I was born in Portland, Maine, adopted at birth and was raised in Farmington, Connecticut. My first tape was ‘Slippery When Wet’ by Bon Jovi and Slash was probably the first guitarist I was blown away by – I remember hearing Paradise City and Sweet Child of Mine in a camp van in New Hampshire and being left agape at whatever sorcery I was hearing. I grew up with GNR, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix as some of my favorite artists. As a kid I played piano and trombone. I went away to boarding school where I was introduced to the music of the Phish and the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Who… the list goes on and life has never quite been the same… I went to Colgate University and Suffolk University Law School and led an undistinguished career as an attorney.
My favorite guitarists include Trey, Jerry, Jimi, Jimmy, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Slash, Mike McCready, Derek Trucks, Neil Young, Robert Hunter, and Bob Dylan more than merit a mention.
In September of 2017, I quit drinking and picked up guitar as a hobby to fill in my time. In many memoirs I’ve read, guitarists in particular, I read how the instrument could be an outlet for pain, anxiety and depression. Newly sober, I had both a guitar and anxiety and depression, so there you go! I had played a little bit when I was younger, but never really learned how to play, I just learned songs, not the guitar.
Around June 2018, I committed to playing every day and by August of that year, guitar had become an essential part of my life. In January 2019 I decided I had to find out what exactly was possible for me with the guitar. In June 2019, after seeing a guitar hero documentary on Prime which implored, “you’re never gonna do anything playing in your bedroom”, I started busking in downtown Annapolis, performing at open mics, and writing music. In June 2019, I also stopped practicing as an attorney, which I can assure you is entirely unrelated… In January of 2020, I had the first, of hopefully many recording sessions, and continue to play my music around Annapolis. When I’m not spending time with my two daughters, I’m playing music.
