As a singer/songwriter I listen for the music that comes in, then pick up a guitar and/or pen and try to find the best way to send it back out to you.
I'm not really sure where the music comes from,
but I do know I'm not supposed to keep it.
I'm a big fan of strong melodic lines and selective lyric choices. In fact, some of the songs I have written just have one verse. And for whatever reason, my brain writes in patterns so I play finger-style. That still mystifies me.
In college, where I studied music, someone asked me if I played guitar. I said, "No, why?" They handed me one and said, "Because we're leaving in a few weeks to do a two month USO tour of the Orient and I told them we had a guy who played guitar really well - that's going to be you!"
After that came four years on the road as a featured vocal soloist and musician with big band legend, Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians.
Originally from Oklahoma, it was an honor to play the title role of Will Rogers in a Chicago production of "The Will Rogers Follies", for which I was nominated for a Jeff Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Other credits include close to a hundred performances as a soloist in Pops Concerts with major symphony orchestras all across the country with maestros Joel Levine and Richard Hayman.
But the small backroom at Uncommon Ground at the corner of Clark and Grace in Chicago is my other "living" room where I leave the tux, the orchestra, the scripts and scores behind and try to live outloud and share what I truly hear in my heart. Chicago has an amazing wealth of talented singer/songwriters and performers -- and loyal listeners who love LIVE MUSIC!
Please go out and support Live Music in your community - and explore the pages of my Friends list.
Thanks - hope to meet you soon!
