Gary Stuart King

I found a lot of biographies are written by people about themselves, but written in third person. This makes for boring reading and seems somewhat artificial. It really isn’t a very good way to get to know a person. I did write this autobio, but did it in first person. I hope it reads a little more real. So here goes.

One night at the age of 8 I was watching some TV show showing a guy playing trumpet and I decided to get one. Taking weekly lessons, I did several recitals and practiced a lot, but frankly, well, I sucked.

One night The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and I freaked. I thought Ringo was the coolest so I took up drums, and for 5 years, performed live gigs with bands starting at the age of 11. Years later, in 1968, in the same mind-altering day, a cousin of my good friend, George Dubose, turned George and I onto Jimi Hendrix and also the electric guitar. At the age of 16, I dropped drums and took up both acoustic and electric guitar. My friends also played and we started a garage band, and were playing live gigs at DC military bases and teen clubs, only because we weren't old enough to play in bars. The band played songs by The Doors, The Birds, Jeff Beck, Moby Grape, Chicago, Hendrix, Cream, Spirit, and so many others.

In 1970, after finally finishing high school and finding I wasn't going to Vietnam, another good friend/guitar buddy and I built a dual guitar based group specializing in integrated harmony guitar leads. We started playing clubs in the D.C. area, But like most bands, we folded, and I found myself moving from DC to Los Angeles (actually Venice Beach) to join several other musicians from the DC area, including Mad Mike Cullens. Jorge Strunz, even then a guitar virtuoso, was playing with a band called Spectrum from DC that sounded like King Crimson or The Mahavishnu Orchestra. I ended up getting lots of jam and lesson time with both Jorge and other musicians more experienced than I. Corea’s Return To Forever also released Hymn Of The 7th Galaxy and I was introduced to Bill Connors. My standards were raised in LA.

After two years in LA, my friends and I returned to DC and pursued separate paths. With lots of hard work (as every full-time bar band musician knows) I made a living playing in several local DC full-time cover bands, playing the Georgetown circuit at The Bayou, Crazy Horse, and The Paul Mall. After several years of this circuit, the band got an offer to play at a club on St. Croix for 3 months and then St. Thomas for another 3 months. The band had a blast but after 6 months we were all ready to get back to DC. I then played in a duo for several years in a lounge act while getting an Electronic Engineering degree. I was totally burned out on cover music, and checked out of the music scene for 4 years, moved to Palm Beach and worked as an engineer. It was there that I met a co-op engineer (and keyboardist) in the process of recording a song. In 1993, I collaborated with Eric Bragg in West Palm Beach to form The Garason Conspiracy. Together we created a CD called Glamour Shots, a co-written collection of songs with varying styles. The CD received great reviews, but Eric and I couldn’t tour to promote the music, so the CD never went far. In 2006 I decided to produce another CD that I called Life Of Its Own, my current CD. It features Mad Mike Cullens, who was kind enough to add the drum tracks so eloquently.

Several years ago I grew tired of ‘chasing other guitarists’, and I decided to “take what I had” in terms of chops and put the bits and pieces together into more of a style I can call my own.

This was my background and mindset for the creation of Life Of Its Own. My family and I now live in Cleveland and I am currently looking for a great keyboardist, drummer, and possibly bassist to make these songs come alive in performances.

Gear

Paul Reed Smith, Strat(s), Adamas/Ovation acoustic
Roland GR-33 guitar synth
Boogie Mark IV, Deluxe Reverbs
Recording studio equipment