April 28, 2002 - I have been married since 1982 and have two children, a son Tyler N. who is now 16, and Michele who is now 13. My wife, Kay, works Part-Time for a major greeting card company as a Retail Merchandiser, allowing her to participate in and volunteer for school activities, yet still be home for the kids after school. My kids are both Distinguished Honors students. For myself, as of April 1, 2002 I am employed by General Electric Power Systems Division as a computer software developer/programmer. We still visit Milford 3-4 times every summer to see my father and Irene. They have a house at Twin Lakes in Shohola.

E-mail me at my public address: tylerhtravis@yahoo.com

My son picked up guitar very quickly but lost interest. My daughter has played piano since kindergarten, and now Saxophone in her school's Marching Band, Band, and Jazz Band. The kids are finally old enough to go to concerts. In February we went to see Static-X, Onesidezero, Soil, and SoulFly at the Electric Factory. We also have seen Blink 182, Sum-41, Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots, and Stained. They are both smarter than I am, but I know more than them - so far.

General Electric acquired KVB-Enertec, the privately owned software company I have worked at as a computer software developer/programmer for the past 3 years. Our company is now known as GE Energy Services. So far, except for a few network issues, I like General Electric. Becoming a programmer has required a lot of studying and work and has taken most of the time I used to spend writing, recording, and jamming in general in my home studio. My need for a better salary steered me toward programming, and fortunately I really enjoy programming/database and networking. I refuse to lay guitar down completely, though. Weekday mornings, I play a demanding 20 minute lead set I wrote. Every morning is the same set but in a different key. Monday is Mixolydian/Aolian, Tuesday is Dorian, Wednesday is Aeolian, Thursday is Phrygian, Friday is Locrian/Major. I originally wrote the set to be a warm-up and to help maintain my scales and arpeggios, double picking, and to give myself a standard to compare my abilities against, so I know that it's just a bad day and I don't always suck. I have an A80 Fostex 8 Track, an M-208 Tascam Mixer, a Koss CD-200 CD Recorder for stereo digital mixdown, miscellaneous outboard rack gear, a 1976 Les Paul Custom, a 1974 Stratocaster that has been totally reworked including jumbo frets on a maple neck and locking vibrato, and a 1975 Guild JS-2 bass guitar with an extra long neck, and I set up two Individual Proprietorships called Lava Records and Volcano Publishing in case I got lucky, but I never did. I have approx. 25 songs recorded and copyrighted but not published. Maybe someday.

When Jim and I left St. Pete in Spring of 1974, Joe Gagnon and Dave McConnell (from the apt across the street) came back to Milford with us. While I lived in the apartment on the 209 end of the Stone House, Jim lived across Rt. 209/6 from the Anchorage near the Twp building where the State Police gassed up. It was a real party house and we reaped the best harvest of girls Milford had possibly ever had up to that point in it's history. I skipped the fall semester, then attended Miami-Dade for the Winter/Spring 1975 Semester. At first I lived in Key Largo, but Brian Weber of Dingmans convinced me to live in his rented Townhouse on 127xx Byrd Road in SouthWest Miami - very close to school. When my Semester ended, I joined Ma, Jim, and John in Phila. and was a messenger for Ma & John thru the summer of '75.

Jim and I then joined Ron Simmons (vocals/moog) and Hal (? - drummer) to start "Storm". We lived in Dingmans until Mike McCarthy gave Jim a dog named Blue. Blue was half Husky and half St. Bernard. Once I caught Blue eating out of the trash can in the kitchen. I smacked him on the rear and said "no". When he growled at me I decided I wasn't going to get killed training a full grown Cujoe. A few days later, our neighbor/lanlord had his dog out in their yard, a fair sized german shepard. Blue got out of the house and attacked the shepard, locking his jaws on the poor dog's stomach. I hit Blue across his shoulders at least twice with a 6 foot long 4x4 before he let go. A moment later, Blue attacked again, and again I used the 4x4. The lanlord's shepard died, and the combination of the dog and complaints about our loud music prompted the landlord to pay us to cancel the lease. We moved (sans Blue) to the top of Rt. 6 near the State Police Barracks, and up the road from Guy Wolfe. The gig at DV was our only one. We made $600 but lost our reputation because of the "Loudness". Paul Simmons was our "Sound Engineer". Jim had a 100w Marshall and insisted on cranking it up all the way. Those guys were totally unmanagable and unorganized. Our new drummer, Boz, and I worked 8-10 hrs a day putting repitoires together, but couldn't get Jim and Ron to participate. They were too busy getting high on dust and maintaining relationships with their girlfriends. It wasn't much later that I gave them up and returned to Phila. in spring of '76.

For 2 years I worked part time jobs, then 1 year as a milkman four days a week. It allowed me to practice guitar for 6-8 hours a day, and jam with friends on weekends. It was during this time I took music theory from Mike Thornton, guitarist for the Jack Daniels Blues Band, then from John Lilly, guitarist for the Hooters (four Billboard hits). I became soooo good. It was Power I'll never forget and probably never achieve again (I know how to, but can't get the time). Unfortunately, rock was replaced in wholesale fashion by disco. I played area clubs, amusement parks, Harley Davidson Shop Openings, and parties in a Disco/Rock band (Disco Inferno, Cocaine, Take It Easy, etc...) but the singer eventually became chronically cranky, so I left. It was during this time that I started becoming Born Again. It changed my life.

In the Fall of '78, Ma and John asked me to join their company as a Licensed Broker, and since musical opportunities were scarce, I reasoned I would get Licensed and work there and also pursue gigs. The company got most of my time, however, and I eventually became Vice-President. In May 1979 I took my 3 years of savings, borrowed 10K from Ma, and bought my house - a Georgian colonial with 3 good sized bedrooms and 1.5 baths, 1 garage. Nice house, good salary and a company car. Not bad for a 24 year old bachelor.

A year later, I emerged from a failed engagement and a year after that met my wife, Kay. Kay sold her house after we married and we saw no reason to move since my house was plenty for two people. Besides, the neighborhood was nice and close to everything. I had been searching for 3 years for a mid 60's convertible with A/C and finally, in June 1983, bought a 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible - 6 months after our wedding. I later bought my home studio. In 1986, our son was born. Between family life, work, and studio time, I was very busy.

Ma & John sold the company building in Philadelphia, and moved the business out to Chadds Ford, near Ma & John's farm. While I enjoyed my job as Customs Broker for 5 to 6 years, I gradually became more and more bored. Bottom line: I was just cranking out paperwork for the same companies for the same products over and over again. Except for the company going computer and my configuring the billing for HQ and all our branches and agents, there were no new challenges and nothing new to learn. I stayed because they needed my license to operate.

John decided he wanted to adopt the barmaid at his favorite resturant, the Chadds Ford Inn, because he always wanted a daughter. That worked like a charm! My mother and John soon began divorce proceedings. I left the company in November 1988. In December 1988, our daughter was born.

I didn't want to join a competitor, so I paid off my mortgage and spent a year at home with my family while writing, arranging, recording, and mixing my album. It turned out pretty good, but I can't sing very well. All I wanted was to make a living from playing and writing and recording. I was on the wrong coast and too much of an introvert.

In December '99, I took a position auditing and processing accounting paperwork at a Drug Emporium (a national chain) near my house so I could warm up my resume. Unfortunately, the Iraq war began and the economy went south. Many people I knew were losing their jobs and benefits. The economy was very bad in this region for a very long time. Considering I could walk to work, was home by 4:15 PM (around alot while the kids grew up), in a very secure position that was required by the chain, I worked there until the economy got better.

When I began job hunting in 1996, I found the pickings uninspiring. I bought a computer and learned MS Office. Even after combining my experience with my new computer skills, I did not find any jobs I considered desirable for the long term. I went to the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site and discovered that the only career that looked interesting (and paid fairly well) was Programming and/or Network Administration. I bought a C programming book and the software necessary to write and compile C programs, and felt it was do-able..

I signed up for a 6 month/320 hour course at Penn State for $6000. It was 2 nights per week for 4 hours each night, plus every other Saturday for 8 hours. I worked full time, attended Penn State, and raised my family. I finished the Penn State course with an A and a Certification one week after beginning another programming course at our local college. 6 Months later, in March 1999 I started as a Programmer at KVB-Enertec. I nearly killed myself getting through it all, but I love programming. I'll never know all of it because there are 7 to 8 major languages plus all the Networking stuff, and it changes and progresses every day.

While disappointed that I was not financially successful enough to sustain a career in music, I have no serious regrets. I am happy that I've done everything as well as I have, and I'm nowhere near finished. I love what I do and have a wonderful family.