I’m an Atlanta-based musician, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in New Jersey, I started playing guitar at the age of 10 and have spent the past several decades working as a professional guitarist, both as a session musician and playing in top-level bands along the Jersey Shore, New York City, and Atlanta.
As a child of the 1970’s growing up on the Jersey Shore, my musical inspirations were heavily influenced by AM/FM radio out of New York City, where the major radio stations played a wide variety of music crossing all musical genres. In any given music block, you might hear songs from Queen, Barry Manilow, The Eagles, and Earth, Wind & Fire, Carly Simon, Bill Withers, and ABBA. This diverse musical palette shaped my appreciation for all genres of music, and especially shaped my appreciation for melody and harmony.
I began writing my own songs in the 7th grade - the songs were horrible and were written about girls I had crushes on (who knows…maybe I’ll release them someday and win a Grammy). Throughout the decades, I’ve continued to write music and hone my skills. I also studied audio engineering in college, where I gained recording and mixing skills and eventually built a recording studio at my home. It was always on my “bucket list” to someday write and record my own album. On May 7, 2014, while performing at a corporate gig in Orlando, I decided it was finally time to put the gears in motion and make an album. Seven years later, that dream finally came true with the release of my debut album “Against The Grain”.
When making “Against The Grain”, I decided to really test myself and go it all alone without using external musicians or collaborators. It was a very slow and very painful process, but a process where I learned A LOT and became a much better musician, recording engineer, mix engineer, and producer as a result. And rather than digging up a bunch of old songs from my past, I decided to write mostly new songs for this debut album (with the exception of “Complicated View”, which was written in the mid-90’s, and “Could’ve Been”, which was written in the mid-00's). 13 songs were written and recorded for the album, but only 10 made the final cut. The other 3 might be released at some point in time as bonus tracks, but they still need a lot of work.
My musical style might be considered as “rock”, but crossing multiple different genres of rock (from soft to hard), with heavy emphasis on melody and harmony. My songs tend to be complex, yet catchy. I also think it’s time to bring back the guitar solo, which has been gone from the mainstream for too long. My main guitar influences are the great session players from the 70’s and 80’s – i.e., Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton, Waddy Wachtel, Jay Graydon, etc.
I continue to play in the Atlanta music scene and have already started on a follow-up album. Hopefully, it’ll take less than 7 years to get the next one out the door. In the meantime, many thanks for listening to my music, and watch for additional tracks and possibly some merch in the near future!
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