Rick Fielding's influence...well, he taught me not to swing at an inside pitch unless I was looking to pull the ball. He showed me how to play titanic in C, then in D, and, I think, A.

He proved to me that you can still get good food after midnight while heading west, not east, on Danforth. He encouraged me to listen to a dozen musicians who I had never heard of, who have become huge influences, and he encouraged me to listen to ideas and arguments before forming opinions (I'm still working on that one.) He encouraged me to play music for the love of it, rather than for the acceptance of any audience, either real or imagined. He personally showed me how to play the Easy F. Oh, and he introduced me to my wife, so I guess there's some influence there as well.

Sounds like a fair piece, but a personal regret of mine is how much of the last 15 years or so I've spent not being influenced by Rick.


David Haines