I’m the youngest of 7 siblings. Most of which are old enough to be my parents…
When I was a kid my oldest brother Steve was a tug boat captain. He traveled the great lakes & Mississippi river frequently. He finger picked some country & blues on the boat to pass time, & for me the rare times when he was home. When he was at sea he would carve me things from bone or driftwood he found & mail them home to me.
I would listen to his Doc Watson, Leo Kottke, & Skip James records while playing with the things he sent me. When Steve was little there was a popular song from Jimmy Dean called “Big Bad John”. Steve carved that into the spruce top of a cheap parlor guitar that was around the house & I pretended to play it while my brother Mike’s rock band was rehearsing in our parents basement. Those are my first memories of music.
I gradually improved enough to learn a few covers & start writing songs. After high school I traveled a bit with a rock band & then went to Western to pursue music, writing, & recording. My brother Mike now plays with me in “The Sanger Brothers Band” on the occasions the full band plays.