When I served in the US Navy, there was one particular period that stuck with me creatively like no other. My first ship was the USS Paul F. Foster, and on that ship I was part of a conglomeration of talent – a group of guys who were writing, playing music, drawing, and thinking on a different level from anything I’ve ever experienced. There were a lot of guitarists involved, Bruce Bray, was one, I was another. I was the only writer, to speak of, though several of the others wrote songs that were recorded (and lost) during and after that period. It was the sort of environment most creative folks would kill for.
In the middle of all that sat one guy. Don Paresi. Don plays guitar, but he doesn’t just play. He has a passion for speed and separate notes – leads that go on and on and he had (at the time) a forward thinking songwriting style that would have fit into the grunge era with a tinge of punk…a little ahead of his time. He also writes, and he draws. And he paints. I’ve been blessed to know a number of people whose skills crossed boundaries like this – another that comes to mind is Lisa Snelling, who plays piano, paints, sculpts, and writes…
Anyway…Don and I have managed to stay in touch over the years, and recently we’ve begun working together again. He did the covers for my novel Ancient Eyes – and my collection Defining Moments.
Don has a couple of websites up that display his work, but none that do it properly. I’m trying to get him set up…I have to figure out the best way to do that in this new WordPress setup.
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