One week later I joined TRICK PONY. I enjoyed that gig for a while, but was asked nicely to leave due to "personal relations exceeding that of a side musician." ;) After turning down a gig with Tracy Lawrence (???), I signed a publishing deal with Chris Cagle's former publishing company, Mark Hybner Publishing. I wrote and recorded 86 songs in the 4 years I was there, including a song with JOHN OATES (of Hall & Oates) that was featured in the Movie "The Breakup Artist", which won the top awards at the Hamptons Film Festival.

During my publishing deal era, I did many in-town showcases, and recorded multiple personal projects, as well as electric and acoustic guitar on 2 of Chris Cagle's albums. (Although, I only got credited on 1 of them) I also worked on and off with a group on Capitol Records called THE JENKINS, for whom I wrote and/or produced 4 tracks that never saw the light of day, due to the bands falling out with the label. My publishing company's assets were frozen due to a law suit (guess who . . . Chris Cagle, again), so none of my material ever got pitched. I also traveled to the Middle East for a month long Armed Forces Entertainment tour with Carly Goodwin.

About 2 weeks after my publishing contract ended I joined JULIE ROBERT'S band. In the 1st month we did "The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno", "Good Morning America", and "PBS Soundstage." We did shows in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Switzerland, where I was asked to sit in with RIDERS IN THE SKY for part of their set.

After about 2 years with Julie Roberts, I was asked to audition for JOE NICHOLS' band. I got the job, and was again embraced by the loving arms of country music (and bassist Michael Jeffers). In a couple weeks we're heading to Australia for 2 weeks.

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When I'm not making country music, I work with my rock band, PUPPIES. We have an album available on iTunes and another one on the way. You can check us out at:

www.myspace.com/puppiesmusic

My co-creator, co-founder, co-writer, and co-star in PUPPIES is my cousin JOSHUA CARTER, who also played with Julie Roberts, as well as Chely Wright, and now resides in the Chris Young Band.