This site serves as a listening and discussion forum for musicians, audiophiles, and music aficionados interested in intimate musical recordings, a.k.a. INTIMATE AUDIO.

Whether it be a raw solo acoustic recording made during someone’s darkest hour (John Frusciante, Syd Barrett, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith), rare ’60s studio outtakes or tracking sessions tapes of a genius arranger/sonic craftsperson at work (Brian Wilson), a live concert recording where you feel you’re there, in that room, drawn in and posessed by the performer’s spirit (Jeff Buckley, Ani DiFranco, Jimmy Gnecco), a multi-tracked creation crafted primarily by a singular person (multi-instrumentalists Jon Brion, Iron & Wine's Sam Beam, Jim Noir, Joseph Arthur, Sufjan Stevens), or simply a recording free of glossy reverb, INTIMATE AUDIO recordings (1) capture an artist in an emotionally vulnerable and/or uncensored state, (2) preserve the composer’s original intent, (3) immortalize a truly inspired/creative moment, and (4) are the closest you may ever get to getting inside that artist’s head.

In other words, allow you to get INTIMATE with the artist’s vibe through their AUDIO.

Yep! It finally exists. After four years of slow boiling... Unbelievable! Please check out my brand-new “full band” album of original compositions, MANNERISMS MAGNIFIED (now available through CDBABY.com, iTunes and AMAZON.COM), featuring me performing all the instruments (voices, guitar, bass, real acoustic drums, piano, accordion, and mandolin). I also produced, arranged, engineered, and did all the artwork/illustrations—intimate audio AND visual, lol! (Details can be seen in my YouTube: ALBUM PREVIEW/documentary.) I’d love to hear your thoughts!

• Like to read up on other MULTI-INSTRUMENTALISTS in the “intimate audio” tradition? Check out the new section of this site that praises some of my faves, and chronicles other “one-man band” recordings (from Ben Folds and Jason Falkner, to Mike Keneally and Todd Rundgren) no musical library should be without!

• Feel like embarking on your own ambitious HOME RECORDING project? I’ve just added another page to this site which contains info about my favorite home recording books, as well as some of the approaches I used (mic-ing acoustic guitars and real drums, vocal recording, re-amping, editing, mixing, etc.) making MANNERISMS MAGNIFIED.

• For the curious, in January 2004, I also released another aspect of my musicianship on CD—an intimate acoustic guitar + vocal “covers” recording inspired by (and dedicated to) Jeff Buckley. The disc, called INTERPRETATIONS, was recorded “live” in my home studio and is Intimate Audio’s first official release!

• Oh yeah! And as an added bonus to this site's content, given the fact that I'm somewhat of an established guitar authority (don't laugh!), you may post any guitar-related/music theory questions you like on the MESSAGE BOARD and I'll do my best to help you out. Or take a crack at some callus-melting PSYCHO LICKS by clicking on the link above. (That's right, FREE online guitar lessons!)

• And if you make the mistake of overdoing it (like I did), lend your eyeballs to the R.S.I. INFO area of this website. It contains numerous links to sites relating to the prevention/treatment of Repetitive Strain Injuries.

• In addition, by checking out a few of the links up North of here, starting with WHO D.A.T.?, you'll learn everything you didn't need to know about me (personal music history, recordings I've made, instructional books I've authored, my all-time favorite musicians, etc.).

Finally, feel free to hit me up through Facebook, MySpace.com , YouTube, and Twitter—and add me as a friend! Thanks for stopping by :-)

BIG SITE UPDATE: 1 June, 2010 (Click on

for specifics)