About Me
I was born in Marietta, Ohio. I had a wonderful childhood. I have one brother and one sister. Growing up I played sports, music, and traveled with my family. In high school I was occupied by music playing percussion in the ensembles and marching band. I rowed in crew in the spring. Then I went to The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps when I was 18. There I traveled and performed, every summer, all over the United States and Canada. I went back and forth between there and Morehead State University for 6 years. In college I joined and eventually was elected president of Sigma Phi Epsilon. I also helped form and performed with a college rock band by the name of 37. I performed in the 1995 Morehead State, P.A.S. Indoor Champion, drum line. I was also lucky enough to travel to China to perform with the Morehead State University Percussion Ensemble. We played the Beijing Opera Hall as well as many other places and got to climb the Great Wall of China. Finally I graduated and moved to New Orleans. I started working the front desk at a French Quarter hotel as we waited for my college band to migrate south. They made it down and we had fun for awhile. But then that band ended due to extreme circumstances and it was time to regroup. I ended up being offered a job running a fairly new and unstable live music venue with a previous old historic past in New Orleans. We rejuvenated that girl we affectionately call the Blue Nile with a lot of love and hard work. I recorded on an album with Trombone Shorty and ended up joining the group on stage for the next few years. At the same time we added a pizzeria to the 2nd floor of the club, which I had ownership in, and life was good. Then at the end of August, 2005, Mother Earth unleashed her wrath on New Orleans in the form of a hurricane. I lost everything; my apartment, my job, my pizzeria, my city, my way of life. The club sustained tremendous structural damage that shut it down indefinitely. I picked up and started over by rebuilding the pizzeria in a different location in the French Quarter and ended up moving it again after 6 months due limited space and rapid growth. We helped a lot of people get back on their feet, including me, but there came a time where I realized it was time to leave that venture behind and get back to what I love which is music. Things worked out because my business partner bought me out. At the same time, and with much appreciation, The Blue Nile was ready to have its pieces put back together. After being closed for about a year and a half, we reopened the club and my apartment was also rebuilt. Things have been on the up and up since then. I joined a new band of brothers by the name of Dr. Gonzeaux. I started a management company with two friends which currently represents the Soul Rebels Brass Band. I have met a lot of wonderful people in my life that have helped me in this journey. So now I look at now. I'm working on becoming more connected with my friends, my community, my family, my life, my soul. Filled with its ups and downs I can't complain too much. I have had a very blessed life so far. Thank you to all of my teachers whom inspired me, my friends who have supported and taught me, to all of my enemies who have humbled me, and to my family who has always been there for me. That's all for now but there is a new chapter being written everyday!
