Christian, husband and father, poem singer___I was born in Sudbury,Ontario. My father worked at the Inco mine. He died when I was 3 years old, and we were uprooted back to North Battleford where my parents came from. I was the youngest of 5 children. I am of Ukrainian ancestry, and my family is from a long line of farmers from the Ukraine and Saskatchewan. I left home at 15 with my childhood friend Sherman Doucette. We hitchiked to Vancouver together in the summer of 69. Sherman had a cheap guitar, and I played it until my fingers bled (You had to lift the strings with Zig Zag cover paper)! The first 2 songs I learned were "Positively 4th Street" and "Get Back". When we got to Vancouver, Sherman and I parted company. Sherman followed the hippie road and went to Kool-Aid. He eventually became a well known blues harmonica player. I went to the House of Daniel and became a Christian-thanks to Gig, and Dave Milton___
Let's see, I went back to school, took some college, I attended the same church as Peter Fox and John Fluevog, and worked for them in Gastown and Victoria after the House of Daniel disbanded. I was heavily influenced by the early Jesus music scene (Eric Zuber, Liz Rhymer, the Peacemakers, and Jack Murray). The first Christian song I learned was "We Are One In The Spirit". (I also wrote my first song but for the life of me I cannot remember it! I do have this faint memory of being in an attic in Toronto when I was 16, and finding a huge box of stolen dictaphones up there, and singing the song into one of them. Then I remember something about the guy who stole them getting caught and going to jail...So that was my first song and my first recording. It's funny how some things get started!) I moved to Edmonton for awhile and opened up Elisha Leather and Coffeehouse, and started a Christian newspaper called,"The Reality" with Peoples Church. I also got involved with the Agape Force in Edmonton and attended their DTS in Texas. I played regularly at their "Underground Railroad" with Darryl Movold (Monk), Banjo Bob, and "Gospel Pie". We also loved to play at "The Hovel", and "Room at the Top"(University of Alberta). I traveled around alot during those times sharing Jesus and playing concerts, coffeehouses, and churches around Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Victoria, Edmonton, and Kelowna. In Kelowna I was part of a trio called, "Spirit River" with Warren and Jude Hansen (Candle, Agape Force) and they introduced me to David Burgin (Joy, Blessed Hope)___Eventually, I moved to California at the prompting of my college professor, Dr. Ed Butz, and the influence of friend Dave Burgin. Dave introduced me to Terry Shepperd (IAM Studios), and Gary Arthur (The Way), and Gary introduced me to Jeff Lams (Benny Hester, Donna Summer). I was living on the YWAM ship in Long Beach harbor at the time working with the electricians trying to get it sea worthy. Jeff Lams needed a roomate so I moved in with him after the MV Anastasis set sail, and through Jeff I met record producer John Andrew Schreiner. I also started working with Thom Roy at White Field Studios which was owned by the Swedish singer Evie Tornquist. Thom introduced me to Jan Wilson from KDOC-TV, and asked me to show her how to operate our Chyron, and we started dating after that. I took a job with GTE (Verizon) with much thanks to Joe and Carlene Hyde. I have been there for 20 years now. I also attended the Recording Engineering program at Golden West College taught by Evan Williams (Harvest Flight, Phoenix Sonshine). During that time Jan and I were married, and we recently had a beautiful little girl named Sarah Elizabeth___I had a group called, "The Homeless Drifters" with Robert McGee, and we played everywhere like the Troubadour, McCabes, Gypsy Den, the Basement, the Centerfield, you name it (Once we even played at a lesbian bar in LA and they kicked us off the stage for singing about Jesus-lol!), but unfortunately the Homeless Drifters was short lived...I also did a number of shows with Robert Deeble during those days___Then as a member of NARAS, I was privileged to participate with legendary producer, Nik Venet (Capitol Records, The Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, etc...), and Harriet Schock ("Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady") in "The Campfire Conspiracy" (which became "Grammy in the Schools"), and it was a very great experience! I also continue to work with good friend John Andrew Schreiner on songwriting projects...John and I wrote "Creation Song" together and it went to #1 for Fernando Ortega...Nowadays, I mainly do songwriting and music publishing through Long Lake Music (ASCAP) which is handled by Lori Kelly Rights and Licenses (
[email protected]). One of the the greatest things for me is when we get letters from churches and choirs asking if they can use our songs in their worship to God___ Recently, John and I have adapted the Odes of Solomon to music. http://www.theodesproject.com/
Thanks for visiting, and God bless!
