Music is my passion! This includes listening, writing, and performing. I come from a family of singers...now, I can't vouch for the quality of their voices, since I was too young to really remember. Still, I do remember that my grandmother took every opportunity to sing that she could, and Mom used to hum a few dittys around the house. I remember singing for the first time on a microphone when I was seven (it was a Mr. Microphone! Lionel Richie RULES!), and later I jammed a bit on my half-brother's home studio, singing "Lonely People" by America. I graduated into performances in elementary and middle school music concerts, but I spent most of my time singing in my bedroom, shower, or into the ear of the person I happened to be dating at the time. Don't laugh! It works! =)

While in college, I was a member of the chorus for eight of my nine semesters on campus (only three counted toward graduation, but I loved the class), and was lucky enough to audition for and win eight vocal scholarships. My instructor, Sue Orr, had a profound influence on me. She helped turn me into the performer I am today, and I am eternally grateful!

Currently, I am one-half of Absolute Wood with guitarist Matt Woods, performing cover tunes, as well as some of our own original compositions, throughout the Southeast since March of 2000. We produced a live CD in 2002 with the help of Dave Dewitt, which is available for purchase (just e-mail us!). I've also composed, arranged, and produced a variety of electronic dance music in the past few years.

From 1998-2002, I was also a part of a project called the All-Vol Band. The core group was David Landeo, Tall Paul, Tod Sheley, and myself, with dignitaries such as Terry Adams (a.k.a. Johnny 99), Matt Hall, Tony Ingram, and various other guests over the years sitting in whenever possible. Each year we recorded a new batch of videos for the Knoxville CBS affiliate WVLT, and while the Vols didn't always do as well we would have liked (heck, in year one we won the National Championship!), the videos still kicked ass!

From October 1995 to March 2001, I jammed in a local acoustic band/collective with David, joined by Tod on percussion, and later by Tony on bass. I've had an opportunity to do some live radio, once with David, Tod, and a couple of friends in April of 1996 on WIMZ, a classic rock station in Knoxville, and again in November 2001 with Paul and Tod on Knoxville's Americana/Bluegrass station WDVX. In 1997, I was also briefly member of Jakrabbit Slim, a now-defunct acoustic act. And way back in 1993, when I first arrived in Knoxville, I was a member of a guitar trio called Big, Free & Easy with Piers Townsend and Ian Coulburn, two friends of mine from Great Britain (we never really played out regularly, with the exception of open mic nights at The Torch, but shared many happy moments in our dorm rooms and in the courtyard of Melrose Hall).

I've appeared in a few other projects, including doing background vocals and helping write one song on David's first solo project in 1996 called Bang Time, and more background vocals on his most recent solo CD project, "Maybe The Dingo Ate My Baby"; appearing on some of Tall Paul's live CDs; working as a background vocalist and percussionist on stage in Raleigh N.C. with the band St. Somewhere during a Jimmy Buffett pre-party show in 1997; and sitting in occasionally with other local area musicians like Magpie Suite, Tall Paul, Short Bus, Johnny 99, Jason Ellis and Brian Stevens, and Jean-Louis and Desiree (a.k.a. Fruit Booty!). Travel has also allowed me to join in with musicians in other states as well. And, of course, Paul's newest CD, Fast Beneath My Feet, contains the song Left Behind, which he and I wrote in 1999.

Through hard work and occasionally pure luck over the years, I have had the opportunity to perform in Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, New York, Arizona, and Nevada. I still hope to have an opportunity to front my own band in the near future, on top of my work with Absolute Wood (school keeps me pretty busy, but I love it too much to stay away). I'd also love to record my own CD, but time and money make it a difficult proposition. Who knows...maybe someday!