Music

I have been playing and creating music for over 20 years. I studied trumpet in school, and even went to college to study jazz and contemorary music at the University of Maine, Augusta. Unfortunately, I ran out of money and my car ran out of gas. So I gave up chasing my dream of fame and fortune and settled into life. (That means I got married, found a job, had a couple of kids, got divorced, got a better job, drank too much, got married again, went back to school, found my life’s calling, and had another kid.)

But along the way, I have kept playing trumpet. I even picked up a nice set of keyboards and have done some writing. Check out the lyrics on this page. Those are the songs that I have completed. I have a few more songs that I have co-written with a good friend, Jim Braley. We used to be in a little group together called Witness.

Nowadays, I don’t do much playing or writing. But music continues to be a good escape for me. I have picked up a few more instruments (french horn, accordian, penny whistle) and have tried a couple of others (guitar), but trumpet and keyboards are still my main interests.

As for influences, I have far too many to name. But here are a few:

Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Arturo Sanduval, Dave Matthews, U2, Keith Green, Michael W. Smith, Elton John, the Eagles, George Jones, Alanis Morissette, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Andrew Peterson, Tom Waits, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Trent Reznor, Styx, Led Zepplin, Ben Folds, Billy Joel, Bob Marley, ELO, Queen, Eminem, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash…