James "The Caribbean Cowboy" Hood was born and raised on the Jersey Shore.

He had been a drummer in his school band but decided to give the guitar a try at age 13 – taking lessons from his older brother’s friend down the street.

"I’ve been playing the guitar ever since then," he said.

After college, Hood moved to Lake George, N.Y., and met some musician friends through his first job there.

"We all decided to get together and jam, and we all got along really well," he said. "We were doing a lot of country, Southern rock, classic rock. Some of the guys were friendly with some bar owners. They gave us a shot to play live, and we started doing it two to four times a month just for fun and beers and maybe a little extra money.”

Eventually, Hood and the fiddle player from that group started

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