A composer and arranger with a degree in composition from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, I have been writing Christian music ever since I made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
A
native of Columbus, Ohio, I moved to Northfield, Ohio (A suburb of Cleveland)
after 3rd grade, and then moved to New Jersey the summer after my
freshman year in high school. With the
exception of the 6 years that I lived in Boston I’ve lived in New Jersey ever
since and I consider myself a Jersey Guy through and through.
Both
my dad and my uncle were trombone players so it seemed natural that I would
become a trombone player as well. After
a rather inauspicious start (See God Works in Mysterious Ways below) I became a
fairly decent trombone player, making NJ All State Region II band and being the
lead trombone player and a featured soloist with the NJ High School All State
Region II jazz band in my senior year in high school. I attended The Berklee College of Music in
Boston, Massachusetts with every intention of becoming a professional trombone
player but became sidetracked first by an audio engineering class, then by a
pop songwriting class. I changed my
focus to songwriting and music production and graduated with a degree in
composition.
Shortly
after college I sent demo tapes of my songs to a large number of record
companies, producers, and A & R people.
I had several positive responses and, after some research, selected the
most influential of the respondents and met with him. I ended up signing a record deal with a major
label. I went into the recording studio
and recorded the first 3 songs of what was to become my album. The gentleman with whom I signed was working
on a deal for me to go on the road, opening for one of the record company’s
touring acts when he passed away unexpectedly.
The whole deal fell through and, after waiting the requisite 18 months
for the rights to my songs to revert back to me, went back to work to find
another record deal. The gentleman who
signed me had an extremely large wall covered floor to ceiling with gold records
and he told me that he thought I was going to be a big star but I never got
that close again.
In
my mid 20’s I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and began writing
Christian music. Though I’ve tried, I
have never been able to get a publishing company interested in my music. Several years back I decided that having my
music played and making no money was preferable to not having my music played
and making no money so I self published my catalogue and registered with CCLI and OneLicense. Since then I have had thousands
of churches all over the world playing my music. My Christmas Cantata, “The Holy Child” has
been performed all over the world, has been translated into German, Russian,
Ukrainian, French, Japanese, Korean and Polish (Not by me!), and the
Annunciation/The Magnificat from the cantata was recorded and released on CD by the Norwegian Choir, Sola
Fide.
I
have won multiple awards in international songwriting competitions including 5
honorable mentions in the American Song Festival and 2 excellences in
songwriting awards in the Great American Song Contest.
I
am the Director of Music at Hope
Presbyterian Church in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, directing a praise band, a
vocal choir, a men’s ensemble, and a handbell choir. Aside from trombone I am a competent drummer,
a functional piano player (But getting better), a fledgling bass player, and a
trumpet hobbyist (I’ve always been a frustrated trumpet player, I love the instrument). My day job as a Bassett Furniture store
manager pays the bills and I’m very blessed to have this job with an awesome
company and a terrific staff. I have a
modest collection of big band music published through Lush Life Music in the UK and distributed
in the US by E-Jazz Lines.
I
love spending time with my family (ESPECIALLY my grandson and granddaughter J), making music, walking the beach in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, listening to, playing in,
or arranging for big bands, Ryan’s Cinnamon Ice
Cream, and rooting for the New York Mets. I must also confess to being a drum corps
nut. I marched with the Eatontown, New
Jersey Royales Jr. Drum and
Bugle Corps from 1969 through 1972 and then served as Assistant Horn Instructor
in 1979 and 1980. I remain a huge fan,
enjoying both DCI and DCA contests when my work schedule allows.
The
“God Works in Mysterious Ways” Department:
In Northfield I was blessed
to have attended the Nordonia Hills Schools and Nordonia High School, a school
district with a truly outstanding music program. I’d love to say I was their star trombone
player but the truth is I wasn’t very good.
I hated being in the band and I HATED practicing. Before I began 7th grade my mom,
in a Spirit inspired stroke of genius, told me that I no longer had to
practice, that I could be “As bad as I wanted to be”, and that I could quit
band if I wanted, but only after I had finished my freshman year in high
school. This was the perfect approach to
take with me because I no longer felt the pressure to achieve and I was able to
engage in music on my own terms.
Now, whatever would possess
a person who hated band to take on the additional responsibility of joining the
school jazz band (The Spirit perhaps?) I did, and where I found band music to
be mostly uninspiring, the playing of big band music lit a fire in me that has
only grown with age and experience. I am
indebted to my mom for knowing me well enough, and for having the wisdom to
come up with a solution that allowed me to discover the joy of making music. I believe that it was God’s plan for me to be
a musician and that; years before I knew Him, he was preparing me for a life of
glorifying Him through music!