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CS: On the one hand, I got my own room. On the other hand, I had respect for women beat into
me at a young age. I was exposed to music more from my sisters than my parents. My middle
sister turned me on to rock and roll like Van Halen, AC/DC, Cheap Trick and Foreigner.

LL: Was anyone in your family musical?

CS: Not my parents, but it wasn’t until years later I found out my grandfather on my Dad’s side
played Portuguese music with ukuleles,
mandolins and guitars every Saturday
night for years. My other grandfather was
a square dance caller, and I have several
recordings of his calling dances. My
mother claimed he couldn’t carry a tune
in a bucket, but he could sure call a dance!
I guess my love of music skipped a
generation!

LL: You went off to San Diego State
University to get your BS in Business.
Was it the healthy blues music scene
in San Diego that introduced you to, or
interested you in the blues?

CS: Actually, it was more the roots rock
scene that had a big impact. The Paladins,
The Blasters, The Beat Farmers, and The
Forbidden Pigs drew me down to San
Diego, not the fact that SDSU was
supposedly the #1 party school. I was
fortunate to take my first vocal class and other music classes while I completed my degree. Also,
I freelanced for the school paper, and was inspired by a meeting backstage with Stevie Ray
Vaughan after his concert a year or so before he passed. The music scene was very healthy in San
Diego at the time.

LL: Let’s talk a bit about your musical career path please. You started out on the bass guitar.
Would you tell us about the bands you played in as a bassist, your transition to guitar, and
to singer/songwriter artist please?

CS: In college I was in a cover trio named “The Sketchtones” and after college played bass for
rockabilly band “The Hooligans”. After that, I made the commitment to only play blues. I joined
the Mississippi Mudsharks for a year, and then started my first band as lead vocalist and bassist
for “The Boogiemen” a quartet with harmonica, bass, guitar and drums. We were together over
a decade, and I was the principal songwriter and vocalist. in 2010, I realized that in order to
better write music, I needed to learn guitar. I knew some chords, but guitar lessons with Robin
Henkel was what really set me on my path.

LL: “Damn Good And Ready” is your 5th CD release. What was your vision and concept for
the album and what was your recording process like?

CS: After finishing recording our last album (”Serve It To Me Hot”) at Greaseland, I made a late
drive on a Friday home from the Bay Area to home in San Diego. Late Saturday morning, I woke
up, and over my coffee I wrote ‘High Ballin’ Train’ in about 10 minutes. I had to look up what it
meant, turns out the signal that a track is clear for maximum speed a ball raised high on the signal.
Not quite sure how I knew that, or if I did! The song really set the tone for my writing, as I write