Playing music defines who I am, my desire for exciting and rewarding musical experiences unyielding. This credo has guided my life from rural beginnings through each experience I continue to have. My work has been in just about every facet of the music industry and I continue to take each opportunity possible to educate myself about the truly powerful affect that music has on people and culture.
As a composer, arranger, producer, session musician and engineer, I have brought to life the visions of many disparate individuals for several different purposes. With two albums in the works, three films scored, and an array of artists that I regularly play with, from local singer/songwriters to major label touring acts, I feel that I'm beginning to hit my stride in the vast terrain that is the current music industry.
While not typically known as a hotbed of entertainment, growing up in a small town in central Vermont brought with it a surprisingly large number of opportunities to study and perform professionally. At the age of 16, I began playing professionally with a variety of jazz bands all around Vermont. Situations were as varied as a theater show with a 24-piece big band to playing a private house party with a pianist and a saxophone player. I began learning that the best education is putting yourself in as many varied situations as possible and analyzing your own performance. This realization would prove to alter the course of my musical path.
During this time I also focused beyond just the notes that are played and began concentrating on the total sonic spectrum of a song. This ignited my study of composition, arrangement, production and engineering. I began working at Atomic Professional Audio, a local audio production company which specializes in festivals and tours. With the guidance of senior employees I learned a great deal about the science of acoustics and the craft of properly mixing music.
Aside from private dedication to playing an instrument, nothing will improve a musicians abilities quite like understanding how an instrument produces it's unique sound and how that sound will interact with others. This work also provided opportunities to see, hear, and work with a wide array of artists, from local singer/songwriters to platinum selling touring acts, and learn more about what makes great music. I then took the interest further to earn an Associates Of Science degree in Audio Production from the New England Institute Of Art.
In 2005 I was hired by the pop/rock band Guster as their in-ear monitor engineer. This was my first experience in a setting where I would be immersed in the day to day of the music industry. With an internationally touring major label act, I began interacting with managers, booking agents, publicists, and a whole other side of the music industry.
After a month into working with Guster, and a few discussions of music and some brief late-night jam sessions, I was asked to play keyboards on one of their songs, which went on to be their biggest single to date. This was an honor as they had never had one of their engineers perform with them. Their faith in my abilities quickly grew to the point that I was playing one-third of their nightly set. In addition, I performed with them on network television and syndicated radio, including performances with other well-known artists The Boston Pops, O.A.R., Bela Fleck, members of The Polyphonic Spree, The Barenaked Ladies, The Shins, and many others.
With my increased visibility as a musician, I began playing with several artists during tour breaks. Jumping between instruments and genres, I've performed playing bass with traditional Malian Griot band Samba Lolo, Latin/Soul group Jen Kearney & The Lost Onion, Rock group Pictures & Sound, as well as bass, keyboards, guitar and banjo with Indie-Folk artist Shawn Fogel and his band Golden Bloom, and keyboards and banjo with Joe Pisapia. I am currently the guitarist for Rock/Soul/Pop group Stroamata, and have been writing, arranging, and playing guitar, keyboards, ukulele, banjo and mandolin on the debut record for Pause & Flight.
As a person devoted to its various aspects, I thrive working in a wide range of situations and genres with a variety of artists. From producing a folk record to mixing a reggae band, playing indie-rock bass to scoring a film, I undertake each situation as a unique challenge to improve my craft.