"The first group to have whisked my musical spirit away was the Beatles. Their perfect harmonies combined with lyrics laced with eternal optimism seemed to dove tail perfectly with the innocence of growing up.

While neither of my parents would consider themselves musicians, they both dabbled in either the piano or the guitar. My father could play Christmas songs proficiently on the piano, and my mother, who learned to play basic guitar, used to sing to us ballads and country songs. Around the age of eight or so, I developed a love for the guitar. Up through high school I took lessons, studying jazz mostly. It wasn’t until about four years ago, though, that I combined my love of songwriting, singing and performing to become, what they call, a singer/song writer.

The guitar is the instrument that I can play with real conviction. One of the reasons that I was drawn to the guitar came from loving groups like the Allman Brothers, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and the Doobie Brothers who all in one way or another used the guitar for both rhythmic and chord harmony.

The basic rock drive in Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the water” got me out to get the album.

I get my inspiration to create music from a variety of sources, ranging from poetry to literature, to religion and other music. The song writing process itself starts off as either a single thought, or emotion and builds from there. Or, I will find a sound I like and back into a set of lyrics that would fit the music.

The best part of being a musician is being able to indulge in the never ending, movable feast which is music."

Willy was born in San Antonio, Texas and currently lives outside of Washington, D.C.