STRAYPOWER

THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME

In 1978 when I was 9, my family and I moved to Spain. My father was a successful businessman and wanted to retire in Europe with his family. They built a beautiful house off the Mediterranean in a town called Denia. We lived on the top of a hill and at the bottom of the hill was a restaurant and we were friends with the owners. They had a pool there and I used to swim a lot. Lots of tourists came to this place and I had the opportunity to communicate with different people from different countries.

Spain was fascinating. It was so different and the culture was different, things like bull fighting for example. It was so unique and I want to share that with others.

The school I went to was called Las Maristas. It was all Spanish speaking so they put me in a class and I was like, “I don’t get this,” but they gave me a magazine to read. So I practiced and practiced reading and trying to speak to people in Spanish and in a period of 2 years I learned to speak the Spanish language fluently. And I still remember it 100%.

We lived there for 4 or 5 years and I moved back to the US when I was 13 or 14. My dad wanted my sister and me to get an American education. When we moved back my mom and dad got divorced. I lived in South Florida and went to school and started playing a guitar in 1982. I had friends I played with. I created the name of my band, “Straypower” in 1982 and it’s been going and going ever since.

So now it’s lovely to reflect on my time in Spain, to share it with my colleagues. My time there inspired me and some of that inspiration I try to communicate or reflect on it by my music and my philosophy of life.

If you’d like to know more about my music or philosophies, feel free to learn more via my website, straypower,.com.