Early Beginnings

My musical beginnings come from a humble place, and even though haven't even been a constant presence throughout my life, they've been there throughout, in great variety.

I got my first electric guitar when I was in 5th grade for my birthday. It was an awful little Peavey (probably made of plywood) and a tiny amp. I started to get a few lessons from a guy that taught me to play it like an acoustic and I got bored quickly. I wanted to rock out! We moved shortly after I got it to a small village in England and further lessons were out of the question.

6th grade brought a music education class. We got to try playing a Tuba and I played it better than anyone else in class, so the following year I signed up for band and started with a sousaphone. That lasted about 3 weeks before I was bored of it, but my Dad had played trumpet when he was young and we still had it in the house. So, I switched to that and got fairly proficient with it after only 3 years.

I had to drop band my second year of HS because I needed a language and wanted to take German. It was only taught at the same time as band, so I dropped band.

After those two years of language, I had a class slot open and decided to take choir. I did choir my last year of HS and the first year of college. I got to tour that winter with the university choir in Germany. Good thing I took those german classes! They came in handy.

I dropped out of school my 3rd year into school to start an Internet Service Provider, and my adult career took music out of my life for a while.