On My Own
Already with a handful of more mellow songs composed on my living room couch in a more reflective and
peaceful mood, I put my electric back in the case, picked up my acoustic, and moved from Boston. After a
few-months stint in Europe, I moved back to Cali. I began to sporadically play solo acts in coffee shops
and pubs. This continued wherever I happened to be living - first back home in Southern California, then in
Denver, Colorado, then all the way in Rome, Italy, where I lived for two years, studying theology and drinking
cappuccino's (not necessarily in that order of importance). I would play for small audiences wherever I
went - Ireland, even Japan - the binding tie of music following me wherever I went, all leading, as
everything does, to the NOW.
Already with a handful of more mellow songs composed on my living room couch in a more reflective and
peaceful mood, I put my electric back in the case, picked up my acoustic, and moved from Boston. After a
few-months stint in Europe, I moved back to Cali. I began to sporadically play solo acts in coffee shops
and pubs. This continued wherever I happened to be living - first back home in Southern California, then in
Denver, Colorado, then all the way in Rome, Italy, where I lived for two years, studying theology and drinking
cappuccino's (not necessarily in that order of importance). I would play for small audiences wherever I
went - Ireland, even Japan - the binding tie of music following me wherever I went, all leading, as
everything does, to the NOW.
My Music Now
And that's what my music aspires to be all about....the Now. I jumped into my music full time in 2003 and it
has led me to the here and now. My music is about the difficult task of living in the now - taking all
experiences, all mistakes, all successes, and truly living in the present. This takes shape musically for me
in my own little concoction of acoustic rock, in which are incorporated folk, rock, blues, pop, and even a little
bluegrass. I am enchanted by a wide range of artists such as Martin Sexton, David Wilcox, Steve Earle,
Nancy Griffith, Patty Griffin, Joni Mitchell, U2, and whole mess of others, all of whose styles I'm sure find
their way into my music. My music demands that one relaxes, listens, thinks, relates, and, hopefully,
responds. It includes thoughtful lyrics, catchy and singable hooks and choruses, and emotive crescendos.
My music both provokes and soothes, and overall is hopeful in content - not dark or dreary.
And that's what my music aspires to be all about....the Now. I jumped into my music full time in 2003 and it
has led me to the here and now. My music is about the difficult task of living in the now - taking all
experiences, all mistakes, all successes, and truly living in the present. This takes shape musically for me
in my own little concoction of acoustic rock, in which are incorporated folk, rock, blues, pop, and even a little
bluegrass. I am enchanted by a wide range of artists such as Martin Sexton, David Wilcox, Steve Earle,
Nancy Griffith, Patty Griffin, Joni Mitchell, U2, and whole mess of others, all of whose styles I'm sure find
their way into my music. My music demands that one relaxes, listens, thinks, relates, and, hopefully,
responds. It includes thoughtful lyrics, catchy and singable hooks and choruses, and emotive crescendos.
My music both provokes and soothes, and overall is hopeful in content - not dark or dreary.
My Music History
God bless the mothers who force their screaming kids to piano lessons! I owe any interest and talent I
possess in music to my beautiful mother, who forced me to take piano for a few years in elementary
school. Even though I hated it at the time, the skills I learned re-emerged as true interest in high school,
when I began to plink around on the piano once more and then picked up the drums, jamming with friends
and playing anywhere anybody would listen to us.
And then an earth-shattering and transformative event occured. At the age of 16, I was diagnosed with
testicular cancer. This experience forced me to face life's big questions, which I began to ponder
constantly in my own thoughts. Once again, God bless the mothers who force their rebellious sons to go
to religious education retreats - for it was there that a simply-plucked acoustic guitar by my
soon-to-be-friend, Steve, showed me the power of a live musical experience to soften a person's heart and
change perspective. A new passion was born. I picked up the guitar and started putting my thoughts,
struggles, and joys to music. Yet it took me all the way until college to actually write a complete,
respectable song.
It was deep in that Ohio River Valley during college where I was fortunate enough to hang on to the
coat-tails of a couple of extremely talented songwriters, Brian O'Reilly and Burke Ingraffia. My friend, Brian,
made me believe I was actually a decent musician who had some sort of creativity waiting to come out. My
guitar playing ability crept forward as I emulated his folky and powerfully unabashed bostonian guitar style.
Burke Ingraffia is a true songwriter and poet from New Orleans who exemplified how to write a real song -
contemplative, deliberate, non-conventional.
Meanwhile, Brian and I were writing songs and wildly jumping around the stages of Pittsburgh and, later,
the Boston area, energetically pounding out our mid-90's edgy alternative rock tunes, heaping up a pretty
nice following and producing three CD's with the band ScrapApple.
But then it was time to mellow it down and go out on my own....
God bless the mothers who force their screaming kids to piano lessons! I owe any interest and talent I
possess in music to my beautiful mother, who forced me to take piano for a few years in elementary
school. Even though I hated it at the time, the skills I learned re-emerged as true interest in high school,
when I began to plink around on the piano once more and then picked up the drums, jamming with friends
and playing anywhere anybody would listen to us.
And then an earth-shattering and transformative event occured. At the age of 16, I was diagnosed with
testicular cancer. This experience forced me to face life's big questions, which I began to ponder
constantly in my own thoughts. Once again, God bless the mothers who force their rebellious sons to go
to religious education retreats - for it was there that a simply-plucked acoustic guitar by my
soon-to-be-friend, Steve, showed me the power of a live musical experience to soften a person's heart and
change perspective. A new passion was born. I picked up the guitar and started putting my thoughts,
struggles, and joys to music. Yet it took me all the way until college to actually write a complete,
respectable song.
It was deep in that Ohio River Valley during college where I was fortunate enough to hang on to the
coat-tails of a couple of extremely talented songwriters, Brian O'Reilly and Burke Ingraffia. My friend, Brian,
made me believe I was actually a decent musician who had some sort of creativity waiting to come out. My
guitar playing ability crept forward as I emulated his folky and powerfully unabashed bostonian guitar style.
Burke Ingraffia is a true songwriter and poet from New Orleans who exemplified how to write a real song -
contemplative, deliberate, non-conventional.
Meanwhile, Brian and I were writing songs and wildly jumping around the stages of Pittsburgh and, later,
the Boston area, energetically pounding out our mid-90's edgy alternative rock tunes, heaping up a pretty
nice following and producing three CD's with the band ScrapApple.
But then it was time to mellow it down and go out on my own....