I am a San Francisco Bay Area native; born and raised in the East Bay. I had a musical childhood. My mom had the radio on a lot, I knew the words to most rock and roll hits of the 50’s and 60’s by high school. My dad was (and still is) a drummer, so there were musicians around and I would always find myself hanging out listening in on rehearsals and jam sessions. I learned my first guitar chord on a plastic toy guitar when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old…it was a G....I was hooked. I learned a lot about being in a band, musicianship, and playing guitar by watching those rehearsals and feel like a big thank you to all those musicians is in order.
My parents split up when I was in second grade, and I would split time at either one's house. My dad’s house had music gear, so I found myself dabbling a lot on both guitar and bass when I was there. I wasn’t big on going out with friends in high school, I always loved staying home (at my dads), playing both guitar and bass to recordings of whatever he had laying around, which was generally tapes of The Grateful Dead or tapes that were recordings of his band practices. The internet was just getting started as I was learning, so I wasn’t able to just look songs up online. I would actually use my ear and listen to the songs and figure them out. My dad also had a Grateful Dead song chord book that I turned to often. Life opened up when the ability to look up lyrics and chords came around…and then YouTube! (I will say, the technology is great, but now we don’t have to use our ears as much...and it shows in the music that is created…I highly recommend a healthy regular dose of playing music by ear for every musician.)
When I was a sophomore in high school, I started playing rhythm guitar in a band with my dad and his friends; we mostly played originals and Grateful Dead covers. There were two musical lives going on with me; In school, I was in concert band playing trumpet and French horn, while outside of school I was playing rhythm guitar in a band that would gig in bars (I was definitely under age…) and dabbling on bass. I was not super into the French horn or trumpet, and never put much practice time into either...so I was never really very good at them, and probably frustrated my band instructors. I did learn a lot of music theory concepts that I was able to carry over and apply to learning the guitar and bass, which I was way more into practicing and learning.
Just after high school, I started a band with some friends, and we could not find a bass player. I had just started getting into Les Claypool, and figured since I think he is awesome and weird and can lead a band, maybe bass is pretty awesome...and I started playing bass for the band. That was the best move I ever made! Everybody plays guitar so there is far less demand; Once I started being serious about bass, I ended up in a few bands and didn’t look back. I love the bottom end and the power it has to move people.
When high school ended I basically hit the ground running. I did some music theory courses, and tried to major in music a few times but ultimately became too busy with playing music and other odd jobs...and would stop school (a few times). I have mixed feelings on that…I did take an audio recording class where I wrote my first musical called “Who Turned on the Lights”. More on that soon…I also spent a year at a sound engineering school, where I learned the recording side of music; It was a great experience, but I found I love playing music way more than recording and mixing it. However, I did find a love for scoring video during this time.
I spent my 20’s gigging with many bands, a few that would do little tours through California/Nevada, and other bands that would play every week in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. There were weeks where I’d play 5 nights with 5 different bands; I was honing my craft. I believe a person can learn so much from every musical interaction with every musician they meet if they are paying attention and open to the lessons.
I am currently enjoying playing as much as I can (check out the calendar to see where and with who), and continue working toward releasing albums, movies, musicals, and other creative ideas…I’m running out of back burners to keep ideas on! I also really enjoy teaching and opening up the door to music for others, which lead me to my first YouTube channel, Uke Can Jam Along. I also give private lessons. Check out the Lessons page for more info.
One last point that is very strange to say…we all went through a global pandemic together! When the world shut down, I wasn’t sure what to think, and there were times that I never thought I would get to play live music for an audience again. At the same time, my older brother had a stroke and I was really into watching TED talks about the brain and recovery. In my search for other things I could do with sound, my music path and stroke recovery research crashed together when I started studying Sound Healing. I got a sound healing certificate from Globe Institute, and actually worked for the sound healing center for about a year and a half. While studying and working there, I learned a lot about the healing effects sound and vibration have on people - beyond the entertainment value. There will be way more on this soon too.
Thanks for taking some time to get to know me. Music brings people together, and everybody (musician or not) has a story of how they got where they are. I encourage you to feel confident enough to share your story with others, and wise enough to embrace other’s stories as well.
Let’s get creative!