I have always been interested in music since when I was little, but probably it was when I was living in Los Angeles (78-80) that I really got into listening to music. At that time I was mainly into rock such as Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Cheap Trick, The Who, etc., but around the same time I also listened to Elvis a lot which may have been my first music that is close to Blues.

When I was 15, I wandered into the Blues world by trying to trace the roots of Eric Clapton. I looked for the records of the Blues artists he had covered (ie. Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, and many others) and fell in love with them right away. From then on I guided myself deeper into the Blues and never looked back. In 1984, I went to see John Lee Hooker when he toured Japan, and that was the first live Blues that I experienced. It was a thrill to see the living legend, and that made my interest in the Blues even stronger.

I got my first guitar at age 15, but it was when I was 17 that I really started to play it. I heard the album "Freddy King Sings" and was facinated by Freddie's simple yet exciting guitar licks, and I just had to play some myself. I still may be at the beginner's level, but I very much enjoy playing.

Maybe I am a little weird since I joined the symphony orchestra (I played viola) when I got into college instead of doing something relating to Blues music. Well, I am basically interested in every type of music, and I didn't want to limit myself to playing (or listening to) just one type. Probably I was an outlaw in the orchestra, but my attempt to play boogie with my viola never went that far...

After graduating from college in 1989, I started to work for computer related companies and also began to write music articles for magazines and records companies. The magazines I've written for include Blues & Soul Records, Music Magazine, Guitar Magazine, Real Blues (Canada), and Record Collectors. I also had the pleasure to write a short note in a Blues article of LIFE magazine in the U.S.