Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Here is a video from one of our first shows at The Maywood in Raleigh. My good friend Jeff Ivey and I started this duo project, and "Bible Black" was a fun challenge to pull off.
I’m playing my Ovation Double Neck here. Instead of using the switch, I used a stereo plug to separate the necks. That let me loop the 12-string parts for rhythm and then switch to the 6-string for leads. I used my Helix HX Stomp and Morningstar MC6 to control everything, which gave us sounds for bass, guitar, and even some keyboards.
Ronnie James Dio means the world to me. I was blessed to meet him back in 1989 when I was working at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys. He was rehearsing there with Rowan Robertson, who was just 18 at the time. I even got to visit Ronnie's castle in the San Fernando Valley to give him a Christmas gift in '88. I miss him every day.
There was actually talk of me playing bass for them back then, but my broddah Vinny Appice said I "played like a girl." I think it was because I sucked, but also because we had a female singer! I love Vinny for that—he is a no bullshit rock star and I appreciate him always. Shout out to my friends Roy Cathey and Chris McLernon from Cold Sweat who got to tour with them, too.
I really dug into the composition here because 'Bible Black' isn't just a tune to jam on; it’s a serious piece of music. Lyrically, it’s a dark masterpiece about addiction and that 'book bound in leather' that draws you in. Musically, I had to work hard to capture the dynamics. I used the 12-string side to build that delicate, creepy Phrygian mode intro, looping the harmonies to create a full bed. And even though I wasn't holding a bass, I couldn't help myself—I made sure to weave in some subtle bass lines into the loops to keep the bottom end heavy. It was all about using the looper as a compositional tool to build the tension before the heavy riffs kick in.
So happy to share this. So thankful for my memories from Gemini 3, This took a few hours but it is just so precious to be able to think about this stuff.
Here is a video from one of our first shows at The Maywood in Raleigh. My good friend Jeff Ivey and I started this duo project, and "Bible Black" was a fun challenge to pull off.
I’m playing my Ovation Double Neck here. Instead of using the switch, I used a stereo plug to separate the necks. That let me loop the 12-string parts for rhythm and then switch to the 6-string for leads. I used my Helix HX Stomp and Morningstar MC6 to control everything, which gave us sounds for bass, guitar, and even some keyboards.
Ronnie James Dio means the world to me. I was blessed to meet him back in 1989 when I was working at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys. He was rehearsing there with Rowan Robertson, who was just 18 at the time. I even got to visit Ronnie's castle in the San Fernando Valley to give him a Christmas gift in '88. I miss him every day.
There was actually talk of me playing bass for them back then, but my broddah Vinny Appice said I "played like a girl." I think it was because I sucked, but also because we had a female singer! I love Vinny for that—he is a no bullshit rock star and I appreciate him always. Shout out to my friends Roy Cathey and Chris McLernon from Cold Sweat who got to tour with them, too.
I really dug into the composition here because 'Bible Black' isn't just a tune to jam on; it’s a serious piece of music. Lyrically, it’s a dark masterpiece about addiction and that 'book bound in leather' that draws you in. Musically, I had to work hard to capture the dynamics. I used the 12-string side to build that delicate, creepy Phrygian mode intro, looping the harmonies to create a full bed. And even though I wasn't holding a bass, I couldn't help myself—I made sure to weave in some subtle bass lines into the loops to keep the bottom end heavy. It was all about using the looper as a compositional tool to build the tension before the heavy riffs kick in.
So happy to share this. So thankful for my memories from Gemini 3, This took a few hours but it is just so precious to be able to think about this stuff.
