Bio written by Pat Marr

Like a lot of kids from my generation, I spent my teen and early adult years playing in local rock bands. We were lucky enough to have a manager who took an interest in developing the band, so we gigged a lot. That time spent on stage in front of live audiences made a lifelong impression. Now that I'm retired, I'm using my spare time to rekindle old hobbies... like live music and cartooning.

After trying many other music-creation programs in an effort to create backing tracks for live performances, I was excited to find Band-in-a-Box! It was the first program that solved all of the problems I couldn't overcome with other music-making applications. I also like Band-in-a-Box's intuitive presentation interface... it's obvious to me that Band-in-a-Box is programmed by somebody who is a musician. Other programs always forced me to think like a programmer, but Band-in-a-Box lets me think like a musician. That makes all the difference between making progress and getting bogged down.

When I started exploring the field of computer animation I realized that Band-in-a-Box would be useful there too. Finding royalty free music for films and animations can eat up time, and at my age, time is the most precious asset. The rapid development aspect of Band-in-a-Box is worth its weight in gold!

My wife died about a year before I retired, and I was afraid that the void of her absence would take all the joy out of my life. But Im happy to report that my hobbies have expanded to fill the void. Band-in-a-Box brings a lot of good things to my life. It challenges me creatively, it provides avenues for earning extra cash, and it provides social interaction... not only when I meet new people at gigs, but also through interaction with the regulars on the PG Music User Forum. Now that I'm retired and don't see my work friends anymore, the forum has provided me with a whole new set of friends who share my interest in music and in Band-in-a-Box!

Life is not only good... it's fun!