My Musical Story

I’ve been surrounded by music for as long as I can remember. My mother was a piano teacher, and having grown up attending a Mennonite church, I was regularly surrounded by 4 part hymn singing which informed my understanding of harmony. I realize now that the language of music was natural and intuitive for me.

I got curious about playing guitar around age 15 and my parents bought me an entry level Yamaha acoustic. At first, I just played by ear and made some progress on the instrument, but what I really wanted was an electric guitar so I could emulate the grunge music that I was interested in at that time. This was the mid 90s so bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots had a big impact on me. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was also one of my early musical heroes - there was something about the emotional rawness of his expression that really spoke to my angsty teenage self - not to mention that sonically, he was a true innovator and the pr