Life in the Big Smoke throughout the late 70s and early 80s brought me in touch with many new music friends and associations. I worked a day job selling guitars in music stores where I got to know many musicians from across a wide musical spectrum. Evenings were devoted to practice, singing & playing, writing and developing my song craft and even a few gigs here and there to test out my new material. Increasingly influenced by the great traditional country and neo-bluegrass artists I was listening to via country music radio, I began to write songs that refelected those influences. Country music radio was a rapidly growing format through those 80's days. George Jones, Merle Haggard and Ricky Skaggs were all on fire back then. The world loved their songs.

LEVEL GROUND is a collection of 22 songs written in this period that reflect the influence of early 80's country music radio which ultimately lead me to create The Comfort Sound Sessions and Country Music Radio Hits. The recordings are live to tape acoustic guitar/vocal performances featuring me and acoustic duo partner "Fidd".

The most important and timely music association from these years was a guy named Dave Dolmer. Dave is a dedicated music afficiando and record enthusiast who took a great interest in my work early on setting about to produce and archive my early Toronto based demos which he recorded through his independent 8th Floor Productions studio. Dave quickly became a good friend and great supporter of mine and he will always hold a very special place in my life and music. Thanks DD.

Photo: Dave playing a Sensational Alex Harvey Band tune on his favorite Gibson acoustic guitar.

Dave eventually introduced me to a good friend of his who also happened to be a very creative musician and singer/songwriter in his own right. Bruce Fiddament and Dave Dolmer had played together in a band years before in their youth. As fate would have it, "Fidd" and I hit it off right away musically and on a personal level. We performed as an acoustic guitar/vocal duo act for several years in Toronto eventually co-writing a song together titled "You Sure Didn't Waste Any Time" which I recorded years later as an independent artist. One of my biggest radio hits, that record is featured on my Country Music Radio Hits collection. Check it out.

Photo: Fidd and Frank running down a new Frank song about to be recorded at DD's 8th Floor Productions.

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