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The Journey of a Career

A Very Brief History

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However, those cheap, non-replaceable heads on my first kit barely lasted the year until I received my next kit on Christmas 1967 — with replaceable heads!  I can still feel the excitement of that morning. The same feeling that I still get every time I walk into my studio.

My journey with drumming began at age five, as seen in these photos showcasing my glorious Christmas gift and giving my first performance for dinner guests on Christmas day 1966. It was the start of an incredible journey that would shape and re-shape my life time and time again.

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Fast forward to 1980. Upon graduating from high school I knew that I wanted a career in music. However, I felt at 18 years of age that I might starve to death if I was to head to Los Angeles or New York. So, I decided to allow myself to mature a bit and save some money before embarking on a music career and I joined the United States Air Force.

After basic training I entered a 26 week technical training school, where I excelled at such a level of performance that I was asked to remain at the school as an instructor upon completion of my schooling. I was then sent to a 28-week Air Force Instructor Training school where I received intensive training. By the time I was 19 years of age I was a full-blown Air Force Training Command instructor, spending the remaining three years of my 4-year hitch teaching. This teaching gig also allowed me to have my drum kit, as I was able to live off base. This gave me four more years to sharpen my skills on the kit. 

When my 4-year hitch in the USAF was up, I declined reenlistment, was honorably discharged and headed for Los Angeles to start my career in the music & entertainment industry, which is a very long 30-year story that that I am going to forgo for now, but which led me to the wonderful life I lead today.

Although I was fortunate enough to retire at the age of 48, my experience as an entrepreneur dates back to the late 1970’s when I was in high school and started building road cases for myself (a drummer) and other musician friends who couldn’t afford to buy road cases from manufacturers. After graduating from high school and joining the USAF, I continued building road cases to make extra cash, including building cases for the training wing that I was assigned to in the Air Force.

Upon leaving the Air Force and relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a music career, I continued to build road cases for other musicians, including custom bass guitar cases for Joe Zon Guitars, in order to supplement my finances as a working drummer. I eventually officially formed my own case company, LTC Manufacturing, Inc, which I later sold to a competitor (now defunct) for a hefty profit as I became too busy as a touring drummer to properly maintain the operation.

To condense this story, let me abbreviate by stating that over the years I have been involved in numerous and profitable business ventures. Most notably, these ventures have included the rock & roll clothing line Amplified Threads that was purchased and absorbed by EMP Merchandising out of Germany in 1991 (now owned by Warner Music Group). 

Two other entrepreneurial projects that I am very proud of are DIY Road Cases® and Crepe Expectations®.  

DIY Road Cases® was an all-encompassing instructional system for building road/flight cases that I founded in 2006. Aside from the instructional programs I also partnered with one of the largest case parts and materials manufacturers in the world who made all the parts and materials sold on my online store, which made DIY Road Cases® a one-stop shopping entity for do-it-yourselfers around the globe. I eventually licensed my concept to other case parts providers and then sold DIY Road Cases® in 2018 to one of the largest case companies in the world. If you click here, or simply Google "diy road cases", or "build your own road case" you'll see that my creation is still very much alive and well today.

I also created, founded and operated the well-known restaurant Crepe Expectations® in Las Vegas along with my chef wife in 2010. , which was featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins & Dives and in numerous high-profile food publications. We sold the restaurant in 2016, but to this day Crepe Expectations still maintains a 5-star rating across every travel and food website, as well as on Google Reviews, and is a destination of visitors from all over the world that travel to Las Vegas. If you click here, or simply Google "crepe expectations" you'll see how well-regarded and popular it still is today.

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I haven't toured or worked much in commercial recording studios since I retired at 48 years of age. But by that time a lot had changed technology-wise and I was able to continue working on select projects from my home studio during my retirement.

This has also allowed me to concentrate on teaching, motivational speaking and my passion for creating art, soooo, maybe not so retired LOL.

Me, my wife and our pets lead a quiet & peaceful life at our lakeside home in Mexico.

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