Influences

Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Brad Paisley, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Merle Haggard AND: The Pixies, Wilco, Los Lobos, Ryan Adams, Pink Floyd, Gillian Welch, Nirvana, Led Zepplin, Son Volt, Sheryl Crow, Soundgarden

Bio

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Iâ??ve been a musician since the day my Mom finally got me an electric guitar when I was ten. But the musical road Iâ??ve traveled is as twisted as those back roads we used to drive going to visit my Grandmother in Stearns Kentucky down near the Tennessee boarderâ?¦ weâ??d be listening to Waylon, Willie, Johnny, and the Statler Brothers the whole drive. I was in all kinds of bands starting around 13, playing southern rock, country, top 40 and blues, then turning off into metal, jam and art rock. Eventually Stravinsky and Beethoven caught my ear and I decided to go to school (University of Louisville) and try to find out what made them tick. While I was there, besides playing classical guitar at weddings and receptions, I sang in Guerrilla Theater and played bass in The Goddess Fred. I got into the Grad program at University of Michigan, won some awards, wrote for a couple orchestras (Albany Symphony and Tulsa Philharmonic) and finished a DMA with the first concept album ever accepted as a dissertation (Freak Show). Then I formed CityGoat, a roots-americana band with my friend Erik Santos. After four fantastic years and three albums with them, the hills of Kentucky finally called me back home. Iâ??ve returned to my roots, to songs that are simple, powerful and sometimes even funnyâ?¦ to the valley, to the old Kentucky roads.