Bio
Hello, and thanks for taking the time to read a little about me.
I grew up in a house filled with music from Miles Davis to Merle Haggard - and love all of it. I started learning guitar at around age six from a wonderful lady named Jennifer Hooks in Knoxville, Tn. She felt strongly that her students should perform live and within two years I was playing short sets of five or six songs at local events. I was hooked.
Sometime around age eight I wrote an absolutely horrible song . . . many, many more followed as I slowly learned the craft. Fortunately I had the support and encouragement of a great family . . . and extremely honest friends. At some point I started writing songs people actually wanted to hear, and after playing a few open mic nights around Knoxville I found myself playing an hour here and there in coffee houses, open mic nights and local restaurant bars.
In my early 20’s I started playing cover shows as half of the duo "Shortbus.” As part of Knoxville’s local music scene we played everywhere from Thompson Bowling Arena to front porch fraternity house parties. Before long people started requesting my original songs as often as the covers and I started to wonder if my passion for songwriting could be more than a hobby. I stepped back from the regular cover band shows to focus on my original music entirely. In 2007 I joined the Nashville Songwriter's Association and began making trips to Nashville to take part in open mic nights and songwriter events as often as possible, making every effort to learn from the hit makers on Music Row.
In 2008 I was guided to Nashville full time and moved to the Franklin area. As the front man for Station R I’ve had the chance to hear my songs performed bigger and better than I could have ever dreamed. Nashville has really encouraged and inspired me as a songwriter, and look forward to seeing what’s next on this amazing journey.
You’re still reading? . . . I guess I could fill in a little more about me since you’ve hung on through all that. I’m married to a wonderful and supportive woman - and it ain’t easy to find a woman who will put up with a songwriter. I do a lot of writing on an old Alvarez dreadnaught that my parents bought me when I turned 18 - it was the model for my tattoo (mom’s not as happy about this as I am). I think my very favorite memory of all time is when dad and I used to sit in the living room on Friday and Saturday nights and just listen to records and 8-tracks on the big console stereo system in the living room. We listened to everything - jazz, country, rock, Billy Joel (just where does he fit anyway?).
Well, I think that’s about it. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my songs and read a little about me. With God’s grace, this will just be the beginning of the story.
|
