September 22, 2017. That was the date of my last official paying gig as a professional musician. After that, I relocated to Philadelphia and took the longest hiatus of my career.
Seven years…it’s amazing it’s been that long. Over time I’ll be able to offer more details as to why I made this tough decision. Having said that, this time away allowed me to establish my new roots in Philly and to focus on being a dad and family man, while simultaneously giving me the chance to recharge and ultimately figure out where my place was with music.
During this time I still continued to listen and watch live music, as well as write my own stuff, but on my own time with no real rush. My dips back in the professional music scene were small – here a sit-in with Electric Avenue at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, there at Atlanta’s Terminal West for Brandon Kunka’s wedding reception. I even played a few songs with my old band Bumpin’ the Mango the weekend I came back to Atlanta for Tommy Talton’s Celebration of Life.
Which leads me to Tommy…
We hadn’t talked that much since my departure, but around the summer of 2023 he was having some website issues and we reconnected via text messages. As most of you know, Tommy passed on to the next life in late 2023, but not before sending me one final text that summer, saying: “Don’t leave the music behind. You have too much to offer.”
Little did I know how much that text would have an impact on me. It was enough to where I made a 2024 New Year’s resolution – before the year ended I would, finally, release some new music. Somehow, some way. Something.
I’m happy to report that I just recently fulfilled that resolution.
I have officially released my first track called Soul Machine, under The G-Factor name. You can check out that track below. It was originally intended to be a Mango song, but I’ve now taken it and made it my own. Everything you hear, from the instruments to the mixing, was done by me, except for the mastering – done by Scott Kornblatt of KornyBallMusic.
But that’s not all. You will be excited to know that I have about a half-dozen other songs I’ve been working on that are close to being release-ready, and my goal is to start releasing those tracks in early 2025.
Where do things go from here? Produce or mix other artists/bands? Do I go back on the road again? Truth be told, I have no solid agenda at this point. I just had a resolution to fulfill. I’ll let the chips fall as they may, but for now, I’m back!