Growing up I always had music in my life….my mother who played piano and flute and still sings in the choir, started me on piano lessons when I was 6 and along the way I picked up the trumpet and guitar. For my twelfth birthday, my parents bought me a K-brand bass guitar and Kustom amp. This was all at the request of my best friend, who later was my best man and also has been my life long musical brother, Mark Mikel. The journey continued with my first live performance experience shortly after that birthday, playing House of the Rising Sun, Birthday by The Beatles and 25 or 6 to 4 at the Cherry Blossum Festival in Toledo, Ohio. As a band, Scott Tabner, Mark and myself played as a Kiss cover band that later branched into a 60's-70's cover band…..but always incorporated original music. The creative piece of what were doing always got the most focus of our musical energy, even as were just starting to find our voices.
As life progressed, I spent time growing up in Atlanta, playing in every musical opportunity I could in high school, including orchestra, and jazz ensemble; competing in state competitions and recording some original instrumental music in an Atlanta studio with some of my classmates. My journey eventually took me to Berklee College of Music.
At this time in my life, I met my soulmate, my muse and life began again with a bit of a different focus. Angie and I have now been together most of our lives and she still inspires me to this day….listen to Been There from my new release and you will get a glimpse of her inspiration.
Around this time, I reunited with Mark who had added a keyboard player and vocalist, Dan Rhyand and we performed as Marikesh in NW Ohio. There were always rehearsals in the basement, studio work and a big focus on orginal music. Singles were released got some radio airplay and then an album of all orginal music was released. Mark Mikel is absolutely a musical genius and an unmatched composer. He has only gotten a fraction of the recognition he deserves. In recent years, he has been recognized by individuals such as Mike Portnoy and Alan Parsons. Two of Mark's compostions are included on the Alan Parson's record From The New World.
Life again created change, I finished college left Marikesh and started a career, married my soulmate and started a family. Along the way life gave me two fantastic boys, who are now men in their own right, two dogs and many wonderful years of our own McCormack family adventures.
So I'll skip forward a bit in the musical part of my life. Thanks to a wife who always supported the music in me, she organized a Marikesh band reunion in Toledo, Ohio, for my birthday. Seeing the group really re-energized my desire to perform and to write original music again. Mark was gracious enough to include me in two theater shows that celebrated his career in music and featured his original music. Mark also was asked by Mike Portnoy to put a band together for the Progressive Nation at Sea cruise. Again, thank you Mark, for including me in the band and as always, the opportunities and the inspiration.
Having settled in Columbus, Ohio, I decided to join the local music scene. I started meeting and playing with local musicians. Thanks to the members of Monkey Rider and Karla Kay, among others, I got more and more opportunities eventually creating a permanent home with another musical brother Phil Gariety in his band Waterloo5. Again, a cover band that was incorporating originals, certainly a perfect fit for me. Phil and I still share ideas and eventually, we will put some music together for release. The band itself struggled to continue after Phil left and I was fortunate enough to meet another talented band leader, Tom Fitzgerald. His band Whiskey Would has been my home for the last 4+ years. And as fate would have it, Tom has had past success with an orginal jazz fusion band. Original music seems to find it's way into every opportunity I have had and continue to have.
As for this particular project, There Was a Time, started to take shape about a year ago. Having Protools, and a bit of a home studio, complete with keyboard, guitar and bass. I can give a demo a pretty good head start. When I got a few demos together I went looking for help to get them to a place where I would feel good about releasing a finished product. I found producer, Craig Durrance in June of 2023, and it was the spark I needed. I finished a couple of demos that Phil and I had started in his studio. I wrote There Was A Time and felt like I had something I wanted to share. Once I got the final mix of Easy Breezy, (the first completed song) finished with Craig, I knew that I could put something together that would represent my current place in my musical journey.
I am enjoying playing music every day, working in a great career and enjoying 4 grandchildren who remind me every day what life is and should be. I'm sure I have skipped over many of the good parts, but I am very happy to be where I am at this moment. I look forward to what the Whiskey Would experience will be; I look forward to creating more originals to share; and I look forward to sharing this music with my family and friends and anyone who enjoys what they hear.
Thank you.
Peace to all of you!