My theory on equipment is, start with a great instrument and keep things simple. As much as possible, represent the sound of the instrument without modification. My main guitar is a Taylor 710 Ltd. cutaway. I have always liked the big dreadnought sound. This guitar has done a wonderful job for both performance and recording. The Taylor is on all tracks of The Journey and 2 or 3 tracks of Stories.

For live performances I use an EMG under the saddle pickup and a Fishman Rare Earth blend pickup (sound hole and mic). These pickups are connected to a stereo endpin. A stereo cable allows me to run both of these into a RNC 1773 compressor (RNC stands for Really Nice Compressor...well named and at a very reasonable price!) From the compressor the Fishman pickup is run into a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ direct box. The EMG pick up is run into an LR Baggs direct box (Para Acoustic DI). From the direct boxes the signal goes straight into my Centaur Acoustic amp (this workhorse has a 15" speaker and 2 tweeters). I add a touch of reverb with the amp. Both direct boxes have equalization but I normally keep them pretty flat, just dialing out any standing tones that a room may have.

For recording "Stories" Kevin Ryan loaned me one of his Grand Mission cedar tops. This wonderful instrument was extremely responsive with exceptional tone. Kevin let me work with it for several weeks prior to recording. At one gig in the middle of "The Unexpected Stranger" I had an almost out of the body experience. Apparently I hit some sort of sweet spot in the guitar. It felt as though the whole body...neck through endpin...was vibrating...as though the instrument had come to life. When I opened my eyes I expected to see the blue sky and billowy clouds of heaven rather than Borders Café!