Twist was raised in Seattle and begain his musical career with the late West coast bluesman/guitar god Isaac Scott.

In 1975 Twist packed his bags and headed for Chicago. Within weeks he was working with all his musical idols. Playing gigs with musicians he had only dreamed about meeting just a few months before. Twist was able to work with Hubert Sumlin several nights a week for nearly 10 years, he got the gig at Theresa's Lounge with the Jr. Wells Blues Band in 1977, and except for a very short stint with Buddy Guys band he kept that gig for the most part of 2 years. There was a period of 10 years or so where he never had a weekend off and would work at least 6 gigs a week sometimes more. Twist literally worked with the who's who of blues. Twist used to joke that it was much easier to name the 1/2 dozen blues artists that he hadn't worked with than to name the ones he had.

1984 found Twist restless for a change, he had just recorded a new lp and he felt he needed a change of scenery, so he headed to New Orleans. Let's just say New Orleans didn't work out and not wanting to go right back to Chicago, he headed to Seattle for a year or so, fronting his own band Twist Turner and the Turning Point. By 1986 he'd had enough rain, and decided to give the San Francisco bay area a try. This turned out to be a great move. Twist immediately picked up a ton of gigs. He rekindled his friendship with former Jackie Wilson drummer, now turned vocalist Andrew Jefferies, began working with artists like Sonny Rhodes, Arkansas (Flooding Down in Texas) Larry Davis, Deacon Jones, Birdlegg and Country Pete McGill, Guitar Gable, Jimmy McCracklin, Freddie Roulette and one of his favorite guitarists Luther Tucker.