Fell in love with songs and singing from the AM radio and the Presbyterian Church in my home of Omaha, Nebraska.

Boyhood piano lessons gave way to pop tunes and the British invasion setting my hair on fire, putting a guitar in my hands and the blues in my heart. Clicked on the relationship between the chord shapes I was playing on the guitar and the arpeggios I had practiced on the piano. A painfully slow development as a multi-instrumentalist ensued.

Started writing songs at 11 years and have not let up much since, that would be forty plus years, and I hope to continue counting for as long as possible.

Young adulthood found me making a specious living as an actor in regional theatre, and focusing my musical efforts on singing. Enjoyed some first rate coaching. The best teachers all teach the same subject - life.

In New York chasing the brass ring, played a songwriter's concert at Folk City. Crash a lot. Burn a little. Move to Seattle. Writing music all the while, slowly, slowly increasing my knowledge of music generally through self study and obsessively interviewing every good musician I had the luck to encounter.

Multi-track home recording a great means of self-education. Finally connected with others to play in bands, after a stint in classical choral music boot camp, learning a lot, not having much fun. Still a total freak for Palestrina, John Dowland, Antonio Vivaldi, lower tier high brow stuff, in addition to Brian Wilson, Robbie Robertson, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and the greatest in my personal pantheon, Hoagie Carmichael.

Now a couple of bands, a singing family, and the tunes keep coming. Aspire to write a folk oratorio - (after I figure out what that is), instrumental ensemble pieces, choral pieces in addition to the songs that keep coming. I appreciate this forum and the opportunity to discuss this topic that has been and remains a driving passion of my life.