I was five years old, and was driving my mom nuts. She decided the best thing to do with an over-energized little boy was give him something challenging to learn. Thus began my piano instruction. I was talented but difficult. I burned through, (or burned out?) 4 different piano teachers by the time I was eleven.
Teacher number 5 was Miss Boucher. She was unmarried and had no children of her own. To demonstrate her power over her students, she always scheduled her annual student recitals on Mother’s Day. (My mom still hasn’t forgiven her.)
I also managed to try Miss Boucher’s patience. It’s not that I couldn’t play. I was good. But I didn’t want to play Bach, Brahms and Beethoven. I wanted to play the Beatles, the Beach Boys and boogie-woogie. Miss Boucher was firmly in the Bach camp. I suspect she regarded Beatles as an existential threat to western civilization.
I earned – or at least was awarded – a degree in Music Composition from Baylor University. Which is why I made a career in computers. But I never quit playing, singing and learning.
My influences are keyboard players like Elton John, Billy Joel, Michael Omartian, Keith Green and Carole King. I fell in love with the feel of Bach while in college. (Nothing feels like Bach.) And then I began to love Chopin, the pianist’s pianist.
And then I got bored with rock & roll and wanted more challenges. Blues, jazz and the Great American Songbook started filling up my playlist.
Today, I play and sing in most styles.
I still love rock & roll. But my loves have deepened, broadened and expanded over the years. Whether its Patsy Cline or Bruno Mars or even Barry Manilow, if the music moves me, I’ll play it.
I play private parties and public gigs. Email me for rates and availability.
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