At the age of 13, my first real gig was delivered at the hands of local musicians in San Antonio, TX; playing backyard parties and local events. The opportunity to play with musicians, who were ten or twenty years older, provided a completely different perspective. No longer was I part of the garage studio days; where us kids banged away at popular radio tunes of the day.

The rest of my teenage years were filled with lessons from experienced mentors and professional percussion instructors. Various high school bands were formed and music was always present, as friends and almost everyone in my family featured some type of musical and/or artistic background. It wasn't until my early twenties, that drumming became a fairly constant pursuit while touring regionally and playing in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Recently, it has been a pleasure to play for thousands of music lovers at festivals such as; the Blues To Bop Festival in Lugano, Switzerland, the Waiheke Island International Blues Festival off the coast of Aukland, New Zealand, and the Fiji International Jazz and Blues Fest in Viti Levu, Fiji. I've also been lucky enough to play countless venues in Los Angeles and San Diego, CA along with local venues such as the Fillmore in San Francisco, the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA, Westside Theatre in Newman, CA, Great American Music Hall in SF, CA, Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, CA, Boom Boom Room in SF, CA, the Sweetwater Saloon in Mill Valley, CA and many others. I've also had the opportunity to play with some talented and original artists where some current and recent projects include: 

The recent fun and honesty of Seraphin, an original rock band consisting of Michael Parlengas (guitars/vocals), Joe Oviedo(drums) www.joeoviedo.com  , Nate Found (bass), and Michele Van Zeeland www.michelevanzeeland.com  (vocals). Seraphin features the songwriting collaboration of  MikeParlengas and Mike Dunn, along with Michele Van Zeeland. Serapin brings you some good old fashioned, organic, homegrown rock-n-roll.

Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter Danny Click ( www.dannyclick.com ) of Austin Texas, traveling worldwide to play major festivals and venues, currently playing in the San Francisco Area as well as Nationally and Internationally. Also, see talented musician Kennan Shaw ( www.kennanshaw.com ), bass player for Danny Click and others. Also featured with Danny Click is Dave Sampson, a masterful and experienced musician also on guitar.

A former project included traveling with Shady Lady from Berkeley,CA, up and down California to play Rock/Blues/Soul/Funk Original Tunes in 2001-02. Front person Samantha Stollenwerk continues to impress audiences nationwide with her talent and originality (Click link www.samanthamusic.com ).

Also, Chad Tracy and Nathan Found of the band SLEEPING BEE in Berkeley, CA team up with some blues drumming in January of 2000 to form LOCAL DRINKERS for a Blues/Rock Concoction, playing most venues in San Francisco, Oakland and the Northern California Area.

In the early and mid 1990s, rock made a brief stint back into the minds of many. As such, I had the time of my life while playing professionally in an original song/rock/party/tripping band called ONE from Hollywood, CA, traveling on the road, while playing the Southern California Area and most Major Venues in Los Angeles, including those on the Sunset Strip.

Prior to the days of Los Angeles were experiences in the late 80's and early 90's touring and playing in various bands, including the Punk/Rock of the PEELS from Berkeley, CA. Those days would take us to venues such as 924 Gilman in Berkeley,CA made infamous by Green Day during the 1990's, Last Day Saloon, San Francisco, CA, Hotel Utah in San Francisco, and Larry Blakes in Berkeley, CA, along with other venues of the time.

Regardless of whether or not the financial gains continue to arrive through music, playing music will never cease, and has never ceased to continue...............See You In The Music World. - J.O.