If you’d asked me at 20 what I’d be doing today, I would have said “making a life in music”.

And I am… just not in the way I imagined.

Music has always been a big part of my life. My dad was a jazz guitarist who performed throughout Chicago in the 1950s. My three older brothers all play music. Growing up, our house was filled with guitars, drums, pianos, and numerous jam sessions. Before long, I was writing my own songs, learning to play every instrument I could, and dreaming of making my own name in music.

Over the years, I had some success. I earned a degree in music composition, worked at the legendary Music Plus in St. Louis Park (where I met artists like Prince, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Jam, and Bobby Z), performed with bands throughout the Cities including the popular City Limits, and recorded my own original music – all with the dream of becoming “somebody” someday.

But as always, life has other plans. Music was rewarding, but it didn’t always pay the bills. So I had another job in technology to make ends meet. Eventually I met someone, got married, had kids, and my priorities changed to meet the needs of raising a family. Music got pushed to the side and then to the background as I focused on building a career in technology. Music never went away, but it became more of a hobby… something I did whenever I had a free moment between working, raising kids, daily chores, and so on. 

And that’s okay. I don’t regret those years for a second. I love my family and I’d make those same decisions all over again.

But now that I’m older and my family has grown up, I can feel the fire still burning within. The desire for music never went away, it was simply buried underneath everything else life asked me to do. But now it was coming alive again and I realized still had music I wanted to share.

But I wondered. Would anyone care? Had I missed my chance? Can someone now on their 60s really start writing music again?

Then one day I realized: I was asking the wrong question. Instead of wondering whether anyone would listen, I should be asking whether I still had something to say. It shouldn’t matter whether anyone will hear it. Music is about creating something and setting it free – even if it never goes anywhere.

So now, in my 60s, that’s what I am doing. I’m making music my life again.

These days I spend my time writing, recording, and releasing new music with the same excitement I had when I was young. I still perform throughout the Twin Cities in several bands.

I also found a new love –  teaching. I teach piano, guitar, bass, drums, and voice at Rogers School of Music and through ISD 728 Community Education. Somewhere along the way I realized that helping others discover music can be just as rewarding as making it myself. It has become one of the greatest joys in my life.

I learned that although music seems to be centered on youth, creativity doesn’t belong to the young—it belongs to anyone who is willing to keep learning and growing.

In short: Music isn’t about becoming somebody. It’s about becoming yourself.

So that’s my mission.

I’m not trying to relive my twenties. I’m trying to prove that your best creative years are never behind you. Whether you’re sixteen or sixty-six, there’s still music to write, another instrument to learn, another stage to stand on, and another dream worth chasing.

Today you’ll find me performing with Midlife Crisis, The Bozo Boys, Dysfunktional, and Comfortably Floyd, teaching the next generation of musicians, and releasing original music that reflects where I am now—not where I was thirty years ago.

If you’ve ever put a dream on hold because life got busy, I hope my story reminds you that it’s never too late to pick it back up. If you’ve found your way here because you love music, welcome. If you’ve found your way here because you once had a dream you’ve put on hold, welcome even more. Maybe this website will encourage you to find your own self again.