My real name is Ed Hargadine. I was born Jan. 19, 1943, in Portland, Oregon.
I live in Skamania County, Washington, about 50 miles East of Portland, in the
famously scenic Columbia River Gorge, where the river cuts through the Cascade
Mountains. I have a BA degree in Psychology that I have never used for employment;
my career was spent as a plumber. I have played fretted instruments for 53 years,
having started that practice when I was just ten years old. I also played woodwinds
in my high school's band, and sang in the choir, so music was a pretty important
part of my early life. The house I live in today is the same house I was born into.
On September 3, 1989, I had an accident while operating a table saw and cut all
five fingers of my left hand, resulting in a couple of amputations, 44 stitches, and grafted
nerves in two of my fingers. At the time, I greatly feared that I might never play the
guitar again, but I am happy to say that today, some16 years beyond that setback, I
have more than recovered my ability, and can honestly be said to play better now
than I did when I had all my fingers. There are some chords I can't play, but I do
have all the major and minor chords, and I can usually find some workaround which
compensates for what's not possible. Always remember to work with whatever you have left.
I also took up MIDI while I was struggling with my lack of fingers. MIDI doesn't
require many fingers at all; just a couple for clicking a mouse.