First musical experience

I was about six or seven when I first remember listening to my father practice his tenor saxophone. He spend as much time practicing scales as he did just play the instrument. It seemed to me that I was hearing a language, because he spoke it so fluidly.

Influences and accomplishments

John Petrucci of Dream Theater, Zakk Wylde of Ozzy Ozbourne and Black Label Society, Dimebag, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai are all big influences to me today, but I recently discovered Ty Oliver, an awesome solo artist who has incredible playing skills. I won the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award in 1989, and it was a great honor to achieve. My greatest accomplishment to date is the release of my first cd, Just the Laughter. It represents the culmination of years of musical training and artistry finally realized.

Personal history

The more I listened over the next two years, the more I became sure that I wanted to learn this language for myself. My father gave me my first guitar when I was nine, and I enrolled in private lessons. I learned to read music, and play simple songs on my guitar, but my enthusiam could not be contained by such simple, proven methods. After a year or so of lessons, I quit attending and started teaching myself.

It was the sixth grade that introduced me to playing the saxophone. I quickly became enamored of playing the alto sax, and pursued as many scholastic avenues as I could for playing it. I joined the concert band, the jazz band, and the marching band. My sax playing followed me to high school. I played in the symphonic band, jazz band, and marching band all though high school. In 1989, at the end of my senior year, I received the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award; being one of two students to receive the award that year. Indiana University held musical challenges for me with the tenor saxophone, this time in the prestigious Marching Hundred marching band; at that time, under the direction of Dr. Stephen Pratt. I learned what true musical excellence was, honing my skills as a musician and a performer.

All the years I had spent playing in marching band and symphonic band left an indellible mark upon me, but the time I spent in jazz band and listening to my father had the largest impact on me. His biggest influence is Cannonball Adderly, and because of the time I spent listening to him play and perform, he had become one of mine. In the fall of 1993, I left Indiana University to pursue my own life outside of school. I bought my first Ibanez guitar, an RG550, candy-apple red. I learned to read tablature, and bought every guitar book and magazine I could get my hands on. I began listening to Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and Dream Theater. Metallica had the unstoppable, lightning fast hand of James Hetfield chugging out rhythms. Iron Maiden had fast, harmonic, and melodic leads woven into quick changing riffs, a strong rhythm section, and soaring vocals. Pantera had… well, it had Dimebag. He was an unbelievable performer and musician, and his playing and his enthusiasm for music were infectious. Dream Theater was my biggest influence and John Petrucci’s guitar diverse, technical style of playing had me pushing my own playing to its limits.

In 2000, I moved to Indianapolis to pursue music as a career. In 2001, I enrolled at IUPUI, and in May 2005, received my Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies, and a Minor in Music. I have since released a Christmas CD in December 2006, and my first professional solo release in November 2007. I am currently recording an instrumental cd, entitled “The Music of Seven Days”.

The future

I see myself pursuing a long, successful solo career. At the same time, I am already working to expand and upgrading my home studio. I would like to see a more stable, supportive, sustainable music scene for harder edge bands in Indianapolis. My goals for myself musically are to become a professional songwriter, become a member of ASCAP or BMI, and be completely financially sustained music, through teaching guitar lessons, writing music for others, and playing my own songs.