It was 1984. I was wrapping up my senior year of high school in Southern Cal. After years of being a less than stellar student, I managed to eke my way into Northwestern University's School of Music. My folks were…

I came up with the first eight bars on piano while visiting friends on a trip to the Midwest. After returning home I just kept adding a few bars here and there until it got 2 minutes long. Then, I…

"You're a song

a wished-for song.

Go through the ear and to the center

where sky is, where wind,

where silent knowing.

Put seeds and cover them.

Blades will sprout

where you do your work"

Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

It was late 1973. My folks had just moved into their very first home in Shutesbury, MA. My elementary school teacher was Mrs. Nerbonne (the lady you see narrating). And I'm the little kid in the back desk with the…

What microphone is best for your voice?

Great question and as with a lot of questions, the answer tends to be "it depends".

My voice has always been on the thin and raspy side and can easily be overwhelmed by…

A good instrument will invite a player to reach outside his comfort zone. In my case with having smaller hands, it's stretching for those killer jazz chords!

So much of what informs my songwriting is based on the music my folks played for me as a child at home and in the car (8 track of course!). 

From dad came the classical stuff. One of the most…

I was recently visiting some dear old friends in the Midwest over the month of May. One night after everyone went off to bed, I stepped out into the back yard to take in the perfect evening weather and listen…

I still have the little recording set up from my teen years! The Teac tape machine was purchased in high school on a road trip with family to LA. Later at university, I got the Soundcraft mixer after maxing out…

Behold, the Challen piano from Abbey Road Studios! It was used on some very pretty Beatles songs like "Fool on the Hill", "A Day in the Life", "Lady Madonna" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".

Back in August of 2023, I actually got…