I grew up in Fort Wayne, IN located in northeast Indiana, which is about 165 miles southeast of Chicago. Fort Wayne is named after General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. And a Ft. Wayne ice cream institution, Atz’s Ice Cream, named a humongous ice cream treat after the crazy general. Fort Wayne is also famous for Johnny Appleseed.
Anyway, I played chopsticks on the piano at 5, trombone in 6th grade, took up guitar at age 11, played string bass in my high school jazz band, and have sung in chorals and church choirs on and off for too many years to remember. I made the smart move of auditioning for the US Navy’s Blue Jacket Chorale at Great Lakes Naval Training Center and as the privilege for joining they tacked on an additional two weeks to my little vacation at Navy boot camp. November through February on Lake Michigan north of Chicago is really a lovely way to spend the winter.
During the day I work at a high tech firm in the Seattle, Washington area. Home of Bill Gates/Microsoft, Starbucks and a whole lot of rain. I have always loved to write. After deciding that becoming a novelist would be way too much work, I decided I could obtain quicker positive or negative reinforcement via songwriting! Actually, as a father of a special needs child, I needed a forum for me to express creatively what I was feeling and experiencing in our unique world of autism. The music became a therapy in itself, both for me and for my daughter. So, as in everything, one step leads to another, and now today here I am.
Besides publishing my work here, I also sing at Seattle-area open mic events, primarily those hosted by a group called Victory Music, which is a non-profit group founded in 1969 to support local acoustic, jazz, blues and folk music. I also play at nursing homes in support of Alzheimers/dementia awareness and support. Prior to my Kilika adventure, I spent the years 2003 to 2007 playing bass in a Christian rock group that I co founded called Heaven by Northwest (now defunct as I moved on to the next adventure described below…) - some pic’s here. And last, but not least, I currently play electric bass in the City of Woodinville Washington’s Concert Band. It is a traditional wind symphony meaning it is made up of woodwind, brass and percussion players (and stringed basses). We play classical music, marches and Broadway show tunes, as well as more contemporary band literature.
My current project on this site is called Musing Mana, in which I am producing a new song as often as possible and releasing it for free as a Podcast/Netcast for an entire year. Afterwards, I plan to offer all of these songs on CD format in their original order (and state of completion), and also at my online store, or from iTunes.