Ethan has been a self-taught student of the ‘show me’ school of guitar playing.

He got his first guitar when he was eleven, in 1964 when the Beatles went big. ‘I took lessons for about three months, learned to play ‘Walk Right In’ by the  Rooftop Players (or Singers), and then we moved out of state. I never picked up lessons after that, but would play the one song I knew often enough to remember it.’

In ’74 he had the opportunity to study abroad for six months. There was a lot of ‘down time’ and a couple of the group had brought guitars, and he would listen for lack of radio, TV on any other media. He watched, asked, and when they weren’t busy, borrowed their instruments and began playing songs.

Having been a ‘soloist’, he naturally fell into playing rhythm to accompany himself. But as time went on he enjoyed more and more playing with others. As with many activities, to better oneself, one need be in the presence to of someone better than they are. And such it was. Always watching, asking and learning something from every jam session, he learned more and more about playing rhythm and flat-picking.

Eventually settling in Phoenix in 1979, he started regularly jamming with another guitarist with similar interests and tastes. The two worked with a drummer and bassist for a short time in a concept/all original band, but eventually broke out on their own. Thus Mountain Rain was born.

The backbone of the band, it is Ethan’s rhythms that permit Gary and Patty’s creativity and expertise to shine.

As a songwriter, Ethan writes primarily of ‘lessons’ either he has been through or has seen others experience.