[1] He grew up listening to Chicago blues musicians, and he often visited Maxwell Street, and attended many shows at the Regal Theater in Chicago, as well as the University of Chicago to see artists such as James Brown, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Otis Redding, Mississippi John Hurt, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Joe Williams, Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, Robert Pete Williams, and many others, who would become a big influence on him and his music.

For the next two years, Madcat played with the band during summers and on weekends while attending Lake Forest College in Illinois.

[5] Madcat performed with the band for the next few years, at many high-profile concerts, including an appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York City, on July 2, 1975, at the Newport Jazz Festival.

[7] In 1974, Madcat also joined Chris Brubeck's newly formed progressive rock group, Sky King.

In 1975, Sky King released the album Secret Sauce, on Columbia Records, and made an extensive U.S.

In 1987, Madcat recorded an album with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins.

In 1981, Madcat began a longtime association with twin brothers Sandor & Lazlo Slomovits and their band Gemini, performing music written mostly for children and families, and the resulting recordings have won a number of honors, including awards from Parents' Choice Magazine, the American Library Association, the National Parenting Publications (NAPPA), Early Childhood News, and the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts.

Handy Award winner Rory Block, as well as blues guitarist Catfish Keith, and folk singer Rosalie Sorrels.