Douglas W. Ca.

I have always had a fond fascination of music from a young age.  Both of my parents were big into a wide variety of music and I was constantly being exposed to all kinds of different music for as long as I can remember.  My actual journey on the path of becoming a musician didn't begin until the age of 10 when I took up playing the alto saxophone in my elementary school band.  I played the sax until I was 13, and then stopped once I got to high school due to the demands of schoolwork. 

I was always still listening to music though and it was also around the age of 10 that I was exposed to the music that would captivate me for years to come, hard rock. 

It was at the age of 15 that I was introduced, by a friend, to the guitar.  A kid that I lived with in my new neighborhood played and once him and I became friends, anytime I went over to his house, he was playing the guitar.  After a few months of just listening, he began showing me some basics.  Simple things such as the strings and how they worked, power chords, and basic guitar chords.  All of this was enough to keep me busy for a few years, though, and I quickly fell in love with playing!  I was constantly working on my playing on my father's acoustic guitar and at the age of 20, I went out and bought my first Fender Squire.  My playing had improved considerably from when I had started and I had since began teaching myself anything I could get my hands on!  From Tablature, to scales, to modes, you name it, I studied it.  I was always buying new books on it.  I had also started fooling around with writing songs.  Although never having any formal training, I had read up on the matter considerably and just thought of it as fun to create my own songs, good or bad.

I was about 20 when I started auditioning for bands and it wasn't too long before I landed a spot as a guitar player in a local cover band. I decided to start my own band, I found a bassist and a drummer, took the position as guitarist and singer myself, and just started playing some of the songs I had written. We immediately had an impact on our local music scene and just started playing shows everywhere and anytime we could! We played many of Pittsburgh's top venues, did some small time touring, released a 4 song, self produced, EP,  had pro management and signed a distribution deal.