Biography

I got my first guitar when I was ten years old. My mother lined me up for a couple of guitar lessons with a guy that only knew Blood Sweatt and Tears songs. At the time they were too difficult for me to master so I lost interest. I didn't seriously pick up the guitar again until I was Twenty years old. I was the youth leader of a small youth group in Abbottsford British Columbia. We didn't have anyone to lead music so each week I would play till my fingers hurt learning three songs for our meeting. I was terrible but the kids tolerated me. About four years later I got a job as a youth pastor at a church in Atlanta Ga. They also didn't have a worship leader so they had heard I played guitar and asked if I would give it a shot. Saying you play guitar is a very relative thing, so once again I had to practice my fingers off to get ready for each Sunday. There's something about knowing your going to have to play in front of a couple hundred people that gives an intensity to your practice sessions. Well the congregation liked me or at least they didn't not like me. There was really no other choice so they were stuck with me for the time being.

It was then I began to write my own music. I was motivated by two factors. One my voice was so low I couldn't sing many cover songs and two I was heading up a ministry to troubled teens that caused me to experience many different emotions. The song writing served as an emotional and mental therapy. During this time a friend of mine encouraged me to go to Eddies Attic, a local bar and acoustic venue, to try out some of my songs. I remember going for the first time and being scared out of my mind. When I got up to sing I was so nervous that my mouth got very dry and I could hardly sing any words. I also fumbled my guitar parts and felt like a complete reject. A few people clapped and Eddie the owner of the club said he liked my voice and wanted me to come back. That was all the encouragement I needed to keep bringing me back for the next three years every Monday night. During those three years I learned more than I think I have in all my years of playing. I learned how to perform in front of people but most of all I learned that music not only heals the soul but it builds community that also heals the soul. I got to hear some of the best musicians I have ever heard and I got to meet some of the most caring people I have ever met. I've been hooked on everything about music ever since. I am constantly seeking that phrase or melody that touches a deep part of my soul. That tells me that someone else knows what I am going through and what I am feeling. And I am constantly trying to find the right words and chord progression that can somehow define how I feel and what I am going through to others. I'm not very good at communicating in conversation the intimate details of my heart. But somehow with a guitar I am able to express things that have captured my heart that I couldn't explain with any other medium. Music is a catalyst to help me connect to myself, God and others.