BIO

As far as he can remember, it starts at age 6 at the parents turntable, flipping through the Beatles albums, headphones glued to his head. The poor records may have suffered, but the fire had been lit. It would be a few years until he picked up a guitar in earnest and start singing, but his first allowance money was spent on vinyl. A music addiction had been born. Without even having to leave his Northern California home, he travelled from Beat Street to Abbey Road, Alphabet Street to Electric Avenue and all the byways between. By his 14th year he yielded a power that could send ex-girlfriends crying out of the auditorium as he lamented love's tribulations in song at the 8th Grade talent show. When a brief and humorously misdirected attempt at team sports fell through, music and drama came in to get him through those gloriously awkward high school years.

Around the turn of the this century two musical epiphanies greatly influenced what would come next. The first was a rediscovery of the classic blues of the 30's, along with stumbling across the recordings of Joseph Spence, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, etc. at the Eugene Public Library of all places. He became obsessed with the blues and bought a 1931 National Duolian, learning by record many songs of Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Furry Lewis, Kokomo Arnold. Meanwhile pretty little songs in the vain of Townes, Dylan, Paul Simon, etc., were churned forth.

The second event was his trip to the Gambia, West Africa, where he found himself studying Kora from one of the most famous griots, Dembo Konte. A chance meeting in England, and a brief encounter with world music Guru Lucy Duran led to this amazing, life changing journey. Here he befriended Jali Bakary Konteh(son of Dembo), who was his hands on instructor, and immersed himself for 3 short weeks in Gambian culture. He will make a long delayed trip back the Gambia February 2008. So stay posted!

Back in the States, he decided to dive into music full time, releasing his first studio album, "Overnight," in 2002. The album, recorded in Portland, OR, was a wistful handful of acoustic songs about travelling, life, and love. One critic for the Willamette Week noted, "with sturdy original songs, Pile hews to a rustic yet literate path." Another publication simply stated, “Good music, good lyrics, a good voice. This all equals a good album.”

While living in Portland, he joined forces with Sara Shansky and formed the band Billy No. 9, and then abruptly moved to Austin, TX. to pursue the dream more intensively. It was a fortuitous move. Within a year he had found a group of ridiculously talented musicians. He teamed up with Stephen Doster to record his second album, "Home For Right Now" in 2005. By this point, he had recruited Brad Houser (New Bohemians, Critters Buggin) as bassist, Eldridge Goins on drums, Brian Keane on keys and vocal, Sara Shansky on vocals and himself on guitar and a whos's who of Austin musicians to turn this album into understated folk-driven acoustic blues hybrid extravaganza. As one critic put it: “wrenchingly emotional lyrics that reach out of your speakers to grab you by the soul and don't let go. Even if the rest of the songs on this album weren't so well constructed, the title track alone would show why Mr. Pile is destined to make his mark in the overcrowded world of singer-songwriters.”

Despite this success in the “Live Music Capital of the World,” he moved on again. This time back to the land of his rearing, Northern California. He left the oversaturated, overheated stew of mind-bogglingly talented musicians in Austin, and went where his brand of blues infected, singer-songwriter, country-rock style might be more needed. And still again the sound changed. He formed a new band, and set down the acoustic for full band gigs. The old songs took on a new life, and he began writing with a band for the first time in far too long. The new sound is somewhere between country-blues, rock’n’roll and gritty funk, all tied together by his songwriter roots and a healthy dose of West African rhythm.

His version of “John Henry” was used in the short film Crossing, starring James Morrison (Bill Buchanan from Fox’s 24), and he is currently composing the soundtrack for a short Spaghetti western spoof entitled Enter the Mustache. He is also returning to West Africa in Feb. 2008 to study kora and look into the possibility of starting a non-profit music school/recording studio to help the amazingly talented musicians of the Gambia get their music to a wider audience.