Early Days...

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A fave photo of mine of me and my Dad.
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Another favorite phot of mine with my Mom in SF, CA.
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Long train runnin'?
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Rockin' it!
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Baby you can drive my car.
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Another fave of mine with my mom in SF.
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Rockin' that bow tie!
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Christmas 1964 ... the year I discovered the Beatles! With my Roy Rodgers guitar. My friend Dennis Spadini and my brother Bill.
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Somewhere in that same era...
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Playing my first "real" guitar... a Knox acoustic. With my mom and brothers.
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My Philco electric guitar that came with a record player you could plug into and play along to records. Priceless!
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Playing a faux Hofner... wasn't mine but it was very cool!
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With my friend Gary Koehler at the original Renaissance Fair in Marin County.
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Playing at my junior high school. I wish I still had this Gretsch Country Club!
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With my bandmate Dennis Spadini playing my Danelectro Teardrop 12 string. Wish I still had it!
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Me on drums with my friend Rob Mackey on the faux Hofner bass.
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A stock photo of the very first tape machine I had... A Wollensak sound on sound! Changed my life forever!
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Playing my first 12 string acoustic.
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With the first incarnation of our band Logos... John Lovrien, Mitch Hinard, me and Dennis Spadini.
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Peter Tork of the Monkees graciously played at a show we put on at the local church. He was awesome!
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With Dennis Spadini, Gary Koehler and me.
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Mitch Hinard rockin' it!
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Cool poster from back when by my bandmate Dave Obedio.
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Logos evolving... with Dave Obedio, me (blocked) Jeff Von Lehr (back to camera), Don Mcleod and John Lovrien.
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That's me on the second from left guitar under the second sign... we did a student protest against the Cambodian War in 1970. I'm very proud to this day that I was a part of that. We sang "Give Peace A Chance" and many anit war songs!
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Logos with Don Mcleod, me and Dave Obedio.
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Logos with our crew at the time... John Lovrien, Mike Martini (crew), Dave Obedio, Don Mcleod, Gary Garvin (crew) and me.
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Local article on Logos and New Hawk Band.
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Me and John Lovrien... Novato, CA 1973.
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With me friend Mitch Hinard.
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Two of my favorite drummers and people... Dave Obedio and Mitch Hinard.
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Me with beard playing my friend's Gibson Firebird. Great guitar!
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Logos in Santa Rosa circa 1974.... me, John Lovrien, Mitch Hinard, Bill Burgess and John Langford.
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A session at Wally Heider Studio in SF around 1973. Phot by Kate Rose Kirner.
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Me and my logtime bandmate John Lovrien. Phot by Kate Rose Kirner.
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In Novato, CA 1973... rehearsal.
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Logos flyer 1976.
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Logos at Day on the Brown... 1976.
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Logos at Day on the Brown... 1976 with guest Peter Maunu on guitar.
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Logos 1977. John Lovrien, me, Dan Bertoldi, Michael Byrnes and John d' Fonseca.
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Top 40 Logos .... 1974ish.
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Me with Michael Byrnes.
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Playing my Travis Bean circa 1976.
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Playing my Travis Bean circa 1976.
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Playing my Travis Bean circa 1976.
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Playing at the very first Haight Street Fair in 1978.
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Playing at the very first Haight Street Fair in 1978.
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Playing at the very first Haight Street Fair in 1978.
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Logos... 1977ish.
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Logos flyer.
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With Soundhole ... me with Mario Cippolina and Bill Gibson.
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With Soundhole ... me and Brian Marnell.
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With Soundhole ... me with Brain Marnell.
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With Michael Byrnes.
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This was one of the first music computers I owned and began to use for writing and live music. Also a life changer!
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Allies with Greg Elmore, Michael Byrnes, John Lovrien and I.
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Allies (or maybe we were Revolver for a minute)... Me, John Lovrien, Michael Byrnes and Greg Elmore.
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Playing in Guam - 1984 with Page One.
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Page One - John Lovrien, me, Flavia Paulsen and Mike Morris.
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Page One - John Lovrien, me, Mike Morris and Flavia Paulsen.
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Page One - Mike Morris, me, Flavia Paulsen and John Lovrien.
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Me and John Lovrien near the end of Page One/Logos - 1986ish.
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Page One in the Hawaii airport on a 9 hour layover to Guam.
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My first show with Michael McDonald - Ventura, CA 1988.
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My first show with Michael McDonald - Ventura, CA 1988.
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My first show with Michael McDonald - Ventura, CA 1988.
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My first show with Michael McDonald - Ventura, CA 1988 - Chuck Sabatino.
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My first show with Michael McDonald - Ventura, CA 1988 with Chuck Sabatino.
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My 3rd show with Michael McDonald - Mondavi Winery, CA 1988 with my dear friend Chazz Fritchel.
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My 3rd show with Michael McDonald - Mondavi Winery, CA 1988 with David Pack.
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A rare photo of Michael and the band Sept 1988 at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, WA.
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McD band in London 1989ish... Michael, Chuck Sabatino, Tim Heintz, me, Chazz Frichtel and Vince Denham. Playing my newly acquired Hofner Club 40.
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In Liverpool for the first time!
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With Chuck Sabatino playing Michael's 40th birthday party.
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Playing the annual Christmas party at Chuck's house.
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Playing a private show with Chuck Sabatino, Melanie Jackson, Gary Bivona, me and Vince Denham... not sure who the drummer was.
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My first or second time with Michael at Hammersmith Odeon, London ... 1990ish.
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My first or second time with Michael at Hammersmith Odeon, London ... 1990ish with Chuck Sabatino.
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My first or second time with Michael at Hammersmith Odeon, London ... 1990ish.
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My home studio in Van Nuys, CA. This is where Michael and I first wrote songs together. I was still recording on analog tape at the time!
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Beautiful photo of Mike, Dylan and Chuck from Hawaii I took while we were there for a show.
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Chuck Sabatino and I in Hawaii.
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Chuck Sabatino, me and Chazz ... in London I believe.
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On the road with McD and the crew.
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Playing a state fair somewhere...
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Playing a state fair somewhere... my Yamaha Pacifica.
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Silent Partner sessions at Weddington Street with Chazz Frichtel and George Perilli.
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Silent Partner sessions at Weddington Street with Chazz Frichtel and George Perilli.
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One of my favorite photos of the McD band form 1993 on the Star Club stage in Hamburg, Germany.
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McD band in Stockholm, Sweden 1993.
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Stockholm, Sweden 1993.
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Playing Ipswitch, England opening for Tina Turner. HUGE crowd of about 100,000!
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My home studio in Chatsworth, CA. Mike and I wrote Obsession Blues here!
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At home with my kids in Chatsworth, CA 1995.
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Me with The Doobie Brothers in 1995 when I had the honor of playing a 10 week US tour with them!
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Playing with the Doobie Brothers in 1995.
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Playing with the Doobie Brothers in 1995.
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Playing with the Doobie Brothers in 1995 on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
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On tour with Cher in 1999.
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Really fun show I did in 2005 benefiting the La Conchita mudslide victims. Can't name all in the photo but I see Chris Pelonis, Jeff Bridges, Amy McDonald, Christopher Cross, Jim Messina and me. I also got to play with Jackson Browne this night!
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I've met and worked with some wonderful people...

(Click on any photo to enlarge and open full screen gallery)

Steve Lukather, Rachel Chiaravalle, Ringo Starr, me and Gail Chiaravalle.
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With Steve Lukather.
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With Bonnie Raitt.
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With my friend Steve Porcaro.
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With the awesome Chaka Kahn!
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Rehearsing with Chaka!
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Rehearsing with Chaka Kahn!
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With one of my favorite guitarists Dave Mason!
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My first meeting with James Raymond who I've been fortunate to become friends with.
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With my wife Gail and Emmylou Harris in Nashville at The Last Waltz 50th Anniversary Concert Nov 2019.
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With my dear friends Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald at The Ryman in Nashville, Nov 2019.
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My wife Gail and my dear friend Pat Simmons at The Ryman in Nashville, Nov 2019.
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My stint with The Doobie Brothers in 1995.
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With Michael McDonald and special guests Pat Simmons and Tom Johnston on AXS TV filmed in 2003.
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Playing the Tonight Show with Jay Leno with The Doobie Brothers in 1995.
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With John McFee and Ed Toth.
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With my friend Christopher Cross.
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Mcd band with Christopher Cross.
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Mike and I with my longtime friend Bill Gibson of Huey Lewis and the News in Marin County.
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With legend Judy Collins ... she covered our song "Miracle River"!
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Meeting the great George Benson!
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With my friend David Pack.
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With Mark Hudson in NY.
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With the great Tom Scott who sat in with us!
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Mike and I with Bill Medley.
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Lanice Morrison and I with the great Mick Fleetwood in Australia.
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Pat Coil and with America.
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With the great Dan Needham at his studio for drums he played for my 10th record.
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Lanice Morrison and I with Peter Noone.
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McD band with Cher - 1999.
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With my dear friend Amy Holland McDonald on the road.
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Singer Mike Vargo, me and Tom Petersson (bassist of Cheap Trick) in Nashville, Dec 27, 2019.
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With Trev Lukather - Las Vegas 2019
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With Beth Neilsen Champman.
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With Marc Cohn.
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With Boz Scaggs 2010.
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With my lifelong friend Ed Simeone.
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Our awesome monitor engineer Nick Sodano.
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With Ms Monet, Drea Rhenee and Amy McDonald ... love singing with these ladies!
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With the great BB King!
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Mike and I with Walter Becker.
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With the John Tesh band... had a gas with this band!
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Hanging with Jay Leno!
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Mike and I with Jeff Bridges, Chris Pelonis and Amy Holland McDonald.
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Mike and I with Jeff Bridges and my friend Marie.
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With my friend Michael.
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Me, Steve Lukather, McD and Nathan East.
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With Nathan East.
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Brandon Fields, Luke, David Paich and I.
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The most awesome tour manager Nineyear!
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With my friend Shannon Forrest.
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Mike and I with the one and only Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman!
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Dan Needam, Matt Bissonette, Pat Coil, Greg Bissonette and myself.
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With guitar great Mike Miller out on the road with Boz Scaggs.
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Working on Amy Holland's "Light On My Path" album with producer Fred Molin.
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With Dan Needham and Kool and the Gang.
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With Kool and the Gang.
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Yep, that's me with Jerry Lewis.
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Michael McDonald and I.
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McDonald band and crew - Boulder, CO - photo by Dan Fong
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With my Mom.
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Longtime friend Peter Leinheiser.
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With my longtime friend Chazz Frichtel.
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McD band 2017.
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Hollywood Bowl
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Libbey Bowl Ojai, CA
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No words needed...
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Sophia tremolo ad in Premier Guitar Magazine.
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Columbus, OH - July 4, 2019
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Having fun onstage with Drea Rhenee'.
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McD Christmas Tour 2018.
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McD Christmas Tour 2018.
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Me and McD - photo by Linda Leland.
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With Hall and Oates 2004.
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With McD and Pat Simmons in Hawaii.
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Me and McD having a laugh!
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Playing with some locals in Cork, Ireland 2010.
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On stage with Toto 2013.
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My friend Raz and I with Pres. Bill Clinton!
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Instagram Feed

I love recording with this fine trio of acoustics! They all have their own “color”. #gibson, #epiphone, #cubase
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Wishing my brother Bill a very happy birthday today! Love you brother.☮️❤️
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Using my 1964 Gibson B25 on a session today. Small body but big sound! Bought it on the road in Salt Lake City back in the early 90s. Really love this guitar!
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Sunday morning art session with my girl.❤️
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Happy birthday to George Harrison. Still a huge inspiration to so many!☮️❤️
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Happy birthday Michael! Hope it’s a great one!☮️❤️
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Sweet little Julian. ❤️❤️❤️
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Be on the watch for new my new single "Be A Better Man" that will drop the Wednesday Feb 7, 2024. It'll be available to stream and download. Thanks to my brother @billchiaravalle for the beautiful graphics!
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Came across this photo of my dear friend Michael Byrnes and myself playing at the 1st Haight Street Fair in San Francisco in 1978. We played to a crowd of 100,000 people that day I’m told! Check out my Travis Bean guitar I had at the time and Michael’s keyboard rig! And the speakers behind us were given to us by The Grateful Dead’s drummer Mickey Hart who was producing our band Logos. Those speakers were from the Dead’s infamous PA system! Mickey mixed sound for us that day. Great memories! Thanks to Ed Perlstein for the great photo!
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Just watched The Greatest Night in Pop documentary on Netflix. Really good! Great behind the scenes look at the making of We Are the World.👍☮️❤️
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New song in production!
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Honoring an American hero today on his birthday. Martin Luther King.☮️
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Precious time with my precious grandchildren.❤️
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Just watched Killers of the Flower Moon on Apple +. Great movie on the true story. Great acting and direction.
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I just picked up this new Epiphone Texan. I absolutely love it! It plays and sounds as good as my Gibson J45 honestly. Thank you to Sweetwater for finding me a great guitar and setting it up so great!
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My son Adam gave me this beautiful gift created by his friend Dalton of our late Dandy. Can’t tell you how special it is to me.❤️
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Our second grandchild has arrived! Julian River Chiaravalle was born Jan 6. Beautiful boy!❤️❤️❤️
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My granddaughter decided to paint one of my nails.❤️
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Happy birthday StephenStills! He influenced me so much both on acoustic and electric guitars! And what an incredible songwriter, producer and singer!☮️
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Some highlights from the Dec 30 show with The Long Players. Happy New Year!
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Had a great time with The Long Players tonight! Thanks to all my friends and family who came to a sold out show!
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About to hit it!
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I loved the Smothers Brothers. Their variety show was so original and funny and had great musical guests. RIP Tommy Smothers.
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Really looking forward to joining The Long Players for this great tribute to Rubber Soul… possibly my favorite album ever! Tickets available at: https://bit.ly/46GQFDo
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Holiday fun.❤️
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Just watched The Immediate Family documentary. Absolutely great! Just beautifully done. Their history of sessions and tours they’ve done is legendary of course. But the thing I loved most about it was it reminded me of why I started out as a musician and why I still love it so much. Do yourself a favor and rent it on Prime or wherever. 5 stars!
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Winnie helping me on a project! ❤️
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New EP just released by my friend @ppenhallow and myself. CDs available now at www.berniechiaravalle.com (link in bio).
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John Lennon will be on my mind tomorrow. We lost him 43 years ago. He’s always a huge inspiration and influence to me. ☮️❤️ His impact is still so relevant in our world.
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Busy day tracking in the studio. I do love recording!☮️❤️
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Sad to of Denny Laine’s passing. Loved him with Wings. And his Moody Blue’s song Go Now is a favorite of mine. ☮️
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Spending some quality time with my precious Winnie.❤️
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Excited to announce the upcoming release of All In Your Mind, the new EP from Joseph Court comprised of myself and Peter Penhallow! Due in December on CD, download and streaming. Listen to clips here.
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My beautiful daughter @rachel_winnie_ many years ago. Where did the time go? Still as beautiful as ever!❤️
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Lovely day with my sweetheart.❤️
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Happy Thanksgiving!☮️
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This is gonna be fun!
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I’m super excited to have been asked to sing a few songs from the marvelous Rubber Soul album with the Long Players on December 30 at 3rd and Lindsley. Gonna be fun!
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My god these new mixes are just astonishingly beautiful!
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Last night Gail and I attended our friend Christopher Cross’s concert at the CMA Theater here in Nashville. Christopher and the band sounded wonderful … the best I’ve ever heard them! Ross Pallone mixed beautiful sound. It was great to see CC after the show; first time since before COVID. Also great to see Lisa Patton, Chris Rodriguez and Marcia Ramirez.
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I just watched the new mini documentary on the making of “Now and Then” on Disney + (twice!). Fantastic! I was especially moved when they demonstrated how they were able to pull John Lennon’s vocal out of the original crude cassette. I literally cried when I heard it. There’s John’s vocal; crystal clear! It’s absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to hear the single tomorrow when it’s released. Truly a beautiful Beatles song!
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Had to say our sad goodbyes to our sweet Dandy today. She gave us so much love and joy. Rest peacefully girl.❤️
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Do it!🇺🇸
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Happy birthday Steve Lukather! Such an inspiration to me and so many. And a good guy!☮️❤️
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Late night vocals. New music on the way…
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My son recently found this 45 on eBay. It’s a single by my Marin band Logos we did back in the 70s. A DJ copy no less! Interesting thing is it was manufactured in Nashville. Never knew at the time that I would end up living there!
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My happy place!❤️
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Studio dog❤️
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Cool white pick guard upgrade for my #1 Gibson SG. Subtle but I like it!
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Remembering John Lennon on his birthday October 9, 1940. So much incredible music and spirit he left us. A constant inspiration to me!☮️
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My girlfriend. ❤️
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A very cool memory for me making the sacred walk!❤️
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I don’t play my 1959 Hofner Club 50 that often but the song I’m recording today called for it! Bought this in London back in 1989 while on tour with Michael Mcdonald.
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Winnie enjoys painting!❤️
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Listening to my latest on vinyl. Pretty cool. Thank you Bill!
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Thank you Dianne Feinstein for your lifetime of service to our country. RIP.
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Happy Son’s Day to my son Adam! I’m honored to be your Dad! Love you!
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Yep. That time we met Stevie Wonder! Epic!
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Today Gail and I celebrate 32 years of marriage. You are my one true love hon and I love you beyond measure! Thank you for putting up with me!❤️❤️❤️
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Finished this series on Prime. The Lost Flowers of Alice Har. Fantastic story, acting, directing and music. Such a moving program. Not exactly light entertainment but one of the best I’ve seen in a while!
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New Video Premier! I'm thrilled to share this new video created by my friend Doug Reid and AugustWolf. �He heard my song "So Far Back in Time" from my latest album MORE TO THIS LIFE and offered to create this video for me using AI technology. He asked me the background of the song which I explained was inspired by my first real music and band partner John Lovrien. We had a band starting out in Marin County, CA called Logos that lasted about 15 years. Doug asked me to share memories of my times with John which I did. There are direct references to certain periods of our adventures together. For anyone who knew John and I, you'll probably be able to spot them. I'll reveal those hidden gems later. Doug also drew from my lyric so eloquently. This song was written with a lot of love and Doug poued that same love into the creation of the video.
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Happy birthday to our lovely daughter in law Abigail! We love you!❤️
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Winnie does love music!❤️❤️❤️
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That time we played for and met President Clinton in 1998. Cool memory!
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Came across this old photo from my studio in my Van Nuys apartment. Still on reel to reel at that time! David Pack actually gave me that machine which I am forever in his dept! This was around 1987 or so.
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Cleaning out the garage today I came across this tour laminate! From the 1990 tour with Michael Mcdonald when we opened for Tina Turner to 100,000 people! We were told Princess Diana attended. Remember Chazz?
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Quite the full moon!
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100+ in TN today! I believe that’s first time I’ve seen that in my car!
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This little one!❤️❤️❤️
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That’s a rap.☮️
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Back on the California coast!
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Thanks everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes! I’ve tried to respond to everyone but please know I appreciate every post! Got to do what I love most… be with my beautiful family. My mom got me this great cake! Thanks again!☮️❤️
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My beautiful daughter Rachel surprised me on my birthday showing up in Northern California! Spending a wonderful weekend with my daughter, son and my granddaughter. My wife is so wonderful to make my birthday so special. ❤️
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Our princess!❤️❤️❤️
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I love this photo my son took of Gail and I with our precious Winnie at Disneyland.❤️
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And a pretty morning in S Cal.
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Such a lovely night in S California. Nice to be back.
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Winnie playing chess!❤️
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Just caught Dylan McDonald and the Avians at the Basement in Nashville. They sounded so good! Great to see everyone!
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Guitar photo of the day. I was about 14 or 15 here playing my Belzuki Teardrop 12 string. I think they were made by Danelectro. We played lots of Byrd’s songs with it. Wish I still had it!
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Yep… capo on the bass. Wrote a rock song in F and it needed to sound open. Worked well!
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That time we played with BB King. San Francisco 2008.
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One of my favorite photos of my son @adam.chiaravalle and myself. He’s now a dad himself to his beautiful daughter Winnie. I’m so proud of him.❤️
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We were so happy to have our beautiful Winnie with us for a few nights! My heart is full❤️ Thank you Adam & Abigail!
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My 1967 Epiphone Casino I’ve had since 1994. Plays like butta! I treasure it.❤️
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💔Tony Bennett. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. A timeless voice. Rest well sir.
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Thinking of my dad today on what would be his 90th birthday. I miss him all the time and know he would be so proud of his beautiful family he left behind. I wish he was here to enjoy it but he’s always here in spirit.❤️
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Really enjoyed this movie called “Living” with Bill Nighy. Very sweet story and loved the style of the film. Even the fonts used in the credits made it feel like 1950s London. Bill Nighy performance is spot on. Great soundtrack as well.
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Command center!☮️
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My first 12 string. Thanks mom and dad!❤️ My friend and band mate @namimitchell had the same guitar. We played many Byrds tunes on them!☮️
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LOVE❤️❤️❤️
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Weekend with my angel.❤️
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Happy birthday Ringo!☮️❤️
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Happy birthday Ringo! Still my groove inspiration.☮️❤️
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Good work this weekend!☮️
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Trackin’ on Sunday!☮️
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Bought a standing computer platform for my music workstation. It’s brilliant! Should have done this long ago!
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Another guitar photo. Me playing my Travis Bean at the first Haight Street Fair in SF. @mickeyhart from The Grateful Dead mixed my band Logos that day to a crowd of roughly 100,000 people. Playing keyboards is the amazing Michael Byrnes.
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My first electric guitar. It was a Philco and came with a record player you could plug into and play along to records! I learned to play from that. Thanks Mom and Dad!❤️
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