I'd have to say that Zappa influenced me. He influenced me to play with greater abandon and to embrace the artistic side. I'd have to say that it was him that initially got me into composition, something since largely abandoned. But, I spent years and years composing my own stuff. It was that experience which has helped a great deal elsewhere and why I was able to bang out a 'generic 80s song' for 'booger in just a couple of hours. It was that experience that enabled me to do studio session work. It was that experience that let me work with bands who were doing original compositions and to find a space in the music for me. If I had to describe Zappa's results (speaking of composition), and I were limited to just one word, I'd say his works are '*full*'. In other words, there's no more room in them. They aren't overfull - they're full. As sparse as Billy The Mountain is, for one example, it has the right amount of sound. There's no room for more and it lacks nothing. There's no point where I say, "Hey, this should go in that spot." I don't need to - it's full. As a guitarist, he was brilliant. His ability to play a bitchin' guitar solo is second to none. He's very underrated and often overlooked. His influence on musicianship is great and the world of music was a better place for his existence. I'm honored that you enjoyed it. I like writing these silly things. Zappa was a tough one to write and I ended up stripping out a bunch of content - it was just too long. He was prolific and his life was vibrant. It's hard to believe he was pretty much sober, but he was. Once again, you *do* get partial credit. You were a great motivational force and probably can count as the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. It was those conversations which drove me to finally take the plunge and dedicate the time required to make these. I am enjoying it a great deal.