He and his brother Sumpter grew up surrounded by music in Fort Worth, Texas. Their jazz drummer father ran a record store where they were weaned on the musical classics from blues, country, jazz and pop to classical.
He won banjo-playing contests before he was in his teens. In his late teens, he changed to guitar.
Texas-based guitarist and vocalist.
He graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in journalism. Soon after, he joined the band of Kris Kristofferson just before Kristofferson became well-known.