Alan was born a Korean War baby-boomer and grew up in the great Midwest, moving to the west coast with his family in 1962. By age 10, he was singing, playing guitar, and first chair bass viol in the school orchestra. The love of music of many genres was taking root at a young age. His early musical heroes / influences included Simon and Garfunkel, Johnny Mathis, Stan Getz, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, followed later by the Beatles and the “hip” rock groups of the 1960s.
The muse developed in his teen years, and he won a LIFE magazine national ad design contest, while also adding theater and musical comedy to his already wide repertoire. Unfortunately, High-school and college were interrupted by a battle with a life-threatening disease, and a lot of time and resources were dedicated to recovery from that illness. Enrolling at San Jose State University, Alan split his time between music and technology, eventually finding a more reliable career path in Silicon Valley’s emerging microcomputer industry.