Bio

I can vividly remember my first musical moment. My dad sat me in front of the TV and said "We're going to watch The Beatles film 'A Hard Day's Night'". Didn't matter that the movie was 36 years old and in black and white, the music and personalities that came off the screen were mesmerizing to me. 

I started on guitar, wanting to learn how to make the sounds that the Beatles made. My dad, being a guitar player himself, taught me the basics. Monkey see, Monkey do, easy enough. It was fun, but when I saw the Beatles second film, 'Help!', I realized the most exciting one to watch was Ringo on drums. I began making my own drumset out of whatever i could find: toy bins, cooking pot lids, football helmets, etc. I found I could copy what I was seeing and hearing Ringo play pretty easily. It was exhilarating and way more fun for a boy with boundless energy. 

School band comes around in 4th grade, and I tell my parents I want to play the drums. Bless them, they didn't discourage me; lesser parents would have said no. By 5th grade, I had my own drumset. My band teacher gave me the opportunity to perform on it in front of my classmates. What a rush! 

The true spark came at the end of 8th grade. Our band director, either foolishly or wisely (depending on your point of view) let me have a drum solo during our final song (The Mission Impossible Theme). I just thrashed away for 5 minutes, trying to play as many notes as possible. It probably wasn't any good, but it got a HUGE reaction and after the show two pretty girls from class came and hugged me. I thought, "I want to do this for the rest of my life."

It became a new way for me to be able to express myself. I found that I remembered the basics pretty well from back when i was 6 or 7. By this time I was getting deeper into the classic rock of my parents generation, as well as discovering the pop punk and Nu Metal bands of the late 2000s. This is definitely the formative music of my youth. 

In terms of lessons, I had about three months worth of private instruction before I gave it up. But I did stick with school band, and my instructor Phil Barnes had a profound impact on me and my musical career. I learned how to properly read music notation. I learned about Jazz, Funk, Latin, and Classical styles. I learned how to play piano. I took AP Music Theory, which was profoundly difficult for someone who didn't come from a background on a melodic instrument. I learned more in those 4 years of music study than in all the previous years combined. 

While attending Salisbury University, I decided not to major in music, because I didn't feel I would get anything from the programs that were offered. I decided to minor instead, because it offered me the most freedom to pick the classes that interested me. This was when I developed an interest in learning about music recording. For a final project my senior year, I recorded a 9 song album of some songs I had written, and just like that, a whole new world opened up for me. 

Moving to Nashville Tennessee after college was the best decision I could have ever made for myself. Almost everyone here is talented in their own right, from the mega virtuosos to the tiniest indie-songwriters. It's been humbling to say the least, and I am looking forward to seeing what the future lies in store for me.