Joe's History

As a child, Joe was a ventriloquist. He performed throughout the greater St. Louis area with his dummy. His family moved to Covina, California when he was twelve. He traded out his dummy for a guitar and was soon performing all over Southern California. His trio, The New California Trio opened for The Smother's Brothers at The Icehouse in Pasadena and performed on Saturday afternoons in The Hollywood Bowl.

During High School

Joe's high school drama teacher had connections with the Pasadena Playhouse and managed to get Joe and a few of his classmates into special classes there. Agnus Moorehead, Endora from the TV show Bewitched was Joe's acting coach.

The Hollywood Bowl Battle of The Bands

The Happy Rock Folk Society took first place in The Battle of The Bands competition at The Hollywood Bowl. It was here that Joe met Karen and Richard Carpenter. The Richard Carpenter Trio took first place in the Jazz Combo division.

Military

From a machine gun to a guitar. Fortunate circumstances.

Solid Gold

Joe's Band, Solid Gold traveled the country and throughout Canada. They performed on the rising stage at Disneyland, the band opened for Waylon & Willie at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and recorded for K-TEL Records - Sound-Alikes '50s on 8-track tapes. They reached The Billboard Top 30 with "My Share of The Sidewalk" written by Michael Nesmith of The Monkeys.

American Recording Studio - Denver

After touring with Solid Gold Joe built his "American Recording Studio" in Denver. Joe engineered for popular bands of the day such as Firefall, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Air Supply when they would have dates in town. Joe caught the voice acting bug from Robert Redford after recording the actor's narration of the mountain climbing documentary "Free Climb".