My solo acoustic days were great fun. I added comedy to the mix. I did some Vegas Showcases and got a nice contract with Steak and Ale in KC and The Magic Pan on The Plaza.  I hired Melissa Etheridge to fill in for me there. She was about $75 a night at the time.

 I picked up John Ricker, a fellow college student. We made enough to add a rhythm section. We became Valentine and The Very Wealthy.

We put out a record called, "Life Is A Beach" and we were in Billboard Magazine.. We played Spring Break on South Padre Island. We had a nice little college circuit going and people were lining up in Kansas City. Looking back, I have produced or been in concert with Robert Cray, Gretchen Wilson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Eddie Money, The Little River Band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Nick Lowe, The Byrds, Jackyl, Nigel Dupree, Jim Dandy and Black Oak Arkansas, James Otto, Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show, Mitch Ryder, Molly Hatchet, Chris Cagle, Bo Diddly, The Impressions, Betty Wright, Bobby Lewis, Bill Haley's Comets, John Lee Hooker Jr, Billy Paul, Joanna Connors, Chubby Carrier and some I'll remember later. It is fun being a lead singer in a popular rock-n-roll band, but I was also the soundman, roadie and manager. I really liked that part.

In the 80s, I played Ray Farhner's AutoRama Shows and began doing the promotions. The I took a position at The Uptown Theater.  I produced at least 4 concerts a month while managing my band and a few others. I produced more records and hundreds of radio and TV ads.  I learned the importance of "Butts in seats"

I bought a bar in Lee's Summit , Valentine's Rock-n-Roll Sports Bar.  John Ricker (Fast Johnny) started his own band with some success. I moved on with new players and constant reinventions. There has been Valentine and Blind Driver, Dezi Valentine and Fatal Valentine. Currently, Valentine and The Ticklers is my all request acoustic trio, Valentine and The Knights is my uber-varietal dance band, The Woodstock Flashback Band is a 9 piece hippie band. The Brew is the 4 piece unplugged jam band that played Sundays at 75th & Wornal for 18 years. 

I currently book all the acts into dozens of venues. Concert production and marketing has been a real focus. Since I rented the theater in Liberty, MO in 1972 for a rock show,  I have produced The Kansas City Music Blues and Jazz Festival at The Woodlands Horse Track, the Cajun Festival at Legends, The Lyric Opera Benefactors Ball and The MU Tiger Ball as well as the entire month of July for Celebrate America at Worlds of Fun. (Fireworks after every show is a good thing). In  2010, Worth Harley-Davidson hired me to produce Worthstock with 6 national acts and over 30,000 people in 2 days. The Shark Fest in Lawrence, KS , The  Robert Cray concert at Jesse Auditorium on the MU Campus captured a ton of media. I'll be producing the music for The Leukemia Lymphoma Society Black Tie Ball through 2014. Box Of Chalk is proud to produce the music for The KC Marathon, a national race that ends in a party at Crown Center Square. Additions for 2012 include a management contract with The Ives Brothers Motorcycle Team and The Famous Cars Road Show...and more music.

Looking back, I have easily played 8,000 shows in hundreds of venues with hundreds of players. I’ve been in concert. I have produced concerts. I have produced and charted records for my self and others. I have owned venues.

Looking ahead, I still play 100 shows a year as well as book 2000 shows a year. I am in the studio often with my own original projects as well as some interesting clients.

I have learned two things for certain:

1. Music is best when it is a conversation among players.
2. I'm not so cool, but I have a lot of cool friends.