About me
I am a multi-instrumentalist and a writer.
My musical home is rooted in traditional folk (from Appalachian Banjo to Irish Fiddle), classic rock, and a hint of power pop (I played Celine Dion covers on the banjo at a Cabaret).
My Story
My musical journey began in fifth grade when choir became mandatory at school. The music teacher was a stern woman who played a few notes on the piano and asked me to sing along. She gave me a funny look and then plucked me out of elementary school obscurity; I was placed in a select chorus and given the solo – the Kermit the Frog song, “It’s not easy being green,” which I sang in front of the whole school (an honor but also traumatizing). I was then put into a choir for the best singers in the district where I had a tendency to do ridiculous bows at the end of each song which got me into trouble. It was also around this time that I got my hands on an Irish tin whistle – my first foray into Irish music – and learned to play “Amazing Grace” through my nose and the whistle was subsequently taken away.
“As with most teenagers, music became all-encompassing”
In high school, when my friends formed rock bands, they remembered the Kermit the frog song and asked me to be their lead singer. I dove deep into alternative rock and was heavily influenced by whatever cd’s my brother had left under his bed when he went to college – Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Foo Fighters, Jars of Clay, Barenaked Ladies. As with most teenagers, music became all-encompassing; I rehearsed weekly with bands and played shows in the basements of churches. I found my brother’s guitar and figured out the theme song to Top Gun by ear and soon my oldest brother taught me how to play. I found that practicing music was the only thing I could do for hours without getting bored.
In college I focused on languages, studying Spanish and Chinese and in my junior year I moved to Shenyang, China, between the Russian and North Korean borders. It was a difficult experience but one that taught me my greatest life lesson – you have to sound like an idiot in order to get good. Out of necessity I learned to speak Mandarin and fell in love with foreign cultures. I studied in Spain and finished college in Chile, buying a cheap guitar in each country to mess around with and leave behind. After college I moved back to New York and fell into the theater world. Soon, I was brought into a Shakespeare company that cast me as Valentine, the young lover in Two Gentlemen of Verona. This was the beginning of a new obsession and I worked hard to become fluent in the Shakespearean rhythms. I was later asked to audition with a song and from that audition I became music director of the company. As my acting roles diminished, my music responsibilities grew and I found myself composing original pieces for multiple theater companies in New York.
For a production of As You Like It, Shakespeare’s most musical play which was set in a shanty town in the great depression, the director asked me if I played banjo. I shrugged and said, “Sure, I play the banjo,” which was not true. I had never touched a banjo. But I practiced everyday for 45 days until the production began and then I continued playing everyday for years, studying with Hilary Hawk in New York and the great John Haywood in Eastern Kentucky.
Seeking a medium to combine my love for music, travel, writing, and languages, I decided to travel back through the history of the banjo, in the U.S., Caribbean, and its precursors in West Africa, and to write a book about those travels. Leaving myself open to whatever happens along the way. After a year and a half teaching music in the Virgin Islands, I’m currently traveling through Jamaica exploring the music and history here.