About Me
In response to the dozens of comments and questions I’ve received concerning my live music clips on youtube.com, I’d like to thank all of you for being so kind and hope the following short autobiography serves you well. While I've had no formal voice training, I am of the belief that in an effort to emulate my heroes since I was a young child, I’ve been indirectly trained by them. Building vocal power, stamina, range, projection and control have been my life’s work, and one I consider to be a nonlinear progression. I believe some of us are born predisposed genetically with a set of inherent physiological tools and untapped musical intellect. It has been my observation that the ones of us whose musical passion awakens early in life motivates us to explore these gifts giving birth to the momentum of what ultimately becomes our life’s driving force; music. Thanks to my Mom & Dad, both of which are very musical, I grew up in the type of environment that groomed me for becoming a serious musician destined for the stage. It was commonplace to listen to my parents harmonizing to their beloved record collection till the wee-hours of the morning as I fell asleep trying to sing along with them. Before long, I became fascinated with playing the keyboard. Thanks to my Dad’s unrelenting efforts to facilitate the growth of my musical potential, I was introduced to a double manual Magnavox organ in the early 1970’s and discovered the concept of accompanying myself while I sang like I saw him doing. This was indeed the cornerstone of what later became my full-time profession as a self-accompanied vocalist. All the while, my Mom would fill the house with her delightful voice always reinforcing my confidence when I’d join her. Not long after I entered grade school, I became interested in the drums and went on to receive instruction becoming a member of both concert band and chorus. When I was 14, I started singing in a well rehearsed metal band with members 4-5 years my senior. It was then that I discovered the magnificent voices of Queensryche’s Geoff Tate, and Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickenson. From that point forward, I was dedicated to acquiring the range, power and stamina needed to cover their tunes (in their original keys) with total authority. Recognizing that I was born a baritone, I set out to increase my range through rigorous attempts to sing to the albums Piece of Mind (Iron Maiden), and Operation Mindcrime (Queensryche) in their entirety. Like most things in life, the old adage “no pain, no gainâ€, was in full swing. Much of the stamina I built came by way of singing to these albums after a 4 hour rehearsal with my aforementioned rock band. At 17, I found myself married with a son and another child on the way. This placed an increased financial burden on me, and I soon realized that cleaning pools and delivering pizzas wasn’t going to cut it. While scouring the help wanted ads in February of 87’, I came across an ad which read “Drummer / Vocalist wanted- $350.00 per week.†This seemed so much like a dream that I initially disregarded the ad as an illegitimate blurb. Much to my glee, and after taking an audition, I was hired as a singing drummer at an established night club and performed 5 nights per week for 5 hours every night working along side an extraordinary singer / keyboardist who had honed his chops razor sharp over the previous 20 years. This afforded me the opportunity to develop the foundation of the versatile voice which I now possess, in part because I was now covering such a wide variety of artists and musical styles, and also because I was still practicing a couple hours each day. During my 2 year stint in this capacity, I began learning the keyboard parts to the hundreds of songs I was performing at the night club and amassed a considerable repertoire of popular music which I could now perform as a single act. At 19, I ventured off to pursue that goal and submitted my home-studio demos to as many local entertainment agencies as I could find. In the ensuing year, I met a sensational singer / guitarist who was looking for work and we forged a duo called Voyager which to this day holds a special place in my heart because of the precision with which we pulled off the intricate music of some of my favorite artists. By 1996, the project had run its course and I found myself working as a hired gun in various top-40 bands while working weeknights at local piano bars. Aspiring to excel to new heights, I began soliciting resort destinations with a slick new promotional package and dozens of references I had accrued during my tenure with Voyager. Not long after they were delivered, the phone was ringing. After some negotiation I accepted an offer to perform as a permanent fixture at a thriving resort night club in Alexandria Bay, NY. I maintained the resort gig for several years until I was scouted by the Director of Entertainment from Turning Stone Casino in central NY. At the summit of my civilian career, I was contracted by Turning Stone and went on to provide entertainment 5 nights weekly and was being nicely compensated. Still not having fully realized my potential, I yielded to my bigger ambitions and began searching for gigs of a grander scale. In 2004, I discovered a very coveted opening for a Lead Vocalist in the US Army’s premier rock band; a component of the Army Field Band based in Washington, DC. After submitting the requested promotional materials and performing a live audition, I was hired. A few weeks later and after a ton of paperwork and examination, I was shipped out to Fort Sill, OK where I completed the 9 week Basic Combat Training requirement and became a soldier in the US Army at 34 years of age. It was then that I began my assigned duty at lovely Fort Meade, MD. This is my current gig, and one I intend to maintain for as long as I am able. The rewards of performing as a professional musician / soldier among the elite musicians with whom I have the privilege to serve are too many to delineate in this brief synopsis, but suffice it to say I’ve found my calling.Regarding my creative chops, my original compositions speak from a language whose native tongue was forged by the giants of progressive rock and metal. Cleverly crafted lyrics and fresh hooks are spun from the loom of my broken mind and woven into tapestries capable of evoking emotions yet undiscovered. I have become a mimic of many instruments and have been honing my emulative skills as a MIDI keyboardist since the mid 80s. It is my deepest conviction to produce not just persuasive tracks, but rather totally authentic reproductions of the axes from which my inspirations continue to be born. On drums, enter a hybrid amalgamation of carefully selected multi-samples from Best Service Artist Drums and Quantum Leap Stormdrum executed in real-time from my MIDI keyboard using a custom key layout via Native Instruments Kontakt. On Electric Bass, please welcome a collection of multi-sampled Fender Jazz, Precision and Ernie Ball basses fed through IK Multimedia’s Ampeg SVX. My Electric Guitar impersonations are comprised of a strategically programmed Paul Reed Smith Custom via Bella Media Lyrical Distortion and processed by a host of virtual amps, cabinets and effects ranging from Nomad Factory’s Rock Amp Legends to NI Guitar Rig. My piano comes courtesy of a Kawai MP 9500 which also serves as my MIDI controller. The rest of my sonic palette is delivered through a vast collection of nearly every available hi-end virtual instrument and plug-in available to date. I capture my voice by way of an Audio Technica 4050 large diaphragm condenser processed through Waves virtual SSL 4000 console strip. I use Steinberg Nuendo for MIDI sequencing and Magix Sequoia for multi-tracking and mix down.
Quoting myself, "you don't have to use industry standard gear (Pro Tools enthusiasts) to achieve above industry standard results."
