Who are you?
My name is Larry Fox. I'm originally from New York, and went to college at Brown University and grad school at Cornell University. As you'll see from this web site, my passion in life is LIVE MUSIC. I've been taping and collecting live music recordings since 1976, and the majority of the content of this web site is related to this "hobby". While I was in grad school, I taught myself how to program personal computers by attempting to catalog my cassette collection. The database that I started building back then has been adapted and transformed into the "Analog Tape" section that you see before you. In fact, several of the entries in my database go all the way back to the dBase II database that I built back in 1982! Over the years from 1982 through 1997, I worked as a computer software developer for Humana, Seisdata Services, BFI, Advantage Management Systems, and finally became my own boss from 1997-2002 as President of Rapid Business Solutions, a small Houston-based custom software & application development company. Since June 2003, I've been working for SCI Fidelity Records, the record company for the String Cheese Incident. I am the executive producer and project manager of the "On The Road" series of live concert recordings. I spent 15 months living in Boulder working full-time for SCI-Fidelity, but now I back home in Houston working for SCI-Fi on an as-needed basis. I currently work as a full-time computer programmer for Boardwalk Pipeline based here in Houston.
Who are your favorite musicians or groups?
When I was in High School, my favorite bands were Jethro Tull and Traffic. From 1977 through 1995, my favorite band was the Grateful Dead. I attended approximately 130 Dead concerts between May 14, 1978, my first show, and May 21, 1995, my last. Other favorites included Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, David Bromberg, Carlos Santana, Miles Davis, Allman Brothers, and various bluegrass and jazz bands. Since 1998, my main musical passion has been the String Cheese Incident. In addition to SCI, current favorites include "Railroad Earth", "New Monsoon", "Yonder Mountain String Band", "Hanuman", "David Nelson Band", and any band with Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, or Peter Rowan.
How many CDs and Cassettes do you have?
I have roughly 4000+ live cassette tapes, 3000+ Store-bought commercial CDs, and approximately 4000+ shows of live CDs. I actually started collecting live music on 8-track!
How did you end up in Houston?
After spending two chilling years in upstate New York at Cornell Business School, I decided that it was time to head west, and head south to somewhere that the "climate suits my clothes". I moved to Houston for an internship with Humana Hospital in Houston, and ended up living there the past 33 years. I spent 15 months living in Boulder Colorado 2003-2004, and moved back home to Houston for good September 2004. I hope to get back to the Boulder area one of these days for good!
Do you have any other hobbies?
Besides my passion for music, I'm an amateur photographer, computer buff, coin & stamp collector. I really love the beach, the pool, and hot tub, and can usually be found with a smile on my face when sitting by the pool! Oh, yeah, and we love cats, and really miss our 5 dearly departed cats, Grover, Stella Blue, Isis, Trixie, and Nershi! No cats in the house right now :(
Of all those concerts you've seen, which ones stand out as the best?
This is tough to answer, because I've seen so many great concerts. But here are the ones that stand out 1. Grateful Dead 9/26/81 Buffalo NY ; 2. Grateful Dead 11/3/84 Berkeley Community Theatre; 3. Grateful Dead 9/6/80 Lewiston Maine; 4. David Crosby/Graham Nash, Summer 1986 at Rockefeller's - the night that David Crosby was released from jail; 5. String Cheese Incident 5/5/00 at the Saenger in New Orleans with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones; 6. String Cheese Incident 11/17/00 at the Tabenacle in Atlanta; 7. Cryptical Development NYE Concert 12/31/98 with Ratdog, Planet Drum, Hot Tuna, and the String Cheese Incident; 8. Hanuman 10/31/01 at Diverse Works, and 9. Hanuman 3/15/02 at the Last Concert Cafe; 10. Traffic 6/94 at the Woodlands Pavilion. But honestly, there were many great concerts, these just were the most memorable.
If you're stuck on a deserted island, which ONE recording from your collection would you want?
This is a remarkably easy one to answer. Without a doubt, it would be the Grateful Dead, 2/5/78 from Cedar Falls Iowa. The second set Scarlet Begonias/Fire On The Mountain jam is probably the single best piece of music in my collection. I searched for 20 years to find a soundboard copy of this show, after first being exposed to this recording in the summer of 1978. In fact, this show was my FIRST "dead bootleg" in my tape collection, and to this day, I've never heard a "Scarlet/Fire" that's better. Finally, after 20 years, the soundboard saw the light of day, and even better, the Dead eventually released this show as part of the Dicks' Picks series of live concert releases. This show was released as DICKS PICKS #18. If you've never heard this show, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up, as it doesn't get any better than this. read more...
What's your favorite song(s)?
Uncle John's Band (Grateful Dead), Can't Find My Way Home (Blind Faith), Scarlet Begonias (Grateful Dead), City of New Orleans (Steve Goodman - Arlo Guthrie version), Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic), Unbroken Chain (Grateful Dead)
What's the best place you've ever seen a concert?
Georgia Frontiere Pavilion (Sedona, Arizona), Red Rocks (Denver, Colorado), Horning's Hideout (Oregon), Radio City Music Hall (New York City), Greek Theatre (Berkeley), and the KINDEST venue of them all, the Last Concert Cafe (Houston)!