Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I was born in Buffalo, NY, but grew up in the D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia. When I
was three years old, I saw Elvis Presley on TV and felt the energy of that rhythm, and
knew I wanted to be as close to the driver’s seat of that as I possibly could. During those
early formative years, we’d take long drives from Virginia to Buffalo to visit family, and I
would listen to cassette tapes of those early rock n’ roll and doo-wop records over & over
again and would pick up on the song forms. It was during my listening on those trips
that I knew I wanted to write and perform original music of my own.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I began taking guitar lessons around age 12 & really got serious with the instrument
once I got to high school and made that a central part of my identity. I started singing in
choir in the eighth grade & learned most of what I know about voice through my years in
high school choir, thanks to the fabulous director we had there. I went to Berklee
College of Music at age 22, where I majored in songwriting. It was a tremendous
experience and one of the highlights of my life. I learned a lot from a lot of brilliant
people. It’s also where I met my wife, and she sings on the record as well.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: As I mentioned, Elvis was the first, in addition to the early rock n’ roll & doo-wop, as well as the early-Beatles stuff. Growing up in the 90s, there was a lot of great melodic radio rock that left its mark too. Those encompassed my earliest influences. By the time I was in high school, I really got into the singer-songwriter scene of the late 60’s/early 70’s that came out of L.A. It’s intimacy and the spotlight it shone on every aspect of the song really spoke to me at that time. That’s when I began trying to elevate myself as a writer and became a devotee to the craft. Then in my early 20s, I discovered and really took to alternative country, which felt fresh and rebellious to me.
Q: You have just released your new album, ‘A Step Behind’. Is there a story behind it?
A: I remember my youngest sister going away to college and I, being the oldest, was the
only one still left hanging around. Friends had up and gone, and once family did too, it
caused me to reflect on the fact that I was still stuck in the same place. I was a little bit
older when I went away to college and even after that, I saw some of my peers go on to
have varying degrees of success while I struggled to find my footing. So with this being
my debut record and having a song on it that I thought really encapsulated that sense, it
seemed to be a perfect fit as the title for the album.
Q: What is the message of your music?
A: I never really set out with any kind of agenda when I sit down to write. Usually I find
that the songwriting process is more of a revelatory process to myself and I don’t
discover the broader themes until I’ve written a few things first. On this album, I’d say
that probably the overarching theme revealed to me was just how thin a line it is
between either the acceptance or regret of your missed chances, and the fallout from
the decisions we ultimately make – which will undoubtedly lead us to where we end up.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I really try to put a unique spin on a universal idea or feeling when I write, and strive for each song to resonate on a broad, human level. The three-part harmonies against the backdrop of a strummed acoustic guitar evoke that nostalgic sense of limitless landscape to me. As far as how I would describe my sound, probably as “Heartland Rock meets Indie Americana, with a singer-songwriter sensibility.”
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: I feel blessed to have accumulated enough of a skillset to be able to capture my ideas
through the writing & recording process. I have had many friends and teachers over the
years impart me with enough of a knowledge base to do this at a level where I can
achieve great personal satisfaction from it, and that was always my reason for getting
into it in the first place. As long as I continue to like the music I am making and can
showcase the fruits of my labor, I will feel deeply fulfilled by this process.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: Every song is different & I will generate song seeds in a variety of ways. But in general,
my favorite way to work is to come up with a great title first and have a clear vision for
how I want to impart my own take on it. Most of the time, I end up working backwards
from the title and try to have all of my verse ideas flow into the refrain or chorus, helping
to buoy it & supply its raw power. I go through many revisions in the songwriting
process typically, but I don’t second-guess that initial spark of inspiration. I tend to be
methodical with my process and prefer
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Probably a couple of health-related things I dealt with early on. I was diagnosed with
Type 1 Diabetes at age 23 while in college and that really changed my calculus in how I
was going to need to proceed going forward, given that it presented an immediate
challenge that required both attention and well….money to care for. In addition, I was
dealing with a nagging shoulder injury that took a long time to figure out & have
corrected, and I felt it was impacting my ability to do things at the level I knew I was
capable of. With both largely in my rear-view now, it’s freed me up to go boldly into the
wild unknown.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: The completion of this record! I say that because the truth of the matter is, I have never really been good about seeing a large task through to the finish line. And in the making of this record, I had to manage the entire thing from start to finish. So in a lot of ways, I achieved great personal growth just from being able to take this from the breaking of the ground to the cutting of the ribbon.
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