little something to the table and the joy of playing glues it all together.

I´ve been playing music for almost 30 years, from Lafayette, Louisiana to Austin, Texas, Eugene, Oregon to Mexico - and based in Prague since 1991 I´ve recorded 7 albums with the Lazy Pigs and the Band of Jakeys. Living in Central Europe I´ve retained an authentic American folk style and whether I´m playing at the kitchen table or on a stage, making music is what it´s all about.

'swingin´ hillbilly honky tonk folk country blues'