I realized I run this site called “Rocker Dad“ but I haven’t really written about my musical history yet. Let’s start at the beginning. I began taking drum lessons when I was 12 years old. I started tinkering around on piano when I was 17 and by the time I was 18, I lost interest in drums and keys because I heard Eddie Van Halen. Enter the guitar. The first song I ever learned to play was Alone Again by Dokken on an old beat up Cort electric guitar. Other guitarists from the 1980s …

I recently picked up a refurbished iPad from Apple mainly to use it to play my guitar through and use GarageBand to just record simple things and new riffs and song ideas at home or on the go. I also owned an iPhone and have previously tried using the Amplitube iRig. The iRig went in through the headphone jack on the iPhone and all I would get was major feedback and major noise. It seemed to be a cheaply made plastic device but I was hoping the AmpKit Link from Peavey and Agile Partners would take from …

If you play guitar AND own an iPad, it’s time you check out the iPB-10 pedalboard from Digitech. I’ve been using the iPB-10 for about 2 months now. My favorite feature about it, besides the sounds, is its ease of use. The biggest drawback on all other modellers I’ve used in the past has been the interface. That problem has been solved for me with the iPB-10. The iPB Nexus app, which is a free download for your iPad, is stunning and gives you complete control of all of its features. No …

Digitech was kind enough to send me their new iStomp pedal and I received it late yesterday. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s basically a do it all type pedal…meaning, if you have an iphone or ipad, you can download different effects into the pedal. For example, need a delay for a show? Download it and you’re ready to go. Need an overdrive? Same thing. The Digitech app store has a good number of choices to choose from…od, reverbs, compressors, delays, chorus, etc….they …

What a relief! After testing the Peavey Ampkit Link and IK Multimedia iRig guitar interfaces for the iPad and iPhone to less than stellar results, along comes the Apogee Jam. My suspicions as to why the previous 2 products wouldn’t work correctly (for me) came true…the key is in the dock! For those that have tried the iRig and Ampkit Link, you know that the unit utilizes the headphone jack on the iPad/iPhone as an input. Before I even tested them out, I had a feeling there was going to be a …

This feels like deja vu…and not the good kind. If you’ve followed this Crohn’s series, you know the back story. My daughter was diagnosed back in March of 2010. Since then, she’s done well for the most part (except for that episode where she stopped taking her medication last summer). That all changed this past week. She had not been feeling as well for the last few weeks so her doctor ordered an upper and lower GI be performed to check things out. She had this procedure done the …

It’s been awhile!

I’ve been so busy the last few months with my band, my kids, school starting and life. My pledge campaign ended without reaching my goal but I have decided to go ahead and record my album on my own anyway. “Voiceless” is slated to be released sometime in early 2013. I’m doing the entire record at home with virtually no budget. I am still taking donations that will be donated to Hasbro Childrens Hospital in my daughter’s name to help the fight against Crohn’s disease. If you would like to contribute, please contact me through this site.

“Voiceless” is going to be…you guessed it…an instrumental album. Right now the plan is for 10 tracks. I am looking for any graphic designers who may want to help with the CD artwork layout. If interested, hit me up! I can use all the help I can get on this project. As always, thank you for your support!

Since I last wrote about my daughter’s fight against Crohn’s disease, there have been a few things that have happened. After some smooth sailing, it was learned that my daughter had stopped taking her medication. My wife happened to notice some pill capsules in the trash in the bathroom. This wasn’t out of the ordinary because since my daughter got her braces and palette expander, she had been unable to swallow her pills. We would open the capsules, pour the contents into orange juice …

I’ve been a dad for 8 and a half years now. I have 2 little girls…ages 8 and 5. I also have 2 dogs but I’m not going to write about those 2 knuckleheads. I’m really not going to write much about my girls either. This one is more about me and maybe other dads that read this will realize that it is true for them also. I will make this short and simple but it should make perfect sense. For 8 years I’ve tried to figure out what it means to be a dad and answer the question, …

Worry about what really matters to you…nothing else. It’s been over a year now since my daughter’s diagnosis and every day I try to remind myself of that first line. I’m not the type of person to sit back and let things happen. I’ve always had to go out and get things done. That applies to work, sports and the bands that I’ve been in. Sitting around will get you nowhere fast. My wife came across a book titled “Reaching For Answers To Crohn’s Disease“ …

“If I could be your pain, I’d run from you so far away…” If (Jeannie’s song), Butch Walker That lyric makes me think of my daughter. As much as I don’t want to miss anything in her life, I would die if it meant she would be cured of Crohn’s disease. Spending 4 days at Hasbro after her diagnosis started us on learning everything we can about the disease. It’s hard to make a 7-year-old understand what is going on and why she can’t eat popcorn or potato …

March 3, 2010 was the worst day of my life. I had never really heard of Crohn’s Disease until that day. My then 7-year-old daughter had been having stomach and bowel problems for close to a year. We thought it may have been she was allergic to dairy, then maybe she was allergic to flour and needed to go gluten-free. We spent that year trying to figure out what was wrong and made her eat all kinds of food that we know didn’t taste good. It got to the point where she was having a lot of stomach …

I understand where road rage comes from. For me, it comes from people who live in this world that really only care about themselves and are oblivious to the world around them and the people around them. Not sure what I mean? Here’s a few ideas for you… 1. You are trying to make a turn, either left or right, and there’s traffic coming. Up ahead of this traffic is a RED LIGHT. Does anyone stop or even use their brain to say “hmmm…this person is trying to get across in all …

A family dinner at Newport Creamery in Smithfield, RI turned into losing 2 hours of my life that I will never get back. We had just finished at my daughter’s orthodontist appointment and wanted to have a quick, easy meal since there wasn’t much time to really cook anything and the kids were pretty hungry. We arrived around 4pm and weren’t greeted by anyone so we just went and found a booth to sit in. Fast forward about 20-25 minutes and we had yet to have anyone even come by the booth …

One of the toughest things to do as a parent is to get your kids to try new foods. If it doesn’t involve chocolate, pizza, hot dogs or candy, then they usually don’t want any part of it. We’re pretty lucky that our kids are not ultra picky when it comes to eating but we still try to introduce them to as many different types of food as we can. There’s this restaurant within walking distance from our house called Pho Evergreen. They serve mainly vietnamese food there. My …